How far is too far?

When I was venue hunting my MIL to be gave me a lot of crap about looking at venues too far away. Somewhere only 30-40 minutes away, which I personally thought was pretty reasonable! But, we ended up going with a venue that is about 20-30 minutes from our home and I’m pretty happy with that choice. I’ve been able to go up there several times to work with the venue coordinator. And if we forget something day of it’s not the end of the world since we’re so close to home. The one thing I would consider above other people opinions is your people and how well of a turn out you think you would get with a wedding that far out of town. If you could careless, then go for it. But if you want a party and you don’t think people would show being that far away then maybe reconsider. I think it would be sad to put money into an event and have less than you’d like show because of distance.

People have destination weddings 3000 miles from home. As long as most of your guests can afford to pay for accommodations for the night, an hour or two is not too far.

View Quoted Comment Exactly this!
Go with your gut and the venue you love. I went to a wedding about 2 hours from home and we stayed at the hotel that night. Make sure you’re able to find accommodations for those that wish to stay.

I'm almost in the same situation.

Our venue will be 40 minutes to about an hour drive from our house and most of the guests. But ceremony, cocktail hour and reception would all be in the same venue (but in different areas) so it should not be a big deal.

My venue is about an hour away! If people really want to be there, they will make the drive. Plus, if everything (ceremony and reception) is in the same place it shouldn't be a big deal!

My wedding is about a 40 minute drive from our house (and the in-laws live near us) but it is a little over an hour and a half for my parents. Our families are pretty spread out so it is hard to try finding venues that would be convenient for everyone. On top of that, our venue (my dream venue) is a barn in a small town, so there is limited hotel space. That being said, over 75% of our invited guests are coming and nobody has said anything about the drive (including family driving 3 hours). It is an important day to us and they want to be a part of it so they are happy to make the drive!

We're having our wedding in Virginia and most of our family/friends are from NJ. We're inviting guests from all over - Hawaii, NY, SC, NC, CT, PA. We made it very clear with everybody that we wanted to do it our way and that meant doing it here in Virginia. I HATED the idea of trying to plan a wedding across state lines. I've attended a wedding in Boston, while living in VA. My FSIL lived in CT and planned in NJ. the venue was only half an hour from my FBIL's hometown (FBIL and FH are brothers - FSIL married in). Everybody still got a hotel room for the wedding.

My point is, 1-2 hours away is fine. Research and ask for courtesy hotel blocks so your guests can get rooms at a discounted rate. Plus, sometimes it's nice for guests to go to a new location.