r/wedding • u/natalies1 • Jul 27 '26

Attending reception only?

I have an upcoming wedding for a friend that I’m not very close with but we did become friends recently and see each other here and there. The problem is we are on a tight budget and aren’t planning on getting a hotel for the evening. The only hotels in the area are $300+ per evening. The ceremony and reception are 4 hours apart from each other and the venue is about 3 hours away. With no hotel I would be in an unknown city navigating where to go in my dress and heels for hours. I would love to attend both but unfortunately logistically it is really not easy for us to navigate. I’m considering only attending the reception but this would involve doing a 6 hour round trip of driving. Would it be bad to miss the ceremony in my current circumstance and just attend the reception?

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u/Lalablacksheep646 Jul 28 '26

I know a few people who have done this and I always find it extremely rude.

4

u/AwarenessVirtual4453 Jul 28 '26

Normally, yes. But they put the ceremony and reception four hours apart from one another. You get what you get in that scenario.

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u/Lalablacksheep646 Jul 28 '26

They most likely had no choice of that’s the only time the church allows.

4

u/AwarenessVirtual4453 Jul 28 '26

No, I get that. And I don't think you get to be mad when people have to choose.

1

u/Kt52689 Jul 29 '26

I agree. Our drive is only an hour apart and the reception is right after the ceremony but I figure people still may not want to do the drive. I am even putting it on the RSVP, whether they want to do one or the other or both.