Asking guests to travel for a no party wedding?

Depends if the initial hours travel is an hour from B&Gs (and most guests) hometown. Another 20-30 minutes on top feels indulgent. You could be 70-80 miles from home.

Sounds like a lovely celebration to me!

Sounds lovely.

A ceremony and get together then I would go home, I wouldn't stay over.

This is making me feel better about my own wedding in a few weeks. I thought it might be boring with no disco/band or proper party but seems most people on here are happy with that 😄

We travelled to another country for a wedding like this. We went as wanted to celebrate their day with them however they chose to plan the celebrations.

It was a perfect day and everyone loved it.

Really? Any wedding I've ever been to that hasn't been entirely in a hotel has about that much distance between the church/register office and reception. It's nothing.

It was the norm 30 years ago when I got married. Yes, some people had evening events but personally (unless I was only invited to that part) I found it too much after spending the whole day already in travelling, ceremony and reception. You can overdo a good thing!

I don't see why that would be an issue. If you are staying overnight it gives you a chance to enjoy your accommodation which you usually don't get any time to do at a traditional wedding. I would be happy to go to a wedding like that.

And it's about seeing your friend/relative getting married at the end of the day so it's their choice/budget what they do when it's not very kind to judge that.

Reasonable to me. Just be prepared for polite declines.

Registry office to venue - 20 - 30 minutes travel = unreasonable

No dancing after wedding meal = reasonable

If it's basically family and close friends who might not get together very often then an intimate reception sounds lovely - why would they need entertainment if they want to catch-up with people they haven't seen for some time.

I think it’s fine, as long as couple is paying for the meal.

The only thing that would bother me was the additional travelling after the first portion. 5 minutes fine, but 20-30 minutes to the reception after the ceremony is a bit much IMO.
The type of reception sounds nice.

Who is paying for the meal? What's does the socialising consist of? Who is invited?

My answer would depend on that.

2 ceremonies and 3 venues all spaced apart with 90 mins travel is just really poor logistics and inconsiderate to guests especially older/less mobile ones.
It's 1 ceremony and 2 venues. The hour to the ceremony is hardly any time, less than people travel to work regularly and will vary depending on where people are. 20-30 minutes from ceremony to reception is really standard. Not everyone wants a wedding in a hotel where it's all in the same place. Moving between church/register office and somewhere for the meal is really normal.

OP this sounds like a completely normal perfectly nice wedding with entirely reasonable travel.

It sounds the perfect wedding (from a guest perspective). I thought this was going to have been a destination wedding in the Bahamas or something!

It sounds perfect to me! This is what weddings used to be like when people had a modest budget. Ceremony, a meal and socialising, then everyone sees off the brude and groom on honeymoon.
Perfect!

By 'no party' I thought that you meant to go home straight after the ceremony. Once the guests are fed then all is well. I think I'd actually prefer no band or dancing.

I wouldn't invite people to travel and then not feed them.

I'm confused. Isn't it 1 ceremony and 2 venues?

Sounds lovely to me, as long as they are clear with with guests what to expect. I've been to a couple where it's just been ceremony and afternoon tea in church hall afterwards (both v religious, so the church was the important bit to them, and neither big party people) and everyone I spoke to agreed it was lovely and nice to be getting home at a reasonable time. One of them I'd travelled a similar amount. I know this isn't religious, but I don't see difference from guests point of view.

Two things I am unclear on - why would they NEED overnight accomodation? Surely its close enough and will finish early enough that they can drive back if they want? Particularly as it's not as hard to avoid drinking if it's not a big boozy party. Or is it a very late in the day wedding?

Also, is there a reason the reception venue is so far from the registry office?

But generally, no that sound lovely to me. And people don't have to come if they don't want to!

Against the grain...

The wedding is a registry office ceremony, roughly an hours travel time, then ceremony, more travel time of say 20/30 minutes to venue, then very basic reception. A meal and socialising?

I would hate this but not because there was no dancing.
2 ceremonies and 3 venues all spaced apart with 90 mins travel is just really poor logistics and inconsiderate to guests especially older/less mobile ones.
I also think if you need 2 nights accommodation to attend then the day itself was thoughtlessly/ poorly planned. 90 mins travel, 2 cermonies and a meal can be done comfortably in 6 - 8 hours.

I wouldnt plan a party like this as i think its inconsiderate (sorry!) and while i might attend under sufferance i wouldnt be clicking my heels with joy.

If you are organising I'd it cut the registry office for anyone but "core guests" and ensure its a decent meal and, if not an open bar at least provide a drink or 2 post meal.

If you are attending i guess you just need to stuck it up and be prepared for a day of travel!

We had our wedding party in a restaurant btw and just stuck a spotify playlist on in the background for the evening.
There was no real dancing per se but people were very complimentary about the wedding.

My friends did similar for their wedding because she is very introverted and wouldn’t enjoy a disco. The meal is the expensive bit and, in my opinion, the “main” bit after the actual marriage ceremony of course. I think it will be fine.

Sounds lovely. I’d go. Absolutely no problem with small distances involved. I wouldn’t mind and would be happy to stay overnight too.

Oh. Never occurred to me this was a problem. We had a lovely restaurant dinner but no DJ or anything like that. To me it’s an ideal wedding!

This is how weddings used to be. Ceremony, meal, off. Sounds brilliant to me.