Wedding Venue Miles Away

Is there a particular reason that you looked in Newcastle to begin with to justify your decision E.g. it is where you and your fiancé live, or it has special meaning? That way your guests understand and most expect some form of travel for weddings these days. My mum was quite keen that we get married in Scotland because that’s where my family all are, but I chose a location close to where we live now (South West). I wanted to be always involved in supplier meetings and planning, without travelling hours each time. Also, it was a good middle ground travel for people coming from even further South or London too. Once my mum saw our venue choice she got more on board and we aren’t covering any travel costs but most people are treating it like a holiday and having a few days exploring this part of the country around the wedding. I only get a few little comments here and there about how much easier it would be for her to help me if we had chosen Scotland!

I guess it's up to you, depending on how much you like the venue. Ours is 2 hours away for most people, but we've decided to provide overnight accommodation at the venue (the wedding is not that big). Although I have been to weddings myself that were further away and we had to pay for a night at a hotel. It just comes down to whether you decide it's worth it (how close you a re to the couple etc). It's your day, so I wouldn't compromise too much- people that are important to you will be there. If you were able to pay for a coach for people that might be a nice touch on your part, and might make people more likely to come.

What matters is what you both want i get the travel is long but if you provide transport then at least your thinking about others also go with what you both want xx💗

Just out of interest what is the venue? X

We are getting married in Scotland although live in the South of England. Our friends and family are dispersed all over so most would end up travelling and paying for accommodation either way. It is a place of meaning to us with some family links and an all round lovely place. We are also having quite a relaxed wedding so not necessarily seeing this as defining in terms of who our favourite people are: if they aren't able to come we completely understand and they're not getting crossed off the Christmas card list!


We started out by thinking about our core principles of the type of wedding we wanted to have and made sure that our venue worked. So far everyone is really excited to come up with us.
I might also suggest taking your mum's advice with a pinch of salt, or at least that's what I'm doing with my mum where ultimately her opinion stems from her views of what a wedding should be being different to mine.

Our venue is 20 mins from my house but many hours from most of my family because we live 5 hours away from where I was born and my parents still live. We have people coming from all over the UK and also two from Scotland so people will travel if they really want to be there. No one has made an issue of it to me. I get that it’s quite unusual to choose a venue away from your home as well but wherever you choose someone will end up travelling!

It's entirely up to you - the further away the venue is, the more likely a guest is to decline attending, so if the majority of your guests live a long way from the venue, you may have a higher than usual number of people declining the invitation. You need to weigh up how important the venue is v how important it is to have the majority of your guests attend.

Just don't be too upset when people say they can't make it, my wedding is only an hour away and people have made comments! X

I personally think this is YOUR DAY! And YOU should be happy with most things (I agree you might have to compromise on maybe food or something) but if I had found a venue that I just absolutely adored I wouldn’t hesitate, I think the people who love you and care would come and the people that don’t then they will be the ones missing out, its not like you’re asking people to travel abroad (which I’m doing btw😏) and they can share lifts and save money if money if a problem etc there is always a way! Hopefully this is your only wedding so you need to make sure you’re happy and doing this for you and not for other people

Personally I’d say this is your day and you should choose what you want. I’m sure they’re thoughts already running round your head & it doesn’t say in your OP how far you live away from the venue, but if you are also 5hrs away, I would be worried if it was me for all the trips I’d need to make to the area to get everything ready.

I’ve picked somewhere just short of 2hrs from me, and that has meant attending wedding fayres, finding caterers, venue decorators/florists, cake maker, hair/makeup artist all not in the area I live. I don’t mind as I can day trip a 4hr round trip, but I definitely don’t think I could if it was a 10hr round trip. Also the price of fuel & hotels to facilitate it, would be a whole other kettle of fish to add into the picture.

If you’re local (or more local) to the venue and it’s the family that is far away then I’d say go for it, but just have realistic expectations as to who will travel. My family & friends are all between 1hr & 2.5hrs (with a few exceptions) from my wedding venue & we’re having a smaller wedding with the evening do being the same guests as the day. None of this you have to do of course, it really is your day, I just hope it maybe adds a practical opinion in.
Such a tough decision & I hope you find the right decision that makes you comfortable, after that just ignore anyone who’s a misery moo about it! 😂

A lot of my H2Bs family is based all over (Scotland, for South etc), so I know some of them might not be able to come. There are plenty of hotels nearby though (which helped us choose between where we have selected and another venue), so hopefully some will be able to make it. Are there plenty of places to stay nearby for your venue?
Also, I once travelled to Malaysia for 3 ½ days for my friend's wedding (he lives over there). I couldn't imagine missing it, so I made it happen.
If you love the venue, go for it. It's your dream venue, and it is your big day. Good luck!

We're in a similar situation as our venue is in Cornwall and most of our guests live in/around London so that's about 5/6 away too!

However, we went for Cornwall is it's incredibly meaningful to us and our friends and family all know it's our favourite place - so I'd echo Kirsty's comment about this reasoning being crucial to pass onto your guests.

I'd also think about your date and being as kind to your guests here as possible, as a venue that far away sort of feels like a destination wedding. So, we made sure our wedding was on a Saturday (I know this ups the price for you horribly but I wholeheartedly think it's worth it in this situation!) as that meant that guests who choose not to make a holiday out of it could travel after work on Friday and during the day on Saturday - meaning that we weren't forcing them to use annual leave in addition to the two days accommodation they would need to fork out for in order to attend. We also went for a summer month as Cornwall's a popular holiday destination so we wanted our guests to feel like it might be a fun summer holiday if they wanted to make more out of being here - which a good number are choosing to do which is nice! - I'm not familiar with Newcastle so not sure how much time of year would affect how enjoyable a place it might be for your guests but something to think about.

Your nearest and dearest will in all likelihood make the effort no matter where you get married BUT the same might not be the case for those extended family members and less close friends. Think about your guest list size and consider opting for a smaller package so you're not left footing the bill for periphery friends who declined as they weren't willing to make the trip or spend the money on 2x nights accommodation. We've done this and are planning on putting our RSPV date fairly far in advance, so we can give any B list invites that we wind up with spots available for enough time to actually plan to be there.

In short: my advice is treat it like a destination wedding!

It should say "during the day on Sunday" on my post - not during the day that would be during the wedding on Saturday hahaha