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Distance between Ceremony and Reception

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Distance between Ceremony and Reception

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i need some advice. I am interested in having my ceremony in center city philadelphia and my reception at a country club in the suburbs (about 40minutes away). we are going to provide transportat

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Chit Chat

Distance between Ceremony and Reception

Celeb gossip, sports, TV, fashion? Take a break from wedding planning on the Chit Chat board.

i need some advice. I am interested in having my ceremony in center city philadelphia and my reception at a country club in the suburbs (about 40minutes away). we are going to provide transportat

Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:14

Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:14Discussion:15804ec4-e4bc-4038-817b-b5cef81a7dfc

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Forums > Wedding Boards > Chit Chat > Distance between Ceremony and Reception

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Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 10:19 AM EST on theknot.com

krenren77

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i need some advice. I am interested in having my ceremony in center city philadelphia and my reception at a country club in the suburbs (about 40minutes away). we are going to provide transportation to and from the hotels to the reception. (one hotel block is going to be around the ceremony site, one hotel is going to be around the reception site). do you think this is an unreasonable request? any advice is welcomed.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 10:24 AM EST on theknot.com

edielaura

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In Response to Distance between Ceremony and Reception:

i need some advice. I am interested in having my ceremony in center city philadelphia and my reception at a country club in the suburbs (about 40minutes away). we are going to provide transportation to and from the hotels to the reception. (one hotel block is going to be around the ceremony site, one hotel is going to be around the reception site). do you think this is an unreasonable request? any advice is welcomed.
Posted by krenren77

So it is 40 minutes from the ceremony to the reception? I only think this is okay if there are no other options along the way.

How far is it from the hotel to the ceremony, and how far is it from the reception back to the hotel? I see you have two hotels in different locations.

I don't mind a 20 minute drive from hotel /> ceremony > reception > hotel (so 60 minutes total), but anything beyond that would annoy me.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 10:29 AM EST on theknot.com

krenren77

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the hotel is walking distance to the ceremony and to get back to the hotel after the reception is about 40 minutes.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 10:33 AM EST on theknot.com

edielaura

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In Response to Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception:

the hotel is walking distance to the ceremony and to get back to the hotel after the reception is about 40 minutes.
Posted by krenren77

So it's 40 minutes to get back to the hotel after the reception for *both* hotels?

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 10:37 AM EST on theknot.com

krenren77

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the receptioin is about 5 minutes from the one hotel (this option is for people traveling in that day). 40 minutes from the other. about half of our guests are from out of town, so we wanted to provide them with an option of having a hotel close to the airport in order to prevent renting cars etc...

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 10:40 AM EST on theknot.com

edielaura

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In Response to Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception:

Okay and how far away from the hotels is the ceremony going to be?

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 10:43 AM EST on theknot.com

krenren77

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it will be walking distance from the one hotel and about 40 minutes from the other hotel.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 10:46 AM EST on theknot.com

artbyallie

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Is there really no other option? Anything over 30 minutes between locations is a bit much.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 10:46 AM EST on theknot.com

edielaura

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In Response to Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception:

it will be walking distance from the one hotel and about 40 minutes from the other hotel.
Posted by krenren77

So it's 40 minutes to the ceremony and then 40 minutes to the reception? The location of the two hotels is really confusing me for some reason.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 10:48 AM EST on theknot.com

edielaura

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I don't think I'm going to "get it", so I'll just stick with what I said before. Anything beyond 30-40 minutes between locations would be annoying for me unless there was no other option, and I would prefer 20 max. I think you need to try to find a closer hotel or venue or something.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 10:53 AM EST on theknot.com

achiduck

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Even if you have two hotels (one close to the ceremony location and a second close to the reception location) a 40 minute drive between the ceremony and reception would annoy me.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 11:08 AM EST on theknot.com

yaga13

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Which suburb are you having your wedding in? I grew up about 40 minutes outside of Philadelphia, and NO WAY would I ever make someone drive that far from the ceremony to the reception. Driving through Center City out to the suburbs is not a picnic. There is usually tons of traffic, especially if they need to take I-76 to get out of the city (which is likely if your reception is north of Philly) - and that will increase the driving time. In fact, I'm fairly certain I've never made it into Philly in the amount of time Google Maps tells me I will, even when they take into account traffic.

It sounds like you're having a gap if you have time to let your guests return to their hotels after the ceremony, and then provide them with transportation to the reception. This is not a good thing either.

I think you need to reevaluate your plan for the day. Too much driving and time being wasted for the guests. There are PLENTY of places to get married and have a reception within Philadelphia or out in the suburbs. But keep everything close to each other. Traffic around the suburbs closest to Philly is similar to traffic in the Outer Boroughs (I noticed you're from NYC) and that's really not okay to ask people to drive long distances through that from the ceremony to the reception.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 11:38 AM EST on theknot.com

jemmini6

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15 - 20 min MAX is acceptable for driving distance between ceremony & reception unless there's literally no other options. Considering you are getting married in a large metro area, I find it really hard to believe that there are no other options. You need to change either your ceremony venue or your reception venue, because 40 minutes is NOT acceptable and I would be extremely annoyed if I were one of your guests, especially if I travelled.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 12:02 PM EST on theknot.com

cwaggoner07

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You are going to lose a LOT of people, and if they are staying near the reception site, they may just skip the ceremony altogether.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 12:30 PM EST on theknot.com

goobersinlove

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I would definitely be annoyed driving or riding a shuttle bus that far, ESPECIALLY if I already traveled to attend your wedding in the first place.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 12:54 PM EST on theknot.com

MyNameIsNot

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Normally I think 30 mins is about the max I'd be comfortable with, but if you're providing comfortable transportation (I'm thinking a nice shuttle with comfortable seats, and some drinks available, not a school bus where everyone is cramped and hot), I think you can get away with a little further.

I think I understand the hotels that if you stay in hotel A, you travel <5 mins to the ceremony, 40 to the reception, and then 40 back to the hotel at the end. If you stay in hotel B, you travel 40 mins to the ceremony, 40 mins to the reception, and then <5 back to the hotel at the end.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 2:18 PM EST on theknot.com

krenren77

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all valid points, i really appreciate your imput.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 2:23 PM EST on theknot.com

sonya+adam

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I would definitely not want to drive all that way in between, and then afterwards. As PPs have asked, is there another choice of hotel that's more in between the two sites? Have you already booked your venues?

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 2:27 PM EST on theknot.com

krenren77

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i havent booked any venue yet. the problem is, i feel in love with a church 40 minutes away from the venue and i guess i didnt think it was a big deal considering there will be lag time between the ceremony and reception anyway. i guess i could find a church closer to the reception, especially since most people are driving in anyway, im sure they would want to be closer to everything.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 2:36 PM EST on theknot.com

sonya+adam

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Yeah, if people are going to be in a car all day, they're not going to want to drive even more. If you love the church so much, maybe you can find a reception venue closer to the church?

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 2:40 PM EST on theknot.com

krenren77

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i thought about that, the issue is, everything in that part of town is way out of our budget. so i have to sacrifice the church i suppose

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 2:40 PM EST on theknot.com

yaga13

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Seriously do not have a gap. They are rude. What do you expect your guests to do during that time? That combined with the ridiculous driving time through a city will make people choose to skip one part of the event - most likely your ceremony. FSIL was married at 2 pm on a Saturday, at a church that was 45 minutes from her reception. The reception was at 6. Only about 40 of the 160 people who went to the reception went to the ceremony.

There are PLENTY of venues within Philadelphia that you could have a reception at. If I were a guest who had to drive into Center City for the ceremony and then back out into the suburbs for the reception, I would be really pissed. I'd be passing tons of hotels and other wedding venues on my way.

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Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception

posted at 2/7/2012 7:26 PM EST on theknot.com

MyNameIsNot

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In Response to Re: Distance between Ceremony and Reception:

i havent booked any venue yet. the problem is, i feel in love with a church 40 minutes away from the venue and i guess i didnt think it was a big deal considering there will be lag time between the ceremony and reception anyway. i guess i could find a church closer to the reception, especially since most people are driving in anyway, im sure they would want to be closer to everything.
Posted by krenren77

Don't do that. "Lag time" or gaps are very rude.

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