Which scenario would you prefer?

Mercy36 · April 2013

What scenario would you prefer:

Option A: Drive 60 minutes north to Church A. Drive 15 minutes south to reception venue. Drive 45 minutes south back to hotel.

Option B: Drive 5 minutes north to Church B. Drive 40 minutes north to reception venue. Drive 45 minutes south back to hotel. Shuttle busses available for those who don't want to drive.

It seems like an obvious option to me, but some people have been saying they'd prefer that I use the church closest to the reception venue, even though it's more total driving time. I figured I'd better ask the lovely people here! I'm not including shuttle busses in Option A because it would mean shuttling people from a 3rd location somewhere in the city, up to the church, then to the reception and then back instead of just between 2 locations.

Before anyone suggests changing the reception venue, it's at our family farm which is gorgeous, extremely sentimental for me, and will save us a ton of money considering we can use our own on site prep kitchen and our own chefs (family owns a restaurant) That means that food, alcohol and all of the linens will be at wholesale prices. Needless to say we *really* don't want to change the reception venue.

ETA: hotels closer to the church in Option A aren't an option. The only ones around are motels, and not the nicest ones at that.

ETA: It's a Catholic ceremony. Church is a must.

Thanks in advance!

Lexi

bunni727 · April 2013

I think I would keep the ceremony and reception as close to each other as possible, and block rooms at a closer hotel.

ETA: Or, if it's not a Catholic wedding, how about having the ceremony on the farm too?

Mercy36 · April 2013

bunni727, thanks for the response, but the reason I didn't have that as an option is because it literally isn't an option. The farm is in the middle of nowhere and there are no decent hotels nearby, unless you count Motel 6 and the like. ;P

BTW, I love your pic. I have horses too.

ETA: in response to your other comment, it's Catholic.

bunni727 · April 2013

Ah, gotcha. I'm not much help, since I wouldn't really mind either option more or less than the other. I"d probably go with the option that includes shuttles. How are you getting around having the shuttles go to more than two locations? Is the church in town, so they'd just have to run from town to the farm and then back?

Cool! How many? Ours are kind of a funny story: they just showed up on my Dad's land one day, 11 of them! Turns out someone just decided they didn't want to fool with them anymore and set them loose. They seem to really be thriving up there, since we were up to 17 last spring, and they've seperated into two herds. The sweet boy in my pic is Teenagerhorse (I didn't give them very good names since I didn't know how long they'd be around), but he's all grown up and lead stallion of his own herd now.

Mercy36 · April 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_which-scenario-would-you-prefer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:16a7e7a4-aaa6-42a1-a1ac-248f8f3f92a8Post:29211b8b-dda2-4be4-a3a7-b72e584886d0">Re: Which scenario would you prefer?</a>:
[QUOTE]Hhhhmmm. So no matter what people have to drive almost an hour at the end of the night after drinking? I frankly don't like any of the options. And frankly it doesn't appear like you are willing to change anything so not sure what you are looking for. While the family farm saves you money etc. it really isn't convenient for your guests.
Posted by scribe95[/QUOTE]

<div>Fair enough, thanks for your honesty. But to be clear, I'm not asking guests to drive an hour after drinking in option 2. Guests can choose to take the shuttle busses, which will be taking people back at various times throughout the night. I don't know about others, but I don't go to weddings planning on getting plastered. I make the decision about if and how much to drink based on logistics and safety. </div><div>
</div><div>In any case, this is what this board is for, right? Trying out ideas and working out the kinks. ;) </div>

MrsGandthebeag · April 2013

I didn't vote as I'm not a fan of the 45 min back to the hotel either, like pp said. But, if these are the only two options, I don't think it really matters which one you chose.

JoanE2012 · April 2013

I don't think either option is really convenient for the guests. The reception is for your guests, but either option is going to result in a total of 1.5-2 hours in a car/shuttle so you can save money on the reception. You can fix this, but you already stated you don't want to change your reception location.

KJiras · April 2013

I think a wedding at your family farm would be beautiful - option B seems like the most ideal as people don't have to drive and to be honest the driving time is most inconvenient at the end of the night, regardless if you've been drinking or are just beat from dancing all night!

The only thing I'd consider is if you have a closer hotel, even if it's not fancy, maybe that could be an option for guests who want to drive and not use a shuttle. So when you give an information card about accomodations you could have shuttle transportation to your preferred hotel, and a block of rooms there, but let people know of the alternate options within driving distance if they don't want to take the shuttle.

monkeysip · April 2013

I agree with the previous poster that you can still mention the closer hotel. As long as it's not the bates' motel, some people might still prefer it.

I understand your personal commitment to both the reception and ceremony venue, and I don't have a real problem with it. I would just make sure that all the guests are fully aware of the location and distance between all the locations, and they can decide for themselves. If it sounds like too much of a hassle, then they don't have to come. If they want to come, they can either limit their drinking, assign a DD, or take the shuttle. These are grown-ups, and they can decide for themselves what to do.

fallbride1109 · April 2013

As a guest, neither option is great, sorry. I would make the decision based on the feedback you are getting from your friends and family. Also, you need to factor in your timeline. With option A you could spend some time taking pictures after the ceremony and not be 40 minutes behind your guests.

Mercy36 · April 2013

Thanks everyone for your thoughts!

We have multiple houses on the farm since two branches of my family live there so there are plenty of extra rooms in case anyone wants to stay the night. I will certainly mention the closer hotels to my guests but the thing is, even the closest one is 20 minutes away (in the opposite direction of the next day's drive home) I did, however, find a really nice historic hotel that I didn't even know existed in the neighboring town about 20 minutes away, so I'm thinking that we could potentially use that as one of our preferred hotels and block rooms there.

Lots to figure out! Thanks for the brainstorming, everyone. I'm not totally opposed to moving my reception if it will be a horrible pain for my guests, but having my reception on my family's farm would mean the world to me.

MsYeck · April 2013

Honestly I would want to know about that motel 6. My budget is always tight and the fact that it is closer would seal the deal for me, especially since i just need a place to crash. Also since it is small and "middle of nowhere" I bet that local innkeeper could give a rocking rate since I'm guessing most nights he is near empty.

ZeroOrchestra · April 2013

Is the shuttle available the whole time or does it have a schedule? Where would it be going to and from? I'm just wondering if people woul dbe leaving their cars somewhere and then out of luck the next day.

Mercy36 · April 2013

The shuttle would be going back and forth several times throughout the night.

STARMOON44 · April 2013

Id prefer to stay at the cheap convenient Motel 6! Don't understand why you're dismissing the local hotels. You're getting married in a place without fancy hotels, run with it.

Mercy36 · April 2013

Thanks for your input, everyone. I've decided to forgo the at-home reception and stick with more traditional venues in the city. I suppose I've lived in Phoenix too long. The weather is always the same here and I forgot about crazy east coast weather. April is tornado season in NC. We had a tornado warning on the "1 year out" date the other day so I took that as a bad sign.

Thanks for helping me brainstorm though!

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