Asking guests to walk between ceremony and reception

[Anonymous]

What is the gap between events?
is it immediately following?
are most of your guests from out of town?
are the 2 venues different because it is a church and a reception location or just a cool place that you liked?

[Anonymous]

Is the hotel the guests are staying at in a different location from the ceremony venue and the reception venue? Are most of your guests out of town and will they have their cars? Where exactly are they supposed to park for all of these venues? Are your guests familiar with the city or will they be wandering DC tipsy after the reception to get back to their hotel.

I think your answer is to suck it up and provide transportation.

[Anonymous]

No. Provide a shuttle.

[Anonymous]

You want people to walk ten minutes in fancy clothing in summer in DC? No.

[Anonymous]

If I attend a wedding I wear very high heels, and I do not do 10-minute walks in heels. I would uber if you didn't provide transportation.

[Anonymous]

You can do better, OP. Common sense, figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have health issues and would not be happy with you demanding we walk. I would drive to both places.

I don't think the OP sounds like she is going to be demanding people walk. Even if she doesen't provide transportation, people are still free to use it. I certainly would; I'm not walking 10 minutes in the summer heat while wearing wedding attire.

OP just make sure you clearly state the plan either way. Some people might not be able to afford their own transportation between venues but also aren't able to or don't want to walk. So some may opt-out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will guests have left their cars at the location of the ceremony? It's probably unreasonable to have people walk back to cars at night, especially because some will be drunk.

Ride share is fine for younger guests who don't want to walk.

Erm, surely the bigger problem here is that your guests will be driving drunk, not that they will be drunk walking 10 minutes to their car, right? RIGHT?

[Anonymous]

Reminds me of the four weddings episode where a cheap bride had her guest walk from a park to the restaurant in NYC at that and called it a love walk🥴none of her guest were happy! I’d either provide transportation to the second venue or ask that people see theirselves to the second venue

[Anonymous]

So we did this, and it was great, but the details are different enough that in your case, I probably wouldn’t.

Our walk was five minutes (just confirmed on google maps) and it was March, so not hot. The difference between 5 and 10 mins is a LOT. You’ve got to remember that city people like us walk five or 10 mins and it’s nothing. Suburb people? Older people? Even we got comments about it being a bit long. I would not do 10 mins, and certainly not in a DC summer.

Some things we did that I would recommend if you opted to move forward: We provided complementary flip flops for people to grab on their way out of the service in a variety of sizes if they had uncomfortable shoes. My DH and I led the whole wedding (150 people) in a festive little (very slow moving) parade, so there was no risk of getting lost. It was down 16th street two blocks and lots of cars honked and waved, it was really cool. We also had polled our older guests to see who might not be able to walk. Only my grandmother opted for a Lyft and we had a point person all set to get her into a Lyft and to the reception. Literally everyone else walked. We had a backup plan of buying a couple hundred cheap umbrellas from Amazon if the 5 day forecast predicted rain (it didn’t).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why I like the ceremony and reception to be held in the same place. It avoids all this whining!

It's not whining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Provide transportation - a shuttle that makes a few loops. If people want to walk instead they can do so, but at least the option is there for those who can’t.

+1 perfect solution

Yep. If budget allows, you should offer transportation. Aside from the people who really need the transport due to mobility issues or age, my husband would be a sweaty mess in a suit and I would be pretty bummed as the hair and make up I made an effort to do goes to crap and my feet either have blisters or I have to switch shoes to walk. Uber and Lyft are fine but not reliable everywhere. If your reception is a hotel where people will be staying, then a loop is a no-brainer but it still makes sense even if it's not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You will also have to provide directions to the reception. Out of towners aren’t going to know how to get there.

Everyone has a phone now and can look up the address. This isn't 1980 where people have to pull out a paper map. They will see it's a short walk away and can take an Uber if they don't feel like walking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am in the midst of planning a summer wedding. Our ceremony and reception are at different venues but the two are a ten minute walk from each other (five minute drive) and both in downtown DC. My usual instinct is that when a wedding has two venues, it's incumbent upon the hosts to provide transportation but I'm not sure if that's true here.
Would it be unreasonable to ask guests to walk from one venue to the next? Or otherwise make their own way?
I have not made my mind up either way so would love advice on balance cost (of transportation) and etiquette.

You described a similar DC walk route as Foggy Bottom Metro to the kennedy Center. All guests could be faced with parking or ubers at 2-3 locations: hotel, ceremony, reception. Even locals might stay at the hotel for socializing.

OP really has 3 venues if the hotel is not the same location as the reception. Provide transportation and if it;s not in the budget then reallocate your money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So we did this, and it was great, but the details are different enough that in your case, I probably wouldn’t.

Our walk was five minutes (just confirmed on google maps) and it was March, so not hot. The difference between 5 and 10 mins is a LOT. You’ve got to remember that city people like us walk five or 10 mins and it’s nothing. Suburb people? Older people? Even we got comments about it being a bit long. I would not do 10 mins, and certainly not in a DC summer.

Some things we did that I would recommend if you opted to move forward: We provided complementary flip flops for people to grab on their way out of the service in a variety of sizes if they had uncomfortable shoes. My DH and I led the whole wedding (150 people) in a festive little (very slow moving) parade, so there was no risk of getting lost. It was down 16th street two blocks and lots of cars honked and waved, it was really cool. We also had polled our older guests to see who might not be able to walk. Only my grandmother opted for a Lyft and we had a point person all set to get her into a Lyft and to the reception. Literally everyone else walked. We had a backup plan of buying a couple hundred cheap umbrellas from Amazon if the 5 day forecast predicted rain (it didn’t).

Cheap flip flops would be worse IMHO. No support.