hometurf to reception...how far is too far?

DiorAndKisses · July 2009

So many places to choose. Some close, some far...and of course the ones I like better are more on the far side. There will undoubtedly be a large number of people who refuse to stay at a hotel no matter the drive. Most of our guests will be coming from our general area. How far is "too far"? 25 minutes, 30, 40, more ? How far did you/are you willing to travel from hometurf to reception location?BTW...I'm so over Facebook now that I've found these boards. lol

mbcdefg · July 2009

IMO, 30 minutes or under is ideal.Our reception site is about 40 minutes from our church. I would've loved to have found something closer, but we really couldn't find anything affordable and nice in that radius.

alliecarrie41 · July 2009

the closer the better; over an hour and i'd start to get cranky (although i once drove across 3 states from the church to the hotel/reception... that couple were a bunch of asswipes). my place was 20-25 min from church, my sister's will be more like 45-50 backroads. id say draw a radius around your church/hotel what have you and don't even look at places outside that area. where have you looked so far?

brad1431 · July 2009

we kept it to about 30 minutes, there are tons of places around here, I talked to about 40 reception sites, and we visited like 18.

hollyberry88 · July 2009

I say anywhere from 30-45 min is ok. Just make sure that you allow for the time when you are timing everything (weird sentience....but you get what I mean). From my church to the reception site, it is 30 min. Since it will be in traffic, I am allowing 45 min for timing wise.

Just Jen · July 2009

I've driven all over God's green earth for weddings, so honestly, I don't really think of that as an issue.My place is about an hour from my apartment.

teamAandE · July 2009

30-40 mins is good

reneel828 · July 2009

My reception was about 45 minutes from home and about a half hour from the church.

caketime · July 2009

45 minutes from home is fine, even 1 hour if it's not an area that gets a lot of traffic.

DiorAndKisses · July 2009

Allie, the places we've "narrowed it down" to...(not that a list of 8 places is really narrow) are: Apple Ridge CC in Mahwah, The Tides Estate in North Haledon, The Stony Hill Inn in Hackensack, The Newark Club, The Wilshire Grand in West Orange, Ramsey Golf and CC, Lake Valhalla Club in Montville, and our farthest...The View on the Hudson in Piermont, NY. They're all under 38 minutes away from our soon to be home...so says Mapquest. Know any I should X off the list?

melissa82 · July 2009

I think under 30 is ideal, but as a guest I'd drive up to an hour without complaint.As a bride, I wanted the church and reception to be somewhat close, since I'm involving two locations and because it's winter (possibly snow). At first we were considering doing the ceremony and reception at the same place, so I would have gone a little further, maybe an hour from my home turf, as you called it.

Karma01 · July 2009

From the church to reception it will be 30-40 minutes

I <3 Seabass · July 2009

I would say an hour max. That's the limit and then I start to feel like I've been in the car forever!

alliecarrie41 · July 2009

thats a huge list still

i'd cross off piermont. it's an awesome place, but seems kinda out there considering your other options? RGCC, LVC were two of my faves; i didn't see apple ridge but heard it was great. they quoted me some insane price on the phone so i never checked it out. i think keeping around 40min is fine. guests expect it.

uppereastgirl · July 2009

What do you mean by "hometurf"? Where you live? I don't think that matters.I think most of the answers you're getting here have to do with the distance between the church and the reception if the ceremony is at a church. In that case, people have driven from their homes to the church and then have to get into their cars again to drive to the reception, which can be annoying if it is too far. That can be a lot of driving for one day. But if your ceremony is at or right near the reception, and you're just asking how far it should be from your house, I don't think it matters. I wouldn't pick a random place two hours away just for the hell of it, and it will be nice for you if it is convenient, and it is kind of nice to get married near home because of the sentimentality, but people are used to travelling for destination weddings, weddings of loved ones who live in other parts of the country/world, or friends who live locally but far away nonetheless. You can't please everyone.

DiorAndKisses · July 2009

This is so true...I just tend to worry about pleasing everyone. I know, I know, it's something I'm trying to work through. lol

emt16 · July 2009

i definately agree that about 30 minutes is an ideal distance for most people

Jon&Krista · July 2009

montville is the same "out there" as Piermont, just in a different direction.IMO dont worry about the distance from home, like others said. focus on the distance from church to reception

JeannineG122 · July 2009

We just lucked out. Our church was the cathedral & reception was at the newark club. So 5 minutes was our travel time.

kewltif · July 2009

I wouldn't flinch at about an hour or so. My mom's family is in Bergen County and my dad's family is spread around Middlesex and Morris counties. Whenever I go to an event, it's always at least a little bit of a drive for someone. DH's family lives in South Jersey and they were not too pleased with the 2.5-3 hour ride. Oh well! The wedding had to be held somewhere. It was also their decision to not get hotel rooms, so I guess 6 hours of driving in one day wore on them.

kewltif · July 2009

My actual church to the reception was only a 3 minute drive. I very briefly toyed with the idea of going back to my old church from growing up and having the ceremony there, for sentimental reasons, but that was another 45 minutes north, and I really thought it was just too much driving to ask DH's family to drive 3.5 hours to the church and then another 45 minutes to the reception.

Mags0220 · July 2009

If the chuch and reception site are more than 30 mins from home, I don't go because what am I going to do in between each? Like we had a wedding in Long Island and didnt go to the church becuase there was a 2 hour gap in between but no where to go. Atleast within 30mins people can go back home and its not too far if your drinking. Good luck!

hometurf to reception...how far is too far?

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