Distance from ceremony to reception

allychase

Hi all, so FI and I are looking at a venue that's about 45 minutes from his church. The reception venue has an on site ceremony available, but it's 1000 dollars outside that's non refundable if it rains. Then it would have to be in the ceremony room which isn't our favorite. The rest of the venue is insanely beautiful and within our budget. What's the furthest you think guests should travel from ceremony to reception? I recently went to a wedding where they had a 3 hour gap in between ceremony and reception. I don't want a gap, but maybe allot an hour between the ceremony ending an beginning of cocktail hour so guests can have time to get there. FI and FMIL think it sounds fine, and I know people will do it, just wondering if this is common.

allychase

Yeah that's what I thought, but then it's a matter of paying 1000 dollars as opposed to having guests drive another 15 minutes... I gotta weigh the pros and cons here. I personally think its annoying that the venue charges 1000 dollars for a half hour ceremony but I knew I wouldn't get everything in one spot exactly how I wanted.

angelsong21

30 minutes is really the maximum distance you should ask your guests to drive between your ceremony and reception.  45 minutes, to me, is too far.

VeggieLove1022

I would even say 30 minutes is pushing it around here. 

QueerFemme

30 min tops. 45 could be an hour if there was traffic. Pick another location.

Avion22

I've heard that 45 min is fairly common in Jersey? If so, then you might be okay. Personally, I'm a huge fan of having the ceremony and reception at the same place (though $1000 seems excessive to me), but if your original venue is a church and you really want a church wedding, then I don't think you should sacrifice that for a single-venue event. I think you should also consider how far most people will have to drive at the end of the night. If it's another 45 minutes back to the hotels most people are staying at, then that's a little too far. But I'd the hotels are in between the ceremony and reception, so guest drive say 20 min to the ceremony, 45 min to the reception, then 25 min back to the hotel, it might not be too bad....

crazykatiemae

30-45 minutes is pretty common around here. maybe post this on your local board to see what the concensus is in New Jersey and go from there. also, ask your parents, bridal party and important guests to get a feel too if they would think that that much travel is insane or the norm.

good luck planning!

ermjdecember2015

I dont think 45 minutes is too much to ask. If this venue is worth it and you love it, then your guests will oblidge.

allychase

That's the thing, I don't think most of them would be annoyed. But we have decided to look around the area and see if there are any Lutheran churches that would allow us to get married there so it's a shorter distance. This venue was our dream place and we thought it was a long shot so when we found how reasonable they were we fell in love immediately. If it was just an "okay" location, I wouldn't even be considering the 45 minute drive.

allychase

What PP have said about it being common in NJ is probably why I don't find it THAT strange. I may post this to my local board, there's never much action around there though lol. My FMIL is very very opinionated and all about etiquette and when she so casually said it shouldn't be a big deal is what kind of led me more towards thinking it might be ok. If it were me, I wouldn't mind. And we won't be inviting the kind of people who would skip one part of the wedding, the guest list isn't big at all and is just family and friends. Were very close with every person coming.

allychase

Oh and the hotels would be right next to the venue so there's very little drive at the end of the night, we are also considering doing a shuttle service.