Getting Guests to Travel

Oh my god you're so lucky! I LOVE aquariums but my DH said he wasn't going to get married in one (what a party pooper). I think as long as you give people ample notice, you'll be ok. Even better if you have room blocks for them for your wedding weekend.

We got married in MD and had people from FL, NJ, PA, CA, WA, IL and even Colombia travel to celebrate with us.

It's a 'know your crowd' kind of thing. We had a good turnout for our destination wedding but we knew people would travel for it.

A lot of families aren't in favor of traveling and some may not attend. If you believe your family is all in and most of your "crowd" would travel, that's good. But also, you need to live with the reality that your turnout may be significantly less than a local wedding. If you're okay with that, then you're okay with planning a destination wedding.

Also, I don't think 3 to 4 hours is a lot to accommodate as a guest, but then again, I like traveling!

As an additional note...

Make sure you print out travel detail cards for your guests to include in your invite suites. We did and it helped everyone big time. Also, have hotel blocks, if you can.

That sounds like an awesome venue! I would start working on Hotel Blocks to give people to option to stay overnight. It'll make it more convenient for them.

The Pittsburgh Aquarium is awesome! I had no idea they hosted wedding receptions there. How fun!

Where is your ceremony is regards to the aquarium?

I wouldn't add back the guests you initially removed just so your venue will "appear" fuller. I would invite who you can afford to host and give your guests plenty of notice (AKA, send out your STDs 10-12 months prior to your wedding.)

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I originally wanted the ceremony at an overlook, but I wasn't thinking about the temperature it would be in November with that wind, so we're thinking maybe the botanical gardens

We live in Florida and 85% of our family, AND our entire wedding party live in California! I am a little worried, but seeing that we already have had 2 couples tell us they booked their hotels and airfare, and we are still 10 months out.. I'm going to try not to stress on it!

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Yeah, unfortunately Pittsburgh can be bitter cold or mildly warm in November, so it's hard plan for an outdoor wedding. I think the botanical gardens would be beautiful for your ceremony though!

The majority of my guest list is from OOS. All of Fh's family and most of his friends are traveling from TX, most of my family is scattered around because of being in the military, and the venue is about 45-1 hour away for our local guests. We just made sure our VIPs where aware, and we sent STDs out to anyone who was OOS at the appropriate time. We also made sure we had two different room blocks in different price ranges to help accommodate those traveling.

At the end of the day all you can do is cover your bases, and know that anyone who wants to be there will be willing to travel, and if your wedding does end up being on the smaller side does not mean it wont feel fun and full! You still have plenty of time so I wouldn't stress. With families being so spread out now people are more use to traveling for weddings!

View Quoted Comment It is important to know your crowd. Some guests may simply not have the inclination or ability for extensive travel. More people may be willing and able to celebrate with you if arrangements are made to ensure comfort and ease of attendance, however. If travel may be difficult, consider whether chartering a bus or arranging for group air travel may encourage attendance. Many companies will offer discount codes for large group bookings. Similarly providing as much information to help guests plan travel as easily as possible will help encourage greater guest attendance rates. Regardless of who is there to share your day, as long as you are surrounded by love, it will be perfect!

We live 4 hours from where our wedding will be, so all of our friends and FH’s family are that far. I’m sure a couple people will be unable to commit to the necessary travel, but the majority are all about it. I mean we’ll see when RSVPs are all in, but so far the distance hasn’t proven a big deterrent. My girls are even traveling another time for the shower !! (I totally expected them to not attend!)

Like everyone has said, it's about knowing your guest list. Having an inexpensive hotel block set for them will definitely be more enticing as it will be less stressful for them to get there and not be tired. They can make a mini vacay out of it.

By the way, I love the aquarium idea. I wanted the National Aquarium when we first started planning and my FH was onboard until he saw a dolphin in someones wedding photos. Then he was like nope, I am not getting outshined by a dolphin!

Don’t worry about it... it’s your day and guest will travel because they love you! Our wedding is in Savannah which is 2-3 hours from us in Jacksonville Florida..... and 95%of the people we invited are coming.

More than 60% of our guests are out of state (around 1,000 miles away), and the other 40% are in state but not in the same town. We are getting married 1 hour 30 minutes from the town we live in. I'm not too worried! We are blocking 1 hotel, and offering 2 other cheaper ones.

We're getting married at an aquarium too and I'm so excited! AND...our venue is 4 hours from where we live. We chose there because of the cool factor, but also because it's closer to family. If we would've done the wedding where we currently live (North Texas) we would've had more co-workers. We had to make the decision if we wanted more family or friends. We chose family and decided on the 4 hour away (in another state!) venue. Like everyone else says...know your guests. Some won't be able to do that far and make a weekend or even just an overnight trip and you have to be understanding. You're asking people to drive a while and probably spend the night too.

Good luck and I can't wait to see more about your aquarium wedding!

Don't ever count anyone out due to travel. Take it from me you never know who will board a flight and fly cross country to be there. (You also never know who won't get into his car and drive fifteen minutes across town but that is a story for another day, lol)

Your venue sounds cool!!! I just looked it up - GORGEOUS!

How awesome is that! I think if you have enough people who you know will travel you should be fine! 3 hours in my opinion is not that HUGE of a travel, or added expense for most!

All my guests will have to travel 1+ hours to the wedding. Many will have to travel 4+ hours. Many people who are coming from other states have already booked their flights and hotel and the wedding isn't until October.

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Hi emcd11819!

I agree with Pegs She gives some great advice & It depends on your guests, family, and friends! I love your vision and venue, too.

If you have any other questions throughout your wedding planning process, please don't hesitate to connect or post another discussion in our Community.

If they love you they will travel. I've been to 2 weddings in the last couple years that required a 2-3 hour drive so I stayed in a hotel. Both were big weddings and one was on a little island where only the brides parents and close family lived so almost all the guests had to drive and then ferry over.

Hi emcd11819!

I think there's been some GREAT advice shared here already! My only other comment would be to make sure people know to plan ahead for the travel time since most people would likely want to have a few drinks. Since transportation is involved, of course everyone's safety is important!

I am SO jealous you're getting married in an aquarium! HOW COOL!