To think this wedding arrangement is a bit odd?

[Brendobfh]

I’m going to a wedding in July which is an hour away from where I live. Three of us have arranged to share a taxi there & back. All fine and I’m very pleased to be invited.

I found out today though that the church is 10 miles away from the hotel the reception’s at. I’m obviously going to try & find a local taxi firm to do the journey but it’s very rural.

Every other wedding I’ve been to where the wedding & reception are a distance away from each other has put on either a bus, asked if any guests needed to car share or at least provided some taxi information.

I had (and I accept it’s on me to check) assumed the church & reception were in walking distance since nothing has been mentioned about it. I can imagine other guests travelling to the church with no way of getting to the reception.

AIBU to think it’s a bit odd to not mention this to guests?

Was the name and address of the venue not on the invite?

Its totally normal where I'm from.

Is it possible that transport has been arranged, but that they just haven't mentioned it on the invitation?

I don't think it's that unusual to be honest, although yes 10 miles is quite a distance. I guess cos it's rural that makes more sense though.
Maybe try and contact some of the guests and arrange a minicab or something??

No not odd at all

It is a bit weird but maybe you could contact the bride and ask if you can contact other guests for lift sharing?

Maybe message bride/groom and ask if they can recommend a local taxi firm?

My own personal experience has echoed yours. People have either had wedding ceremony + reception close to each other, or this has been made very clear on the invitation, or even transport provided.

I think it's actually quite unusual to have the reception within walking distance of the church (especially if wearing traditional wedding clothes) and would actually assume the opposite to you! Surely the addresses of both were on the invitation? It would have taken you seconds on Google maps to find out where they are in relation to each other?

Yes, but they’re in the same rural area so the last part of the address was the same so the addresses don’t indicate the distance between them. Most weddings I’ve been to with a journey between ceremony & reception have put on a bus or car share. I can understand them not wanting the extra outgoing & hassle of either of those, but I’m surprised nothing was said about the distance. It basically says ceremony at ‘Church, Rural Area, Wales followed by the reception at Hotel, Rural Area, Wales’.

Around these parts you organise a bus from church to reception. You don’t ask people to pay for transport.

If it’s only 10 miles from the reception I’d be very surprised if the taxi company you’ve booked your ride home with won’t do it. Have you called them to ask?

Completely normal where I am from, many parish churches are rural and don’t have a wedding reception venue right beside them. I’ve been to lots of weddings, none have been in a large town or city and only one has had transport provided. I would never expect the bride and groom to worry about guest transportation. There is plenty of time make your own arrangements.

Totally normal where I'm from. In fact I've been to weddings where the reception is an hours drive from the church (ceremony usually happens in the couple's local church then the reception can be literally anywhere else in the country!). The guests make their own travel arrangements.

Sorry, the last reply was to the first question.

Is it possible that transport has been arranged, but that they just haven't mentioned it on the invitation? No, definitely not, once I realised the distance my friend asked.

It would have taken you seconds on Google maps to find out where they are in relation to each other? Yes, that’s how I found out. I just think a lot of guests will assume them to be close together when we’re all traveling at least an hour to get there. Most people will be getting taxis to the church.

Maybe message bride/groom and ask if they can recommend a local taxi firm? They’re local to me rather than to the local area so they don’t know any. I’m going to Google a firm to arrange our journey, I just think it’s strange that the bride & groom haven’t acknowledged that a lot of their guests won’t have any transport from the church to reception one hour outside of the nearest town.

Have you spoken to your 3 friends you’re sharing the taxi with to see if they have spotted this and if they have any solutions?

Why not contact the venue to ask what they suggest? Presumably if it is a hotel they will have knowledge of local cab services.

Around these parts you organise a bus from church to reception. You don’t ask people to pay for transport. This is my experience too. I wonder if it’s a geographical thing.

If it’s only 10 miles from the reception I’d be very surprised if the taxi company you’ve booked your ride home with won’t do it. Have you called them to ask? Thanks for the suggestion, but the taxi I’ve booked to get there & back is a firm local to me. I don’t think they’ll do a 2 hour round trip for a 10 mile fare. I’m sure I’ll get sorted for a taxi for the trip, but I’m surprised it wasn’t spelt out to guests that it was a 10 mile trip.

Really surprised at some of these replies. Have never been to a wedding where transport hasn't been arranged if the church & reception venue aren't together. Always a coach or more typically a double decker bus.

So No, YANBU at all.

YANBU. They should put some transport on and that is the norm.

Totally normal. Round here we drive to wedding, drive to reception then taxi home and collect car in morning.

Why not contact the venue to ask what they suggest? Presumably if it is a hotel they will have knowledge of local cab services. That’s an excellent idea, I’ll do that!

Have you spoken to your 3 friends you’re sharing the taxi with to see if they have spotted this and if they have any solutions? I realised earlier today and told them. We have a solution, we’re going to ring a local taxi firm. It’s more the guests who don’t realise until they’re at the church without transport. I assumed everyone had the same experience as me ie. a bus is put on for guests, but obviously not so more people might check than I thought.

I got married in rural wales- proper rural with no phone signal at all or anything. our wedding was all in one but at one point is wasn't going to be and we had a look into coaches and stuff- you HAVE to tell wedding guests whats going on because on the day there will be a load of wedding guests who turned up in a taxi and no way of getting to the next place- very unorganised and just asking for trouble- a note on the invite is no hassle! Wales is beaut tho have fun! Wonder if its the same place where I got married!!

I wouldn't expect the reception to be walking distance from hotel especially if a rural wedding and I wouldn't expect transport, most people would drive to church then to reception, I've been to a couple of weddings with a coach but it was the exception. If you are getting a taxi I'd assume you don't live that far away so they probably thought you'd know where the places are

We arranged a bus from the church to the venue but then we had the bus collect everyone from the hotel near the venue first, take them to the church and then take them back afterwards. No stress for anyone. I have been invited to weddings with no transport and i find it quite bad manners to be honest if there is such a distance like you say