Wedding 2 hours away

MAMA41206

is it bad etiquette to hold my wedding in a location that is going to be a 45 minute to 2 hour drive for most guests?

squirrly

It's more about how far apart your ceremony and reception are from each other.  And, if it's at night, how far they are from reasonable accommodations.  So long as all three of those are within 20 - 30 minutes of each other, the drive to/from the area for your guests isn't an item of concern from an etiquette perspective.  It may affect your attendance, though. 

mizjodi

45 - 2  hours is quite a time gap! I wouldn't do it

mizjodi

Oh, I read that incorrectly. What the pp said in this case! I read it as having the ceremony and reception that far apart distance wise!

FutureJilliannD

If wedding and reception are 2 hours apart, definately not. But if the whole shebang is just two hours from home, I think that is fine.

cbratthauer

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_wedding-2-hours-away-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:c7ab8dfe-856e-425d-aa08-5c5f23426d9bPost:2e6f82c4-d6e4-443a-8292-50e18c89b622">Wedding 2 hours away</a>:
[QUOTE]is it bad etiquette to hold my wedding in a location that is going to be a 45 minute to 2 hour drive for most guests?
Posted by MAMA41206[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't think so as long as the reception/wedding ceremony are close together. My fiance and I live between 45 minutes and 6 hours from our families and we are having it where we live. Is there a hotel where you are having your reception? Maybe block off some rooms so those who want to drink (if you're having alcohol that is) can stay the night and not have to drive!!!

kmmssg

Well, is almost everyone, including you and FI, in one location and you are just choosing something 2 hours away?  Are you trying to have a central location for both families?  More details please.

bonnyandtim

My wedding was 2 hours from my town in DH's town.

Some people came. Some people didn't.

wadingmoose

We were about 5-6 hours away.  Hotels are wonderful things

hlq2011

Ditto moose.  My wedding is about the same distance from my family, and farther from some of FI's family.  Some people will be fine making the trip; other's won't.

MAMA41206

It's 2 hours from us and most guests. Few guests live very close to the venue site, and a few others live about 45 mins away. The hotels are around $150 a night which I think it a bit steep to expect of everyone...

mica178

I've definitely driven 45 minutes to 1.5 hours to attend weddings.  I'd look into seeing if you can get a block of hotel rooms in the area for a discount so that guests have the option of staying nearby after the reception.

You can also expect either a higher decline rate or a chunk of your guests to leave the reception early.

sarah0725

Do you think the site itself is worth it?

We're having our wedding at an awesome and personally significant place on the beach in South Jersey, and most of our guests will be coming from either Philly or Central or North Jersey. But we're putting on quite a show with our venue, and the location is appealing enough that people can make a mini-getaway weekend out of it if they want. I don't feel guilty that it's a mini-destination for most guests, because we're having a much nicer (and cheaper!) wedding than we would have had at a Central Jersey wedding factory.

If you're going two hours out of Philly to have a wedding at a fire hall in Bumblefuck, PA, though, I think it's not worth it.

MAMA41206

Yeah... We live in northern Delaware and the venue is on the beach in lower DE... I'm torn between the beach wedding or just being convenient

sarah0725

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_wedding-2-hours-away-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:c7ab8dfe-856e-425d-aa08-5c5f23426d9bPost:a1165fc5-6c63-4f05-a563-67aed64ea6b4">Re: Wedding 2 hours away</a>:
[QUOTE]Yeah... We live in northern Delaware and the venue is on the beach in lower DE... I'm torn between the beach wedding or just being convenient
Posted by MAMA41206[/QUOTE]

Worth it.

I used to live in Newark, DE and I feel like the culture was generally such that people felt it was worth it to drive a bit to get to the beach. I don't think your guests will have a problem.

JCM10

That's not too bad of a drive at all. If they had to, they could probably leave the reception at a decent hour and get home. That's what we've done for a bunch of Houston weddings (we're 90 miles away) to avoid the hotel costs. 

I'm getting married in my FI's hometown, which is 6 hours from my parents and about a 14-20 hour drive from everyone else (although most of them will fly).  They'd be thrilled if I was 2 hours from them...you're lucky!

KelaRenee

We live in north east Houston but are getting married down in Galveston so that's about 1 1/2 hours away for some of our guests.