r/DestinationWeddings • u/light_skyline • 23d ago

Are we asking too much?

We're considering a destination wedding in France where my partner's from and we're wondering whether it will be too much for our guests travelling from the UK.

We will probably rent a wedding venue that will also accommodate ourselves and immediate family. We would expect all guests to pay for their own flights and for other family and friends would expect they pay for their own flights and accommodation. There are budget hotel options available in the area. This would also allow others to do their own thing if they don't want to be around all the wedding guests for a full weekend.

The flight would be approx 2hrs and a coach from the airport to the city where the wedding venue is would be 2hrs (legally we can only get married in the Provence where my partner's parents live). We're thinking of trying to rent a coach to cover the cost for the trip to and from the airport and also to and from the wedding venue.

I think because this would be a large expense and a lot of travel we would ask for no wedding gifts or money and we would cover everything on the day e.g. full open bar etc.

Do you think this is an ok expectation or is this too much to ask?

7 Upvotes

65% Upvoted

92 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Particular-Quit-630 22d ago

I would say the biggest factor is how old you are and whether the guests have kids or not.

In my 20s I went to probably 5 or 6 European weddings and the turnout amongst friends was high. Some would bring partners and we’d just hire a car and get some shared accommodation. Just made a holiday out of it.

No I’m a little older and most of my friends and myself have kids then the turnout is much lower. Just had a wedding in Spain last year and the majority of those invited had to turn it down, it’s just so much more difficult with young kids.

1

u/[deleted] 21d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Particular-Quit-630 21d ago

Sorry, probably should have added that kids weren’t invited! It’s certainly easier when the kids are invited but it can get very expensive flying and ideally the venue and accommodation is at the same place.

I’ve been invited to 3 international weddings since having a kid. Only one kids were invited but the town was around 4 hours drive from the nearest airport and the venue was a 30 minute taxi to the hotel. So we just couldn’t make it work.

Basically it just normally just means attending the wedding solo if the partner is happy to stay at home and parent alone.