Acceptable distance between venues?

Hi, we had a 16 mile distance between the church and reception, around a 30 minute car journey. We had a coach there and back for our guests, but some still chose to drive.

No one seemed to mind

4.5 miles is nothing - even given London traffic, especially if you put a bus on! Stick with it hun x

4.5 is nothing don't let your mum dishearten you. I haven't and will not discuss any wedding plans with my mum as she turns her nose up to everything. Her last remark was I don't think you realize how expensive weddings are, well duh I have planned it all and I know what we can afford.

My guests are travelling 40 minutes between venue and church around the M25, so yours is totally acceptable! It's the one day you're asking family to do this, most people are prepared to travel for a wedding and they're having a years warning so they can make arrangements. I'm not putting on a bus, and both sides of the family have already mentioned they may put on their own small minivan to transport; that's up to them, as i say they plenty of time to work out how to get there!

Agree with others, its absolutely fine. If the journey was nearing an hour, its getting a bit much, but 25mins- seriously!

Getting lost in the past, hustle & congestion in London can make people fearful of driving here (I live here too). Is your mum worried how she will get here from Kent? Its only one day, and if you can get someone to ensure your mum gets to London, I cant see she should have a problem.

Yep, a bus works brilliantly. We've been guests at a wedding that did the same thing in London, and we hired a bus in Northumberland to move our guests from the ceremony and breakfast venue to the evening party. It worked brilliantly in both settings.

Because you get everyone together it doesn't feel like breaking up the party, which car journeys will. Also and pulling everyone into a tighter space for a while seems to fire up the excitement a bit. Also they all arrive at the next venue at the same time so you know where everyone is, you aren't worry about latecomers getting lost.

Ours was decorated inside with pew end flowers, streamers and pompoms and it was a real wow moment when the guests got on board. The decoration was done by a wedding stylist for £250 and it was worth every single penny.

Thank you all so much, you've really reassured me!! Glad to know others are having people travel. I just don't see how it would be avoidable unless we got married next door to the Church (which is a not very nice pub). Or didn't get married in our Church, which is important to both of us.

I'm hoping that the bus could be quite fun, they'll travel over Tower Bridge, so would be quite a scenic route!

Sky6925, that doesn't sound like much fun. I thought all mums were supposed to be super happy and cry at the thought of their daughters getting married?!

Teal, my mum drives all the time and drives to see me in London. She doesn't drink at all, so it wouldn't even be a problem for her getting to/from anywhere as she'd be happier driving herself than someone else driving her!

Bettybubble, that's a great idea. I would definitely try to make the bus part of the day and decorating it like that sounds amazing!

I've travelled a lot for other people's weddings and never had a problem at all, even travelled to Poland for one last year and had to navigate the rural Polish countryside.

Feel much happier now though ?

4.5 miles isn't anything especially with a bus for everyone!

You might find that your mum maybe had ideas of her own for your wedding (and might have been picturing them for a while) which may explain why she is kicking up a fuss!

I think with a bus it would be fine. I would be very wary of letting people loose driving in London, especially if they are not familiar with it. 4.5 miles is not very far but it can be very confusing and the chances of your convoy staying together are virtually nil. Also, would there be adequate parking at both venues?

Your mum is being silly if she doesn't think a bus is acceptable, but I do think she has a point about the driving. I lived in London for 5 years and still hate driving there.