Wedding+Distance=Crazy difficult. Ideas?

Question

My fiance and I are facing an issue with planning a wedding.
We live in the lower peninsula of Michigan (Cadillac, if you want to mapquest it or something). My friends and immediate family are local to us currently, as well as 2 hours to the south. His family and closest friends, however, are located in the upper peninsula, close to Wisconsin--about an 8 hour drive. The problem this presents is: Where should we have our wedding? If we did it in one place or the other, it would obviously be difficult for the side furthest away. The idea of doing it somewhere in the middle is possible, but I've been involved in planning two weddings, and I would not look forward to the added difficulty of planning one 3 or 4 hours from the venue.
Luckily, our engagement shall be long, so we're not tied to any sort of real deadline right now. Even so, we'd like to work out some solutions before it the date is dangerously close. Anyone who has been through a similar situation, or simply has some ideas?

Answer 1

Not sure how much money you have budgeted for your wedding, but how about getting married at Castle Farms up in Charlevoix, MI. I personally have never been there, but the pictures on the website are just beautiful. You can have both the ceremony and the reception in the same place. It's about 2 hours north of Cadillac. You can even go on a virtual tour on the site. Check it out: http://www.castlefarms.com/index.cfm

If you don't want to go with a full service place like this somewhere in the middle, I would just recommend having it locally. It will make your life a whole lot easier. Most everyone had to drive about 2 hours to get to my wedding. I probably should have had it over in Muskegon/Grand Haven, where most of my family lives, but I just loved the place I found in Battle Creek. Plus I live in Battle Creek and it just made my life easier.

If you have it far away you will have to transport all of your supplies to that location. Could be difficult and what if you forget something. If I forgot something I only need to drive or have someone drive about 10-15 minutes to get it. So I would think about that in your decision too.

Congratulations! And Good Luck!

Answer 2

Try to find a location that is middle ground for the furthest away (from the sounds of it that should land it somewhat close to your current location, but this is a guess since I dont know Michigan well) then if you can find a good wedding planner for a decent price to help you, get one. Destination weddings are not unusual, however most places that specialize in them have a planner already set up for your use... this is one time you wouldnt get that advantage. If you cannot afford a planner (often they can save you costs equal to that of their service, so be sure to ask them that) then plan on making alot of calls (possibly long distance) and at least a few drives there... go for a smaller town to save on costs and get better deals... smaller towns will generally cater to your whims a little more as well.

Good Luck

Answer 3

Your wedding is your wedding...no matter the distance, both families will come to celebrate with you. Talk with your fiance about your concerns and see what he has to say about things. There is always the possibility of hiring a wedding planner to assist with the long distance aspects, should you choose to have your wedding in the middle or closer to his family. The only things you will really need to take care of, regardless of distance, would be the ceremony and receptions sites, florist and caterer. Everything else: invites, attire, menu options, can be done from your local area. It is much easier to get a wedding dress and other attire at a boutique close to you and then transport it later.

Answer 4

Unless you're prepared to hire a wedding planner, you need to hold the ceremony and reception local to where you are--and no more than an hour north or south of you. Obviously, the farther north, the more fair to his family. So much goes into the planning and much of it needs to be done in person. Trust me on this one. Just do all you can to assist out of towners with finding hotel rooms and rental cars. Create a wedding website with helpful info (like hotel contact info, ceremony directions, etc) if you have the time. And assign someone local to be the OOTs' caretaker --someone they can call for assistance while trying to navigate the area, find a place for dinner, etc. Check out theknot.com and weddingchannel.com too; especially the message boards. They will save your life.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

You plan the wedding from where you are, because then your church will be your home church, etc. and all arrangements are easier to be done locally.