Community› Wedding Discussion Boards› Wedding Etiquette Forum
Wedding Etiquette Forum
New Discussion

Transportation! Not sure where else this can go

ellamberellamber member
First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
in Wedding Etiquette Forum
So transportation from the hotel to the venue is not provided, and not currently in my budget for all guests. I was planning on getting transportation for the wedding party. 

A few vendors and unsolicited people with opinions mentioned they'd be concerned about liability with guests potentially driving drunk. Is this something I need to find money in my budget for? I would hope that adults know how to be responsible but I don't want anyone getting hurt (or worse) either. 
Report Reply to Post

Re: Transportation! Not sure where else this can go

  • ei34ei34 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    What the heck?! You're definitely not liable god forbid anyone gets in an accident.
    Report Reply
  • ellamberellamber member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    Ok. I have had caterers mention it (I'm not sure why, maybe theyre concerned?) but its definitely not in the budget right now. There is uber and lyft in the area, so that is an option.
    Report Reply
  • CasadenaCasadena member
    First Comment First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited August 2017
    Are you providing your own alcohol or is it through a caterer/venue?  If you're providing, often you ARE liable.  Just read your contracts carefully.  It's very easy to get a supplemental liability insurance policy for a reasonable price.

    ETA: that being said, it is absolutely not your responsibility to provide transportation.  The insurance policy isn't cheap and gave us a little More comfort around the subject.
    Report Reply
  • MesmrEweMesmrEwe member
    First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited August 2017
    I'm no lawyer but generally only if the wedding is at your house/on your property are you potentially liable.  

    Transportation is not your responsibility for your guests nor wedding party.  
    Report Reply
  • ellamberellamber member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    We are supplying alcohol to the caterer, who has a bartender they employ that will be serving it. So yes, but it is being served by them. 
    Report Reply
  • charlotte989875charlotte989875 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Are cabs available in the area along with uber/left? If so then this is not something you need to provide. If there isnt sufficient local transportation and you have a number of people from out of town I would say it's nice to have something back and forth, bimut not required. 
    Report Reply
  • holyguacamole79holyguacamole79 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    ellamber said:
    We are supplying alcohol to the caterer, who has a bartender they employ that will be serving it. So yes, but it is being served by them. 
    Your caterer's bartender should be trained in accordance with your local laws.  If a person were to drive under the influence, any liability should be on the bartender.

    I honestly can't think of a wedding I've attended where transportation was provided for all guests from the reception to the hotel.  My experience is that the guests decide on a strategy of their own. 




    Report Reply
  • JediElizabethJediElizabeth member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited August 2017
    holyguacamole79 said:
    ellamber said:
    We are supplying alcohol to the caterer, who has a bartender they employ that will be serving it. So yes, but it is being served by them. 
    Your caterer's bartender should be trained in accordance with your local laws.  If a person were to drive under the influence, any liability should be on the bartender.

    I honestly can't think of a wedding I've attended where transportation was provided for all guests from the reception to the hotel.  My experience is that the guests decide on a strategy of their own. 

    Check your state and local laws regarding alcohol liability, then check your catering contract. 

    I have the opposite experience from @holyguacamole79. Most weddings I've been to in NJ and NY have provided transportation.

    We only provided transportation because it was included in both of our room blocks as long as we had 10 rooms booked by a month in advance. Check with your hotel about this - it seems standard in our area. 
    Report Reply
  • redoryxredoryx member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    holyguacamole79 said:
    ellamber said:
    We are supplying alcohol to the caterer, who has a bartender they employ that will be serving it. So yes, but it is being served by them. 
    Your caterer's bartender should be trained in accordance with your local laws.  If a person were to drive under the influence, any liability should be on the bartender.

    I honestly can't think of a wedding I've attended where transportation was provided for all guests from the reception to the hotel.  My experience is that the guests decide on a strategy of their own. 
    I've had it happen a couple of times recently and am going to a wedding at the end of the month where transportation is also being provided. We are having it, too, but only because it's included with the hotel block.
    image
    Report Reply
  • holyguacamole79holyguacamole79 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Interesting, @redoryx & @JediElizabeth ... Maybe this is a regional thing or I just happened to go to weddings that were exceptions to the norm?  The vast majority of the weddings I've attended were in Texas, but I have been to some in California & Ohio.  I don't have any experiences where transportation was covered when I was out-of-state (granted, I've been to maybe 4 weddings out of state).  

    I agree 100% though, that OP should consult her local laws regarding alcohol liability.




    Report Reply
  • ahoyweddingahoywedding member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    Double check your local laws, and maybe even ask your catering company if their insurance covers that. I've only been to one wedding that included transportation, and it was in DC where parking is a PITA. (Also everything about that wedding was OTT sooo). 

    Unless it's something you've seen at other weddings in your region or your group, it's usually not expected! We thought about doing a Lyft event code because our venue was a little tricky to get to, but ended up not doing it. That might be a little more budget friendly, if you're still worried about transportation. You set the drop off location (your venue) and a time range, then set a pick up time frame (from the same location). You can cover up to your choice of amount for each person, and you're only charged for the rides that are used. The only reason we didn't do it was because most of our OOT guests didn't use anything like that on a regular basis so we figured they wouldn't want to use it for the first time for our wedding.
    Report Reply
  • ei34ei34 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    holyguacamole79 said:
    Interesting, @redoryx & @JediElizabeth ... Maybe this is a regional thing or I just happened to go to weddings that were exceptions to the norm?  The vast majority of the weddings I've attended were in Texas, but I have been to some in California & Ohio.  I don't have any experiences where transportation was covered when I was out-of-state (granted, I've been to maybe 4 weddings out of state).  

    I agree 100% though, that OP should consult her local laws regarding alcohol liability.
    I don't think it's regional as much as maybe a social circle thing.  All but four of the weddings I've attended have been in NYC/LI, and I was only provided transportation twice- both times as a member of the WP, from the ceremony to the reception.  But never from the reception to home.  That's new to me.  
    Report Reply
  • Jen4948Jen4948 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    I have attended weddings in NYC/LI, Southern California and Texas, and was never provided with transportation from the reception back to my home or hotel. That was always my responsibility as a guest.
    Report Reply
  • ellamberellamber member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    I've been to a few, one a few weeks ago where transportation was provided. But it was a trek down back country roads. Our hotel definitely doesn't provide it, regardless, they dont even own a shuttle. 

    I will check the local laws and check with the caterer, there are also regular cabs available as well. I looked into doing a group code w/Uber but that's not available in my area yet. I think if we offered transportation we would definitely have some takers as many (most all) my guests are OOT but that's not something we will be able to consider until we are close to wedding day, if we have the extra room in the budget.
    Report Reply
  • ILoveBeachMusicILoveBeachMusic member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    For DD's wedding we provided transportation for guests staying at the hotels (some in town guests decided to stay at hotels) for the exact reasons @lyndausvi stated. Most guests were OOT, parking was limited at the venue and we didn't want people to have to worry about drinking and driving. It was easy for people to get cabs/ubers to the venue but not as easy to get them back to the hotels.
    Report Reply
  • MandTFebruary62011MandTFebruary62011 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    It also depends on where you are.  In Michigan, they changed the laws so that if you purchase the alcohol at a bring it yourself kind of venue, you are responsible to purchase insurance to cover your guests.  That includes if the alcohol is served by a licensed bartender (I would assume then your insurance rates would go down).  It's one of the main reasons we did not go with a DIY kind of venue.  It was too expensive.

    Definitely check out your state/local laws.
    Report Reply
Sign In or Register to comment.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards