I am considering a place that is about an hour away. Is that too far and annoying for everyone to sit in the limo getting their dresses all wrinkled etc.?
Olgaki
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Re: How far is too far from church to reception?
Depending on what day your wedding is, people might leave really early because they would have to 'commute' back to their homes. I've heard the site should be no further than 25-45 minutes from the church because people have to drive all the way to the church, drive all the way to the reception and then all the way home. Just be reasonable and everyone should be ok!
butterfly20
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Re: How far is too far from church to reception?
a wedding is a one day only event so they dont have to be close together, but to respect the guests i would say only upto 45 minutes away
before I opened this...i asked myself...how long would I be willing to drive...I said...about an hour...but thats me...I could see some guests complaining...but who cares...right?
and make sure you look into the traffic situation...even though its saturday...traffic is awful at certain times in LI
VickiC
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Re: How far is too far from church to reception?
Ours was about 45 minutes. I've gone to NJ on a Sunday for a wedding. If people want to come, they will make the effort to be there.
ChristineC68
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Re: How far is too far from church to reception?
I dont think an hour is too far. For me traffic would be more annoying then distance, but theres nothing anyone can do about it, so I would go with what you want to do.
good luck planning
SeptemberBride03
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Re: How far is too far from church to reception?
I'd try to keep the church and hall within 30-40 minutes. I have traveled far to weddings, but once you get there, you don't want to travel again to the hall. I really wanted to look at Vineyard Caterers for my wedding, but I wanted the ceremony in my church and due to the distance (approx an hour drive) - I didn't even look there. I believe that its your wedding day and you should do what you want, but you still have to consider your guests.
Sandy&Ben
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Re: How far is too far from church to reception?
my reception site is about one hour away from the church; however, most of my guests will be coming from out-of-town and the hotels are near the reception site. so i realize there is a chance that the church may not be packed, but since it is a small church, i'm fine with that. consider which is more important to you (church or reception attendance) and choose hotels near that site.
CopacabanaBride
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Re: How far is too far from church to reception?
My personal view is that, if you set up the timing correctly, most people will not have a problem with it.
I had a 1:30pm ceremony in Queens and a 5pm reception in NJ (45 min without traffic, well over an hour with traffic). It worked out for both my guests from each state, since the NY'ers just went home and headed to NJ later and the NJ'ers went home as well and WE had a lot of time to take pictures :) and extra time just in case of traffic.
Annieb
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Re: How far is too far from church to reception?
Is it an hour with traffic or without? I know in LI the traffic is HORRIBLE on weekends and an hour away can mean two hours in reality.
I wanted to have my wedding at Tappan Hill in Tarrytown and I live in long island...that would be about an hour with traffic. My parents thought that was horrible and would not let me do it...
But, in the end, it is your day...if people don't want to travel they may just decide not to go to the church.
Valenia
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Re: How far is too far from church to reception?
I think an hour would take some of the momentum out of the day for the guests. I don't think it would be nearly as pleasant as somewhere closer.
HappyEverAfter
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Re: How far is too far from church to reception?
Our wedding reception is about 40 minutes from our church, without traffic (I figure about an hour w. holiday traffic). I dont think its an issue at all. I have driven to Philadelphia for weddings, and had receptions that were over an hour from the church. I never even thought twice about it. I dont really know what momentum you would be losing, I dont think people come running out of the church ready to party JMO.
