how far is too far?

Hmm, we'll I've been to one where we had to drive around 30 minutes. I enjoyed it because I was able to discuss the ceremony with my late-mum and get some ideas for whenever I was to be married.

I think it is a good idea. It will make/break some guests. Are there hotels around the reception area that they can check into so it will be easier for them to go to it?

I've had to drive that far before between the ceremony and the reception and was fine with it. We had three hours to make the drive so we actually stopped a few miles away from the reception venue and met some friends for cocktails before the reception (we didn't get crazy with the cocktails though!). The drive wasn't bad though and most of us guests knew we were making the drive to accommodate the bride's family church for the ceremony - and a reception location close to their home.

It should be fine but be sure that you have refreshments for the guests when they arrive at the reception. It may also be good to skip any long picture sessions after the ceremony so that guests aren't left waiting too long before they sit down to dinner.

Here is my question. do they have to drive again from the reception to the hotel? cause if so that's annoying, ends up feeling like you're driving all the time. Just went to a friends wedding had to drive 3 hrs to get there, 1 hr to get to reception, 20 min to hotel, and then 2.5 hrs to get back home... it was a little much. If reception is same place people get to sleep then it doesn't matter if they have to drive a bit between church and reception

Thanks all. i appreciate your thoughts - was thinking i'd get a lot of "that's too far".

@andrene m. - how long is considered a long picture session?

@soon2bmrs.smith - the hotel is across the street (i'm told) but would investigate this before booking.

I think the max you can reasonably ask your guests to drive is an hour. I would also make sure they had refreshments when they arrived or in route.

It was a 45 minute ride from Cate's Church to her reception venue. Due to the heat, we had her personalized water bottles in containers you see below and gave them out as the guests were leaving Mass. We thought they needed something on the hot day.

Darn double posts....sorry!

Then I think it's fie to drive 40 min between, usually the couple is taking photos anyways, just schedule coctail hr starting like an hr or hr and a half after the wedding ceremony so that they can get there check in to hotel and walk across st leaving car at hotel

Ladyvail: I would say no more than an hour for pictures. You want to have guests seated for dinner within an hour of arriving at the reception. Another thing to think about is total reception length. If you are only having a 4 hour reception, you may want to consider shorter cocktail hour so that you have more time for dancing on the back end.

Thanks all for your advice and feedback!! i appreciate it!

That's not too bad… BUT… as a former out of town guest of a wedding that had separate ceremony & reception sites~ make sure your guests that are coming in from out of town (flying primarily) have a way of getting from point A to point B to point C and back to A again. Hotel shuttles are great~ or hire someone to help transport your guests who have already shelled out hundreds of dollars just getting to your wedding city.

I think 40 is more than reasonable. I agree that an hour would be the most.

My question is why are you giving them several hours to get there? Are you planning a gap on purpose? Even if gaps are normal in your circle, "several hours" shouldn't be necessary. You're going to lose some folks in transit there, or they will skip the ceremony, or they will be schnockered from hanging out at a sports bar.

Personally I think 30 minutes is about the limit, unless you're talking about country people who are used to driving 40 minutes to see their neighbors right quick. You have to take into account traffic, parking, navigation from A to B. Some of your guests may not be local and won't know where they're going...I just think too much can go wrong.

I just don't think it's ideal, sorry. I would look into 2 locations that are closer together. Have you booked the reception venue already? You have a lot of time at least.

I think that's fine. I recently drove an hour from my house to my friends reception. I couldn't make the church. And her mass we at 3 and her reception wasn't till 830. I didn't mind.

If its a 40 minute drive what are they suppose to do for the other hour and 20 mins?..not like they really want to stop and eat because they will be having food there right?..maybe only give them an hour to get there before starting cocktail hr!

IMO that's too far. I hate when there is a long gap in between ceremony and reception and I don't think its fair to make guests drive a long distance. Over 20 miles is way to far for me. Also consider if your guests are out of town. I prefer a flow of events. The whole reason I am usually in the city is for the wedding so I don't want extra time in between to kill.

Think it's relative. 30min out here in CA is not very far in distance lol....

Our wedding ceremony venue is 45 minutes from most of our friends and family but the way we see it is that its a very easy drive, we will be providing directions and we have several family members and friends come from out of state. Our reception starts a few hours later in a centrally located place so I think that is a fair trade off. I say do it wherever you would like as long as you are comfortable and love the place.

That is not far at all. It seems that way because saying 40 minutes is a long time doing anything else but driving. We don't realize we do that all the time especially if traffic is out of control. I think the ride from my home church to the reception is about 30-40 minutes depending on what route the guest will take.

Although it's not ideal, I don't think 40 minutes is too much to ask of guests. My ceremony and reception venues are about 22 miles (35-45 minutes) apart. We would like to have found two venues that were closer, but it just wasn't working. I'm hoping that it doesn't create any discord. The church was a given (FH's home parish), and we were having difficulty finding a reception venue that we liked and that was available on our date. Our reception is also the designated hotel. We decided to provide a shuttle that will loop from the hotel to the church and back to the hotel. It was definitely a splurge, but we thought it could help to alleviate transportation concerns.