Is this too much travelling? Opinions much appreciated

dm1465

Hi all. Wondered what your views were on the following idea. My fiance and I are due to be married in April, have booked the venue which is in Bristol, getting married later in the day so we are just going straight into the evening celebration and straight through. We have been looking for a venue which could accomodate about 150 guests for the party, and a 5 piece band with other musicians joining in (friends of the groom lol). It struck us that we actually have the perfect venue as my fiance owns a pub which would be ideal, the buffet would be at cost, and exactly what we want on it, the only other cost would be the staff, so very MSE! However the snag is that the pub is in another town about 45 miles away.
If you were coming to a wedding would you think it was strange to then have to travel to another town for the "do". We were thinking that we would pay for a coach to take guests from the ceremony down and then back again. OH thinks if people want to come it wont be a problem, Im worried about the travelling, but Im in a quandry not wanting to put people off. Should add it is all friends, only 3 relatives between us lol!!
Thanks for reading my waffle if you have made it this far!
xx deb xx

ICATQ

I have been to a number of weddings where the church/registry office we some distance from the venue. Never been a problem.

The only snag might be parking - but you have thought of that.

Just leave enough time for people to get from A- B.

not_tonight_josephine_2

erm, TBH I might find it slightly odd (sorry!) but it wouldn't bother me in the slightest if there were coaches arranged there and back

dm1465

They could stay at the pub we have 8 letting rooms (obviously wouldnt charge them though lol). We also know other pub/hotel owners with rooms who would do them at a reduced rate if people wanted to make a weekend of it. We are only having the actual ceremony and drinks while photos are being taken at the venue as they couldnt accomodate the evening party it was too big.

picklepick

Could you not have the ceremony at somewhere closer to the pub or is that not an option?

I'd find it a bit odd aswell to be honest. Also i know some of my friends wont step foot on a coach after being in a coach accident when we were at school, but thats another matter altogether!

I'd also have to have a coach back aswell im afraid and not just one way to the pub haha id feel stranded

Lorne

It is a lot easier for people if things are close together. I was at a wedding last year where the do was about an hour away from the ceremony. We were staying near the do and had 2 hours of travelling back and forth, folk were getting lost on the way to the do and the function felt a bit rushed as were being chased out of one place to travel to the next. Wouldn't be my preference but I can see what you mean about having the perfect venue. Could the ceremony be moved closer?

dm1465

Thanks all, we did look at moving the ceremony but apart from the fact that the place we have booked is very special to me for lots of reasons we have already paid a £500 non refundable deposit.
Picklepick, we are going to pay for the coach both ways, sorry if I didnt explain that! Also give people the option of driving down and staying over if they prefer.
Think we need to think this through again

frannyann

I went to a friends wedding a few years back. The evening 'do' was across the road from the church, BUT about a month before the wedding the place hosting the 'do' tried to do over my friend by almost doubling the final price. He clearly thought she would have no option but to 'cough up', little did he know my friend who promptly accepted the deposit back (as offered as a threat!!) She managed to find a vineyard to host the evening do, BUT it was a good 45mins drive away from the town where we'd all booked rooms. She booked coaches to and from the vineyard. No-one pulled out and she actually preferred the 'last minute' choice as did we!

lilian1977

Will the coach be doing a lot of trips back? As if not you will need to think about people who need to leave early etc.

Where in Bristol are you getting married? We're marrying in April as well at the registry on Corn Street, and we're also having a late ceremony and going straight into the evening!

ncv2

I think 45 miles is WAY too far.
It's great that you will have coaches, but what if people want to leave early? I would think many people would skip the beginning part of the day or skip the evening.

Can you change the ceremony venue?

ema_o

I think it also depends on the travelling time, if it is 45 mins on good roads that would be fine, if it is a 2hr coach trip that might be a bit more difficult.
We went to a wedding where the venue was more like 35 miles away, the church was close to where we live so we went straight there then drove to the reception, we stayed over (as most people did) and it was no bother.