The drive from ceremony to reception

I don't think 20-45 minutes is too far. I've heard of further.

That is tough I would say try to keep in under a half hour! Also I think it depends what is on the way and what is around the new location

I had faced this possible dilemma when we were discussing venues. In my research, I found that around 30 mins is the farthest that it is polite to ask guests to drive. I also felt that that was the farthest I would feel comfortable asking my guests to drive from ceremony to reception. However, there are many weddings where guests have to travel an hour to get to the reception. Or, there are also many weddings where the reception is HOURS after the ceremony and the guests need to occupy themselves between.

From the distances you mentioned, I think those reception spaces will be fine. As always of course, it is what you are most comfortable with.

Rent a party bus

I would say no more than 30 minutes. Any more than that, I think would be rude to ask your guests to drive, because you have to remember that they still have to drive home or to a hotel, and there will likely be people who drove an hour or two to come to the wedding, only to have to drive that plus the extra 30 minutes to get home again at the end of the night.

Anything longer than 20 min is a drag to me. And I mean 20 min total, not "20 in theory but with traffic it's 45".

ETA: Of course, as a guest, I have driven longer, and when it's been a bride who had a special reason like getting married in the church she was raised in or who had to change venues last-minute, I think it's understandable.

We have driven out of state to attend weddings and we had to stay in a hotel. We then had to drive to the church and again to the reception. However, in BOTH cases the hotel was closer to the reception hall.

You have no idea how helpful this was! Not only was it easy to tote some tipsy groomsmen back to the hotel early and then return to the reception, but we were really tired after the reception so having less than a 10 minute drive was great.

I would say if you could get your reception venue closer to where people would be returning to a hotel/home/interstate ramp that would be better. I think about 30 minutes is acceptable in terms of driving from your ceremony site to a reception venue.

Our ceremony and reception are 45 mins apart. Thing is, most people live closer to the reception than the ceremony so most of them will be closer to home by the end of the night. We didn't want to do this originally, but our reception venue near the ceremony fell through.

Our venues were 7mi apart and no one complained cuz the bar and food was open upon arrival. They didn't have to drive and then wait longer

I don't think 30-45 min. Is to far to travel. Our reception and hotel is 10 min. In distance but our ceremony is 40 min. from both. It will be wiser to have the reception and hotel in close proximity in case off intoxicated guests.

I think it would be fine if its 30-45 min that is what the exact time should be not more than that though.

I'd keep it under 30 minutes.

I did a little over an hour once and that was way too long, I'd say under a half an hour would be best. In my case though it was a little different, they were LDS and getting married at a temple so only family, bridesmaids, and groomsmen were there (I was a bridesmaid and waited outside the temple since non LDS members aren't allowed inside.) Since most of her guests were only going to the reception she had it back where most of her friends lived which was a bit far from the temple. So in unique situations (like the fact that your reception site was just taken away from you) I think it's okay if you need to push it a little farther. I'd just appreciate having a hotel nearby I think.

I think it depends where you live. If it's a rural area and everything's far you can have people drive further (that was the case with all of my cousins' weddings and you don't notice). In an area where things are close I'd say keep it within a half hour or so.

Ours is about 25 mins apart 30 at most. But it is a metro area and nearly all highway. Nobody I have told has a issue with it. Its the nicest venues for the price too.

We had to drive an hour between the church and the reception when my cousin got married. I didn't mind THAT much, but it was a haul. I didn't have kids at that point though so it wasn't an inconvenient as it may have been otherwise.

I'd probably try to keep it to no more than 30 minutes.

Try to keep it under 30 minutes if you can AND have the hotel closer to the reception than the ceremony

I've never had to drive too far (no more than 20 minutes) but I've now been to 2 weddings where there was 3 or 4 hours between ceremony and reception and that drives me nuts as an out of town guest who has nowhere to go. So I would say if there's a distance between the 2 locations make sure your guests can go to the reception immediately after and don't take 2 hours for photos plus the drive. In my opinion that's the rude part. I once went to a wedding with FH where the ceremony was at noon and dinner wasnt served until 7:30. That I thought was terrible.

I have the same problem with the hotel I booked. I booked 2 hotels, but the one I'm staying in has shuttle service. So, I'm suggesting that guests drive from hotel to ceremony THEN back to the hotel where they can catch a shuttle to the reception. Could you do something like that?

I would say to try and keep it under 30 minutes. Also, ensure the hotel block is closest to the reception space. I would also provide transportation for the guests so they don't have to drive. You could provide it for the whole thing (hotel, to ceremony, to reception, hotel) OR just provide it after the ceremony (guests go back to the hotel, get picked up and taken to the reception and brought back to the hotel).