My partner and I just got engaged! We are trying to decide where to get married, and are considering the church around the corner from our house and a reception venue about 15 minutes walk from that. We are not regular church goers, so no tie to this particular church. I can’t decide if it’s a good idea.
Pros
Nearby – don’t need accommodation
Most of our friends are near-ish and wouldn’t need accommodation either
Public transport is good, or there is parking at the reception venue if people drive
It’s where we live so it’s meaningful to us (we don’t really have any other meaningful location as a couple)
There is a Premier Inn nearby for people coming from further away
Cons
It might not feel as special and might be a bit of a let down to just ‘go home’ at the end of the day – for us and guests!
It might be difficult to arrange transport for such a short distance between the church and the venue, but it’s probably too far to walk – especially if it rains, plus there’s no parking at the church
There will be a mass exodus at 11:00pm (maybe earlier) as people head off to get the last train
It’s close enough that friends won’t stay, but far enough away that it will be a bit of an annoying journey home late at night for lots of them
No ‘after drinks’ as you might get if lots of people were staying at the venue/ in a nearby hotel
No morning after breakfast as above
It’s a fair-ish distance to a nice hotel if people wanted to stay in one of those
