Travel between reception and ceremony

Kaitie11

We are thinking of doing the ceremony in one location and the reception about an hour away.  Both locations have special meaning to each of our families so we would like to incorporate each.  Guests would stay in the reception town, which has more hotels and things for our guests to do over the weekend.  Is this asking too much of our guests to travel an hour to and from the reception???

mbcdefg

An hour is too much. I did this for one reception and we were in a really bad mood by the time we got there. I'd shoot for 30 minutes or less. It's nice that you have special ties to each place, but that shouldn't come at the expense of your guests' comfort and time ... make a sacrifice and give one place up.

danieliza1127

I think an hour is too much, yes.  Especially since the ceremony only lasts about 20-30 minutes, unless it's a Catholic mass which then only lasts about an hour.

kmmssg

I agree that an hour is too much.  Not every guest will stay in the reception town would they?  Is no one local to the town where your wedding will be? Please reconsider.  Your guests having to drive that far to satisfy sentimentalities in both families is asking way too much.

linz_e_moore

I think an hour is too far.  Ours are 30 minutes apart, and I agonized over that distance.

Leah&Christian09

30 minutes is about the max you should ask guests to travel. Either move the ceremony or move the reception. Otherwise, people are going to skip either the ceremony or the reception.

verdes

Although the two places have special meaning to both of you, I agree with everyone else that 1 hour is too far , some guests may end up not going because of the 1 hour travel time. Also, if your guests are from oot & get a hotel, they will be traveling at least 2 hours to & from ceromony/reception depending on where they get their hotel room.

RoxyCleopatra

I agree an hour is too far of a drive inbetween the two locations.

duckie1905

Too far.  Regardless of the special meaning to your families an hour of travel is asking too much from your guests.

kmmssg

You said guests would be staying in the reception town - that means a 1 hour drive TO the ceremony and a 1 hour drive BACK to the reception.  Have you thought about this in those terms?

heather011

I don't think it's that big of a deal. We're having our ceremony in my hometown (where a lot of my family/friends still live) and then the reception in the biggest city near us (where a lot of friends and family also live). The two sites are about 45 minutes apart, but where I'm from, it's very rural and most people don't think twice about driving for 30 mins to an hour to get where they need to be. Many people commute that distance on a daily basis to and from work. I wouldn't worry about it. If people don't come to the ceremony because they don't want to drive that far, then you can just catch up with them at the reception!