Distance too far from ceremony to reception?

I don't think it's an unreasonable distance as long as you factor in the time it will take (and a bit extra) into your timings for the day. It's certainly not unheard of.

I think 38 minutes in itself is probably fine, but have you looked into it a little deeper?

It may be 38 minutes at best, but is the route prone to traffic, are there alternatives etc? Not to put you off, but it's good to have an idea of every scenario so you can plan for it accordingly and ensure you're still happy with it

Also make sure that travel times are well factored into your time line for the day- allowing more time for travel on paper than it actually takes to account for stragglers etc.

If you have suppliers who are with you from ceremony onto reception, also make sure there wont be additional travel charges from them.

What you've all said is somewhat comforting. Glad it doesn't sound unreasonable.

Tinkerbell, this would be my second worry in regards to travel, people getting home. The reception venue in question is Upton Country Park, near Poole in Dorset. There are multiple people coming from different areas of Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset that would potentially want to drive home, so whatever venue we choose they'd have that problem. If people want to stay (there are more family and friends coming from all over the country that will need to stay), there is a Premier Inn 2 miles away (a 5 minute walk, a 5 minute bus and a 15 minute walk away) or there is a bus direct to Poole town centre where there are multiple hotels. Either that, or you're looking at a £20 taxi to a hotel at a guess.

Hiya, Your dilemena sounds just like the one I have been having, I found a hotel and a church but there is a 45 min distance between them, I cannot find anything else that is suitable, I thought it was ok but my OH said it was too far and said what would happen if there is traffic etc. We are now going to do a practice run and if that works out ok I am going to go ahead with booking them both, when it comes down to it I will just factor in extra time in case there is traffic etc.

I found places I liked but didn't love that were about 30 mins away from the church and at the end of the day I just think for another 15 mins I could just have the venue I really want rather than compromising.

Our reception was 12 miles away from our ceremony. We didn't want people to have to faff around with taxis and driving, and it would have ruined our timings with people arriving at different times (and possibly a bit grumpy too) so we had a bus - it was only £250 and was well worth it!

A couple of years ago I went to a wedding where the ceremony was at their local church and then the rest at a venue about 22miles away (about a 30min drive). I dont think it was an issue for their guests (I only went to the church ceremony & evening reception so the drive was no different to driving to a friends party etc)

I would say the only issue about a bus is you would need to make sure there is one to take them back at the end of the night, and more often than not many of the guests would want to leave before the end, and so might need to do several different times back to their cars.

I think that the distance is not too bad, but you will just need to make sure you allow enough time for it.

I think it's ok. I went to a wedding last year where there was a bus to the Church from the venue and back again, it was a 45 min journey each way (the Church was in the centre of Birmingham and there was bad traffic) so everyone was hungry and needing the loo on the way back! I would have preferred a cupcake at the Church or a drink to ease the transition (our vicar is letting us do this at our wedding). Although it was a bit of a pain at the time it didn't spoil the day.

Thank you all so much, i feel much more confident doing this now than i thought i ever would!

Ruby, what company did you get the bus from? The quotes ive loomed at are nearly double The 250 you paid

Sorry, only just seen this. Yes they can be pricey - I originally wanted a vintage bus but couldn't justify upwards of a grand when our entire budget was only £5k!
We used the Green bus company - they may only be Midlands though. I'm sure you could give them a call and ask if they know of any near you
http://www.thegreenbus.co.uk/bus_hire/

PS - not all our guests used it, probably about 60 of them though so it was worth it!

We have certainly seen a trend of increasing distances to travel from the ceremony to the reception and half an hour to 45 mins travel is not unusual in our area (London /Surrey). As someone has mentioned here - plan timings carefully with contingency and advise non drivers to book taxis in advance for the following day with a useful lust if numbers.

I think this is ok - mine is about the same!

I shoot a lot of city weddings and that would be quite far in my books, BUT I spoke to a friend who is based out in the countryside and she said up to an hour was pretty normal between ceremony and reception venues, sometimes you gotta just do it that way to get the nice/ideal places to be married in! Another option is to have the ceremony in the same place as the reception, almost all venues that hold wedding receptions will have a marriage license,