How far is too far to travel on your wedding day?

[ZingyPeachDog]

Our current plan is to marry at a beautiful Grade II listed registry office in the town where we had our first date and got engaged, before travelling 22 miles to our evening party. The journey could be anywhere from 40 minutes to just over an hour, it will be rush hour so likely to be more near the longer end.

For some context - we’re not having a traditional wedding, just a very small ceremony with parents followed by a big, casual reception a couple hours later.

Another option is to have our ceremony at the reception venue, which is possible, but would cost £300ish more and lacks the sentimentality.

Do you think this amount of travelling will be annoying on the day, will we be stressed about timings, will our outfits wrinkle, is there anything else that I’m not thinking of that makes this a silly idea? Or is it quite usual to travel on your wedding day?

It sounds very unusual and I wouldn't want to be in a car for an hour on my wedding day, personally. Most people have their reception very near the ceremony location if not at the same place.

I wouldn't like it as I dislike travelling (car sick) so it wouldn’t be for me but from what your saying it's only you and parents doing the travelling so as long as as you are happy.

Few thoughts-

Are you wearing a corset or tight fitted dress as that may be uncomfortable? Also a hooper underskirt.

How far is the venue from where you’ll be staying the night? Also how far will it be from the majority of your guests? I don’t think an hour journey there would be absolutely horrendous if that’s what you want to do, it’s the getting home for everyone that I’d worry about.

How far is the reception from most of the guests? Everyone will want to leave early if its an hour home.

I'd try to get the reception closer tbh.

I think it could be nice!! Get one of the giant private taxis for the long transfer - they're normally stocked with drinks / snacks, then you get to enjoy some time with your new spouse! I'd happily travel that far for a friends wedding.

We got married in a castle and travelled to a medieval banqueting hall about 12 miles away. We set off in a horse and carriage leaving guests to have photos taken and drink champagne, and we swapped to a car after 4 miles. The guests left after we had switched to the car and they went in a coach. We had 4 mini busses take guests home at various points. A few much older people went home after the daytime meal. Some went home after a couple of hours of evening party. Some went home a couple hours later and the rest stayed until the end. It meant no one had to drive so all could drink. I thought 12 miles was ok.

We did that.
Wedding ceremony 20
Miles away from the night do.
But- it was a very small group of guests at the wedding, and was my childhood home. Everyone was fine about it- probably as most of the guests lived in the city of the evening do- so we're back home then.

I once attended the very small wedding of a very close friend,.who chose a registry office 25 miles away for similar reasons. 10 miles of motorway, 15 miles of slower roads.
The reception/meal/evening do was in a fabulous location 1 mile from us, which is also a wedding venue!
Most people were either local to us, or lived the other side of our town, which made the chosen registry office even further away. Sorry but-
It was a fucking pain in the arse. We had to leave early, to drive 1.25 hours in heavy Saturday traffic to the registry office. Then turn around after ceremony and photos, (1.5hours max) for a 1.25 hour drive back in all our wedding finery, on empty stomachs - we pulled into a mcds for drive through cups of tea!
By the time everyone got to the meal/evening venue we were all fed up.and hungry.
The main conversation in the evening was about how bizarre it all was.
Don't do it!

This is one problem i'd be chucking money at to be honest.

Enjoy the day, don't spend it driving on busy a roads when you don't have to.

It sounds great - it's not like you're making all the reception guests do the travelling.
Definitely a bit much if they were doing it but you and your parents will be fine. Totally worth it to do it in the special place. Congratulations

We got married in a church close to home and then had the reception at a beautiful rural venue an hour away. I really enjoyed that hour in the car with my new husband. No one complained, everyone came knowing where each part was.

300 is nothing for making your wedding day flow better. Just do it at the same place.

@autisticbookworm its just a slip style satin dress so I’m not worried about comfort, I’ll be sat to eat later anyway, more worried about it creasing!

Sounds like a bad idea to me.

I had my wedding and reception on the same place it was great. Nobody got stuck in traffic, nobody had to travel in middle of it and it meant that everyone saw us get married instead of having two tiers of guests. The day ran very smoothly.

@Hercisback1 part of the reason we’re doing it this way (in our nearest city) is because my partner’s from the other side of the country and all of his family and a lot of our friends are spread about, so a location with good transport and hotels was important (we live rural). People don’t seem to be bothered by the location - hotels are cheap and there’s lots to do, plus every wedding we’ve been to we’ve also had to stay over so among our friends it’s quite normal. My concern is more with the travel for us and our immediate family and whether on the day we’ll feel like it’s a huge faff, not worth the lovely ceremony venue!

But no one is travelling between the venues apart from the OP, her husband and her parents. Unless I’m misunderstanding, everyone else is just going to the party.

I think it sounds fine, OP.

@Skigal86 thats reassuring! I imagine it is nice to have some quiet time with your new spouse on the day

I had a corset not comfortable for sitting!! You could ask a friend to take a steamer and nip to steam it if necessary.

I'd avoid a journey that long with potential for delays. It will interrupt the flow of the day and you'll just want to get on with celebrating not being stuck in a vehicle.

Keep it simple and avoid having to travel to the reception.

Another alternative is to have your wedding ceremony a few days before the reception.

I think you might regret having the travelling time in your day. Wedding days go so fast and I think you’ll just want to be there to enjoy it. Also the risk of delays/hold ups would put me off as you want to feel as relaxed as possible.

I think the two options are:

Have your wedding ceremony at the nice registry office sometime in the week before the wedding, as it’s only a small group of you and the venue is meaningful. You could have a meal together after or a glass of champagne! Then on your wedding reception day you’ll be relaxed at the venue and ready to enjoy the celebrations!

If it’s more important for you to get married on the day then I don’t think the £300 is a real barrier. Especially as you won’t need a car between venues. There are so many ways to make the ceremony personal and special to you both. Something I heard recently was a couple asked a friend to do a reading, with the friend to choose a reading that reminded them of the couple, so it was a surprise to the bride and groom.

You will give the reception place sentimentality by getting married there. That journey sounds a bit long and you could end up missing your own reception if there was bad traffic or an accident or the car broke down etc. Too much could go wrong.

BIL did similar, but they got married early in the day, travelled back toward the reception venue for a meal with just the ceremony guests, and then the evening reception.

I wouldn't want to be sat in a car for an hour on my wedding day. It's not like you had your first date in the register office, so in my opinion it's really no more sentimental than any other venue.

I'd do it in the same place- weddings go so fast, spending an hour in the car seems like a waste to me.

Worth considering any road traffic issues (closure, diversions or accidents) on the day that could add challenges and time delays to your journey.