Nikâh salonuna geç kaldığımız için belgeleri önceden hazırlayıp çantaya koyduk.

Nikâh salonuna means to the wedding hall / marriage office.

It breaks down like this:

• nikâh = marriage ceremony, official wedding
• salon = hall
• nikâh salonu = wedding hall as a noun compound
• -na = to (dative), attached to the compound

So:

• nikâh salonu = the wedding hall
• nikâh salonuna = to the wedding hall

Because nikâh salonu is a compound noun in Turkish.

In compounds like this, the second noun usually takes a compound marker:

• salon → salonu

Then when you add the dative -a / -e, it comes after that:

• salon-u-na

That -n- is a buffer consonant used after the 3rd-person possessive/compound ending.

So:

• salona = to the hall
• nikâh salonuna = to the wedding hall

Geç kalmak is a very common expression meaning to be late.

It is not understood word-for-word as to stay late here. As a set phrase:

• geç = late
• kalmak = to remain/stay

But together, geç kalmak means to arrive late / be late.

So nikâh salonuna geç kaldık would mean we were late to the wedding hall.

Because after için in this kind of sentence, Turkish normally uses a subordinate clause, not a fully finite verb like kaldık.

The pattern is:

• verb + -DIK + possessive + için

So:

• kalmak → kaldığımız
• kaldığımız için = because we were late

More literally, it is something like because of our being late.

Breakdown:

• kal- = stay / be
• -dık = clause-forming suffix
• -ımız = our / we
• için = for, because of

So geç kaldığımız için = because we were late.

Not exactly.

In kaldığımız, the -dık / -dik / -duk / -dük part is not just ordinary past tense. Here it is mainly a nominalizing/subordinating suffix that turns the verb into a clause that can connect with için.

So kaldığımız için is not simply we stayed because. It is a structure meaning:

• because we were late
• literally, because of our being late

The past meaning comes from the overall context and from the main verb koyduk.

Because Turkish often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb already shows the person.

Here, we is already built into the endings:

• kaldığ-ımız = that we were late
• koy-duk = we put

So Turkish does not need an extra biz unless the speaker wants emphasis or contrast.

Hazırlayıp comes from hazırlamak (to prepare) plus the converb ending -(y)ıp / -(y)ip / -(y)up / -(y)üp.

So:

• hazırla- = prepare
• hazırlayıp = preparing and... / having prepared...

This form links two actions done by the same subject. In this sentence:

• belgeleri önceden hazırlayıp çantaya koyduk
• we prepared the documents beforehand and put them in the bag

So Turkish uses -ıp instead of a separate and between the two verbs.

Because hazırlayıp is a linking form, not the main finite verb of the sentence.

The main tense/person marking appears on the final verb:

• koyduk = we put

The earlier action is attached to it with -ıp:

• hazırlayıp koyduk = we prepared and put

This is very common in Turkish. Earlier linked verbs often appear in a converb form, and the final verb carries the tense and person.

They have different grammatical roles.

• belgeleri is the direct object
• çantaya shows the destination/location aimed at with koymak

belgeleri

The -i here is the accusative ending, used because the documents are specific/definite:

• belgeler = documents
• belgeleri = the documents

çantaya

With koymak (to put), Turkish often uses the dative for the place something is put:

• çanta = bag
• çantaya = into/to the bag

So:

• belgeleri = the documents
• çantaya koyduk = we put them in the bag

Önceden means beforehand, in advance, or ahead of time.

It is an adverb modifying hazırlayıp:

• belgeleri önceden hazırlayıp = having prepared the documents beforehand

It comes from önce (before) plus -den, but as a whole it is best learned as the adverb önceden = in advance.

This word order is very natural, but Turkish word order is somewhat flexible.

The neutral structure here is:

• reason clause first: Nikâh salonuna geç kaldığımız için
• main clause next
• main verb at the end: koyduk

That final position for the main verb is especially typical in Turkish.

You can move some parts for emphasis, but this version sounds natural and standard. The sentence is organized like:

• Because we were late to the wedding hall,
• we prepared the documents beforehand and put them in the bag.