Guests traveling an hour to wedding

I think it's fine! YOu should still look into a group hotel rate near the venue though because some people might want to rent a room so they don't have to drive far after the wedding.

Some will and some don't. My FH and I are getting married where we live, and the closest family is an hour away, with some as far as 12. If its important to them to come, they will. If its not, do you really want them there?

I agree with Eleanor. Block a hotel if there is one near by.

My ceremony is in the town where I grew up, only about a two dozen people live close by, and our reception is even farther away. More than half my guests live over an hour away. If you are important to them they'll do it.

I am dealing with the exact same issue I also live in a very small town. I say if they love you and care about being there they will be and if not it's their loss! Plus an hour isn't a very long drive.

An hour is really not that far. I think it's totally fine. Are there hotels nearby? If so, I agree that looking in to a block would be a good idea. Some people may be fine with driving home at the end of the night, but others may want to stay somewhere nearby.

My guests are almost all traveling upward of 3 1/2 hours, so driving home at the end of the night isn't really an option for them haha.

An hour is not that far, you may have some people who will leave a little early though

Lol. i wish our guests only had to travel an hour...

my entire guest list is flying from oregon/washington to texas. FH's family either has to drive over 3 hours from houston to the other side of austin or from mississippi to texas. he also has friends coming from the new york area and even one from denmark.

we'll be lucky to have half our guest list show up.

Going from 100 guests to 50 is reason enough for me. LOL

Our guests are coming in from all over. Some are flying. I bet they wish it was only an hour (by car).

I would have no issue traveling an hour or two for a wedding even if I wasn't SUPER close with the couple. If they invited me, I'll try my best to be there.

I agree with Caitlin.... I originally had our venue picked out around the half way mark for guests coming from both directions but FI didn't like it so we moved to a different place which is farther for a lot of his family and I was concerned at first about them not coming but now he just says if its important to them they will come if not o well LOL .... I think an hour isn't bad at all!

My FH family lives hours away in Mississippi. They will all have to travel. But we all live in Massachusetts they will have to travel to CT for my wedding.

I had picked another venue first but didnt mesh well with the wedding coordinator there so I had to find somewhere new. My extended family drives down that way frequently to go to the casino, but the wedding venue is only 10 miles away from there. I dont see why this is an issue.

And the ceremony would be at 1230 with the reception ending at 6. I dont understand why my mom thinks this will be an issue.

How do I go about reserving a room block?

I can't say for my own wedding but I declined once because of the distance.

If they want to be there, they will drive. Don't worry about it

An hour or more is normal travel time for a wedding in my experience. Make sure people know about hotels in the area, or book a block.

I can't imagine people who would be happy to drive fifteen or twenty minutes to a wedding but then will change their minds if it's an hour! That's ridiculous. It's not 3 or 4 hours!

In fact, I drove 3 1/2 hours for a wedding this summer, and flew for another one.

My venue is a little over an hour away from alll of the guests, I think it will be fine. My brother made everyone travel 2.5 houra from ceremony to reception site!! so I vote an hour to both is fine! Lol

Oh my gosh Jillian, I cant even imagine 2.5 hours between sites!

My venue is over an hour away on a Friday, and the freeways most guests will need to take can get very congested. (Are you familiar with the 91, 60, and 15 freeways in Southern CA?)

Unless there's an accident, traffic will actually be pretty light during the time guests need to travel. However, most of my guests are really worried about it. Some guests have outright asked me why I didn't opt for a Saturday ceremony, citing traffic as a major concern. (Traffic is actually *worse* on Saturdays at that time.)

Even so, I have gotten very few declines. The declines were mostly a result of my wedding being on a Friday (work day).

So, an hour drive really isn't much of a deterrent. Many of my guests are booking hotel rooms, though, so be sure to offer suggestions for accommodations at the very least.

To clarify, you don't mean an hour BETWEEN venues right? you just mean an hour from where most people live?

if it's an hour from wehre most people live, that's a piece of cake. if it's an hour between the ceremony and reception, that's too long. and Jillian i would be INCREDIBLY unhappy with a 2.5 hour drive in between. I probably would pick either the ceremony or reception to go to and skip the other.

My wedding and reception will be held in the town where my Dad lives, which is approximately 60-75 miles away from where most of my guest live. The way I see it, if they want to be there, they'll be there! If not, oh well their loss ;-) I've also decided to block rooms at 4 of the nearby hotels just in case someone has too much "fun" at the reception LOL.

To answer your question about the room block: call nearby hotels & tell them you're getting married & would like to get info in regards to having a block of rooms held for guests. They will give you a discounted rate for your guests & tell you how long your guest have to reserve their rooms at that special rate. After the deadline they release the block. Most hotels will let you block rooms for free. A few will ask you for a credit card. DON'T DO THIS. Because most of the time if your guests don't reserve a room the hotel will charge you a fee for the unbooked rooms. Always ask about their policy before you give a credit card.

Travel is part of a wedding in my opinion, the closest relative I have to our venue is 3 hours away. Its one day and its for an amazing reason for a road trip