Is this venue too far away?

There was about a 20 minute drive (more because of a lot of construction in a well traveled area) or so between our ceremony and reception so that part wouldn't bother me. I wouldn't mind the drive time to the hotel either, but would it be possible to rent a shuttle to transfer guests back to the hotel from the reception? We paid $250 to use the hotels shuttle where we had the room back and it made runs throughout the night.

I would say maybe because they're staying in a hotel - meaning they don't know the area very well. 40min- 1 hour for people who know the area isn't bad.

It's not that bad. I know someone that is getting married in a church in her hometown and then the reception is an hour and half away from everyone.

@Maltese

I would definitely be open to using a shuttle service! I hadn't looked into it too much and thought for some reason it would be more expensive. Good idea!

@Nicole...if you have a room block set up, ask them if they have a shuttle that you can reserve and rent for the night. Having a shuttle was the only reason I set up a room block and played a huge part on deciding where to reserve the block.

I agree with Maltese. The closest hotel to our venue is 15-20 mins away so we're going to hire a shuttle to take guests back and forth. If you provide transportation, it's definitely reasonable.

Awesome! Thank you so much for the input everyone! This actually makes me like the venue even more, haha. It gives people the option not to drive if they drink too much. We will be having a lot of young people and an open bar. FH was concerned about it, and now there's a good solution.

Definitely look into a shuttle. The only reason I would be concerned about the drive at the end of the night is if you are serving alcohol. You do not want to be responsible if people can't find a taxi and something happens.

I don't think the commute is that bad. You may consider offering a shuttle bus for your guests.

I think with the shuttle it should be fine, but if they can't do a shuttle then I would definitely look into finding a different space. People will either overindulge and get on the road or they will leave early.

I don't think 30 minutes is too far. Anything longer than that might be a concern, but I think that's fine. Just make sure you include clear driving directions/map and drive times in an insert card as well as on your wedding website so your guests will plan accordingly.

I don't think that's all that bad at all, actually. At least they aren't on opposite ends of town and are in the same direction

Exactly what everyone else said -- provide a shuttle back to the hotel (20 minutes is totally typical, in my experience as a guest!) and you'll be golden. We're doing the same thing; our venue is 40 minutes away from our hometown, so everyone is staying out there after the wedding even if they're not flying in.