Boat ride as part of wedding day

I have been on a boat cruise down the River Severn in Bristol. It was a nice way for the bride and groom to mingle with the guests before arriving at the restaurant. It was beautiful but quite cold but would be worth doing.

My friend did something similar on the Norfolk broads. They got married at 11am then coached guests to the boat, we had lunch (sandwiches, picnic food and mini desserts) on the boat, then we coached it to the hotel for a drinks reception, wedding breakfast and traditional evening bit. I'd say do it if you want but you might want to take account of the extra time needed and possibly more food/drink you'll have to provide

Sounds good to me - but then, I agree with Ratty about messing about in boats.

Go for it. It will be memorable and magical.

Something similar. Went to a wedding breakfast at a hotel in York then followed by a disco and buffet on a boat travelling up and down the river. it was a lovely summer evening. Not sure if I would have thought the same in bad weather though.

We got married on friday. We rode on a steam train then went on a boat up the River Dart. Everyone thought it was fantastic. We did have our evening reception on it though - not sure if that would be the sort of thing you would like to do. I would definately have had the cruise, even if we just rode on it for an hour then had gone somewhere else for food.

It makes for some lovely photos too.

We've covered a few weddings in the lakes where they've had a lake cruise as part of the day, always really nice but it can get cold as it's often windy out on the lakes. What time of year are you getting married? I may be wrong but I don't think you can go on a lake cruise on Bassenthwaite so it'd need to be Derwentwater. Worth asking your venue what they'd recommend. The best time for it is usually after your meal as you're unlikely to have time beforehand ?

Thanks for the replies. We have our own canal boat and my parents do so we thought it would be a good idea. Since our venue overlooks bassenthwaite lake we thought we could just nip down there but you're right you can't sail on this lake so the nearest is derwent water. We thought of having a vintage bus or double decker to take us all down after the meal but before the evening but I'm a bit worried about timings ( we are getting married at 12) and originally didn't want a lot of people waiting around. We are getting married early August so were hoping for good weather!

Honestly? It sounds like a total faff. At the end of the meal everyone will be relaxed and enjoying themselves, I can't imagine theey will then want to be bussed to a lake and made to stand on a cold boat for an hour. Can you tell I HATE boats? ?

With you getting married at 12 I think you'd have plenty of time after your meal. Depends how long a lake cruise you're after, have you contacted any of the boat hire companies to see what they can do? Not sure if there are any restrictions on sailing times, with it being later in the afternoon you may be able to hire one of the boats that they usually use for tourists. The good thing is you can get fairly close to the lake on a bus too so people won't have to walk far, that's assuming you go from the main launch site anyway.