Distance between ceremony and reception

View Quoted Comment Wow, that is so rude to not attend the ceremony and only the reception.

People keep saying to not attend the ceremony???What poor manners. That is the whole reason for the day and celebration.

View Quoted Comment I mean, its really not that uncommon. Especially if the two locations are far from each other.

View Quoted Comment

I agree it's rude, but sometimes a 1 pm ceremony and then a 6 pm reception an hour away doesn't work out for people. If the ceremony was immediately followed by a reception 40 minutes away I would absolutely attend both. OP just make sure everyone is clear on the times and addresses for both and I think you're good

I think that's a bit too far. Are you going to provide transport?

View Quoted Comment I have been to 30 weddings with lots of catholic gaps. I have never even though about only attending the reception. That is so inconsiderate and selfish of a wedding guest.

View Quoted Comment I promise the couple never realizes who is there. And I still went to celebrate and give a gift at the reception. Gold star for you, though, at never skipping a ceremony.

View Quoted Comment

1 PM ceremony and a 6 PM reception would definitely get people to miss one or the other. I dont think its common though, to miss one, but I've never heard of such a big gap, longest 1-2 hours, which is pretty bad I think.

I agree its rude to miss the ceremony but if you are up front with the bride and say you just can't make it but see the reception time you can and would love to join, would that be OK, then I think its fine. As long as your are transparent. However, I do not think its rude to miss a ceremony so many hours before a reception, in fact I think its rude to expect people to go two totally different events for you at totally different times of the day, although, I don't think anyone on here said they were doing that and its just an example, right?

View Quoted Comment

I agree it isn't that uncommon. I would add, especially if it is a long church service. One of my friends had about 1/3 of her guests not come to the ceremony because it was going to be a very long church service (about 90 minutes) that celebrated her FH religion. (None of her family or any of her friends are religious at all) and the service was 50 minutes away from the reception with a 3 hour gap in between the end of the service and the start of the cocktail hour. I went and I can honestly say it was the biggest mistake of my life to not skip it, it was so boring and I hate sitting through religious ceremonies.

The only people who care about the ceremony are the couple and their immediate family, everyone else goes to weddings for the reception.

View Quoted Comment

I totally agree! It can be hard with scheduling etc. and I think transparency is important. An hour or two gap wouldn't be bad at all lol but my family always seems to end up with 4-5 hr ones

And yes I don't think OP said if the plan was a gap or no gap between, but yes just an example!

View Quoted Comment Exactly!! We definitely sigh when we see theres a church ceremony. We dont always skip but if the two venues are far from eachother or spaces out, yeah we definitely will just go for the reception.

Think about how your guests would feel. In my area, if it took 40-45 minutes, that would be nothing because traffic is so bad that it can take 30+ minutes to go 5 miles. So personally I think it is a little long but I am not bothered by it. Also, if the reception venue is like... perfect! Then any driving annoyance I have will be washed away when I get out of the car.

The distance between my church and venue is 45mins.

Nobody seemed to have a problem with it, but we also live in a area where you have to drive at least 30mins to get anywhere decent so that could be why.

We could have picked a church a little closer, but we wanted a certain one.

In the end it's your day and you only get one so you might as well do it the way you want to and everyone else can deal

I don’t think that’s a bad distance. Just make sure to make that clear to your guest in the invitations/on your website. Also make sure you allow enough time for them to get there (take into account the time of your wedding and how traffic looks at that time) congratulations and good luck on your day! And if you’ll be taking pictures after the ceremony just make sure your guest are entertained while they wait for you to arrive.

100% find a ceremony spot close to the reception. I attended a wedding where the reception was a 25 minute drive from the ceremony and it was such a hassle. Some guests got lost (I'm not sure how, despite the distance, it was a relatively easy drive), plus having to find parking at 2 different locations was annoying, and because of getting lost or having difficulty finding parking some guests ended up arriving AFTER the bride & groom made their grand entrance, not to mention that instead of having a cocktail hour to mingle with other guests and get to know them, we were all driving to the reception location so by the time we all got there we were all still strangers essentially and felt awkward.

If you can't have your ceremony & reception at the same location at least keep them within 5 miles of each other or within walking distance if possible.

Your nearest and dearest will do it but a 40 min drive is a lot to put on your guests. Especially if they have to travel a bit to get tot he ceremony in the first place. A hotel near the reception helps but it's still a bit rough. I would see if you could find a church closer to your reception space.

Our venue will accommodate both ... one upstairs the other downstairs.

The majority of weddings I have been to have had a 30 to 40 minute drive to the reception. It depends on where you live. If you live in a large city and never spend much time in a car going anywhere, then it could seem like a lot. But where I live, most people's morning commutes to work are between 30 and 50 minutes each way. So 40 minutes is nothing.

We attended a wedding where the reception was 35 minutes away. However, that was without traffic. With traffic, it took us just over an hour. IMPO, 30 minutes (approximately 20 miles) is too far. I think you should try to find a closer venue for the ceremony.