One of the questions we hear from time to time is whether the church pews will remain part of The Clement.
After a great deal of thought—and after listening to years of feedback from our couples—we’ve decided it’s time to retire them from our main event space.
This wasn’t an easy decision.
Many couples genuinely loved the traditional look the pews brought to their ceremony. They complemented the character of our former church and gave the room a classic, timeless feel. We’ve enjoyed seeing so many beautiful ceremonies take place with them.
At the same time, we’ve learned that just as many couples envisioned something different.
Every wedding is unique. Some couples want a traditional ceremony, while others prefer a more open and flexible layout with aisle spacing, circular seating, sweetheart tables, larger dance floors, or customized décor. For many of those events, the pews simply weren’t part of the vision.
Because of that, the pews were frequently moved before and after events.
While there were only four pews, each one is approximately fifteen feet long, made of solid oak, and extremely heavy. Moving them safely often required three people, and finding a place to store them during an event became increasingly difficult. They took up valuable space, complicated setup, and created extra work not only for our staff, but also for many of our renters.
As The Clement has grown, one of our goals has been to make every event easier to set up, safer to prepare, and more flexible for each couple’s unique vision.
Retiring the pews helps us accomplish that.
Today, our ceremony seating consists of elegant gold resin folding chairs, which allow nearly unlimited layout possibilities while being much easier and safer to arrange. Whether you’re planning an intimate ceremony or a larger celebration, the room can now be configured to match your plans without the logistical challenges that came with moving heavy pews.
Although the pews will no longer be part of our event space, they won’t simply be forgotten. We plan to preserve a couple of them elsewhere on the property, likely in our gardens, where they can continue to be enjoyed while serving as a reminder of The Clement’s past as a neighborhood church.
Every venue evolves over time. This is one of those changes that allows us to better serve today’s couples while continuing to respect the history and character of this remarkable building.
To everyone who has celebrated at The Clement over the years—whether your ceremony took place in the pews or in chairs arranged exactly the way you imagined—thank you for helping shape what our venue has become.
We’re excited for this next chapter, and we look forward to helping future couples create a wedding day that’s uniquely their own.
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