Inconvenient Venue

How far away are hotels from the venue? As a guest I wouldn't mind driving unless any hotels were super far away as well.

Can you arrange for transportation like shuttles from hotels to the venue? That way guests can't complain about driving if you take it out of the equation. I would cut back on unnecessary items like favors, photo booth, etc. to be able to get transportation into the budget.

Are there hotels near the venue? Most likely, your guests will have to drive from the airport to hotel/venue anyways so the distance shouldn't factor in that much (unless it's a few hours away from the airport). As a guest I always look for hotels near the venue, not the airport so it shouldn't be a big deal. Have the venue of your dreams!

My FH's brother had a wedding last year where the ceremony was on a mountain top and then the reception required a 4 wheel drive vehicle to get through the hour long difficult drive to a cabin with no electricity... So as long as your venue is more convenient than that, I'd say it's okay!

Pick the space that you want, it's your day. And these girls are right, there are probably hotels for people to stay in and looking into shuttle transportation is a good idea.

Why are your parents so involved in the choice of wedding venues? Are you spending their money on the venue?

Secondly, there's nothing wrong with your OOT guests getting rooms closer to your venue. They don't have to be near the airport. It's really not that uncommon for people to leave the airport in a cab and head to lodging that's close to whatever they're in town to attend.

Actually, if you are expecting 80% of your guests to be from OOT, you may want to block some hotel rooms. Once that's done, you can figure out how to add shuttle service to and from the wedding.

If you love the vineyard, tell your parents the search is over.

What Matt said.

Do you live in Benton Harbor? Because I agree it's not easy to get there if you're flying in.

C'piece, it's about 100 miles to a major airport (Grand Rapids or Chicago) so a cab won't cut it in this case.

Are they paying? If not tell them they don't have a say. If they are well.. you'll have to suck it up and keep looking. Or explain how much u love it and hope they will get on your side.

No pay, no say. Unless they're contributing, do what YOU and FH want for your wedding. It's what you'll have to look at pictures for and remember for years to come.

Thanks everyone! We are going to stick with the venue. We found a great hotel near the venue that will provide shuttle service for us.