would it be ok to ask people to travel for reception?

I would say that this depends on your guests. To travel across the country for an evening do may be too much of a stretch for some.

We are eloping and inviting family and friends to a party at a later date. We cannot afford to host an all day party so it will be evening only and many people will have to travel if they attend as we have friends and family from all over the uk (I don't expect any friends abroad to come). I hope that a fair few do come, and given our decision to elope and circumstances I don't feel this is cheeky. However, I would understand and accept that some wont come that might have come for a "wedding".

So no, not cheeky. But consider if you might be upset by some people not attending maybe?

I am firmly in the camp in do what you want to do when it comes to your wedding. So if you want to have the reception further afield then go for it but be prepared for some people not to be able to come.

How far are either of the locations from where you live? Personally I'm always up for a good shindig wherever but I don't have any kids/dependants and get a fairly generous leave allowance from work so happy to turn these kinds of things into a little weekend break.

We live in Austria and are asking our guests to come over for the wedding. To be honest we are not expecting most people to be able to come due to cost of flights and hotel but we do understand this. All of our guests are invited to the wedding as well as the reception though.

So you're effectively just asking people to the evening do?

I don't think it's unacceptable to ask, but you have to accept that you will probably have a higher decline rate than normal. I have travelled quite a long way to weddings before now (London to Scotland/Lake District - the Scottish one was further but took less time because we flew!) but always for the whole day. I probably wouldn't go so far just for an evening invitation unless it was someone I was very close to.

I also don't think it's unacceptable but be prepared for people to be unable to come :-) You might have to practice your best 'we completely understand if you can't come' face. Lol

To be honest, as a guest, I would only be willing to make a long journey if it was for the entire wedding. It's a very long way to go for a party, so I would probably, regretfully, make my apologies and not come. For the entire wedding - different story - I would, as long as funds permitted, be more inclined to have a weekend away and enjoy the occasion.

Only you can judge your family and friends however, and they may be financially better off than I am! I suggest you ask as many of them as possible what their thoughts are and judge it on that basis x

Thanks for all the replies.

I don't mind/understand if people can't make it, as like some of you said it is a expense for people to travel for just a reception. I know the important people (close family) will go out there way to make sure they are there.

i just wasn't sure if it's unreasonable to hold the reception so far away and only invite them to the reception?

i think if we did do this it would be at the isle of white and that would be a 2-3 hour (including ferry time) drive.

Personally I do think it's a tad unreasonable just for the evening reception, but only if you expect people to come, especially if you've got things like ferries involved. Could you rething and maybe reduce your evening numbers and increase the full day numbers?