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Wedding Invitations & Paper
CarrieJo04
member
Insert for Shuttle?
CarrieJo04
member
We are hosting a shuttle to take guests from the hotel to the reception, about 15 minutes away, and back. How do I convey this to guests and find out approximately how many guests will utilize the shuttle? The bus rental company has a few sizing options so I want to make sure that we reserve the correct size.
I was considering an additional insert to the invite that says something along the lines of "Free shuttle running from XYZ Hotel to ABC Reception Location. If interested please email or call CJo at CJo@email.com or (123) 456-7891 by RSVP date."
I do have the info on our website, but I've heard from a number of family members "Oh I never look at those." So I worry that many guests won't see it.
What are your thoughts?
ETA words
I was considering an additional insert to the invite that says something along the lines of "Free shuttle running from XYZ Hotel to ABC Reception Location. If interested please email or call CJo at CJo@email.com or (123) 456-7891 by RSVP date."
I do have the info on our website, but I've heard from a number of family members "Oh I never look at those." So I worry that many guests won't see it.
What are your thoughts?
ETA words
Re: Insert for Shuttle?
Are you doing a traditional RSVP card? You could put a line under menu choices, something like "will utilize shuttle Yes/No"
I think the etiquette is to not add an insert, and just have the website.
Perhaps you could send an email? I went to a destination wedding recently where they offered busses to move us from the capital to the beach in Sri Lanka where the wedding was and that was all explained by email with other info. So that's an option.
Why exactly are you offering the shuttle? If it's before any possible drinking and only 15 minutes away do you need it?
If you're worried that people won't get the info then add the insert and maybe add a checkbox onto the RSVP return card.
Honestly, I would just book a shuttle size based on the size of the wedding. Assume most people will utilize it and do your size/time calculations from there.
I am confused. Are you having a ceremony? Where will it be held? How are the guests getting to that? Please explain.
PS. I am from Iowa. Where is your wedding?
I wouldn't count on RSVP's to let you know who's going to use the shuttle. People who don't think they'll drink may change their minds, and it's much better to be able to accommodate everyone. My nightmare situation was having a DD drink because they thought they could, and then not have enough space on the shuttles for everyone - especially if they then went ahead and drove to the hotel instead of calling a cab - so I'm VERY glad we overbooked instead of trying to save money on fewer seats.
We are having a ceremony, I'm sorry I didn't add that. It is at the church which is pretty close to the hotel. We thought this way anyone who wanted to use the shuttle could drop their cars off at the hotel before the reception, but if someone wanted to drive they could straight from the church. Does that make sense? Am I going about this backwards?
Are you familiar with NW Iowa? Our wedding is in Sioux City and reception is in Hinton.
Also, good point @JediElizabeth about DDs deciding to drink... I will definitely make sure to over book, just in case!
The shuttle is not necessary...and probably not worth the trouble at this point. You don't want to offer it and then it's not big enough, people are depending on it and waiting for it, but it's too small so it's too slow, etc.
Personally, I'd use the extra cash to upgrade the bar, add a passed app, get a couples massage on my honeymoon, go buy the purse I've been wanting..
My grandmother lived in Cherokee and Rockwell City. I lived all over the place, but finished high school in West Des Moines. DH is from WDM, too. Oh, those Okoboji summers!
@CMGragain Small world! Okoboji is where my MOH is planning to take me for my bachelorette party. We love it up there!
Taxi's in our area are a bit of a PITA so I understand that! We have a lot of guests coming from bigger cites to "the country." So similar in not being familiar with the area. Did your DD have a shuttle to the wedding as well? I'm not sure how it would work to just run the shuttle at night to take them to the hotel?
Can you have the shuttle from the hotel to the ceremony, ceremony to reception, and then reception to hotel? The only thing I think is a bit of a kink is that you have 3 locations. The majority of weddings I attend have the ceremony and reception in the same place so I'm not sure if this will be possible. Especially if you have a lot of partier guests, this will be an appreciated perk I think!
The hotel and the church were walking distance from each other or a short cab ride (cabs/uber were readily available in the area of the hotel and church). Most people took cabs from the church to the reception then took the shuttle back to the hotels. In your case I would do a shuttle from the hotel to the ceremony then out to the reception. It would require a little more co-ordination to make sure people got from the church to the reception but worth it. My cousin did that for her wedding. Two shuttles picked up at the hotel at an appointed time and took guests to the ceremony. After the ceremony, guests were shuttled to the reception. Guests could also take shuttles back to the hotel but we ended up just grabbing a cab.
An alternative to having it continuously run would be to schedule it to make 3 trips at various times back to the hotel. Once just after dessert is served, once at the end (obvs), and once kind of splitting the difference between those two. You could put a little flier in the invites or in the welcome bags at the hotel if you're doing that. You could also just email the guests staying at the hotel or let them know via word of mouth.
His idea was to just print up a business card sized insert to put with the invites to let our guests know about the shuttle and then just book the largest to cover our guest list. We just won't worry about getting a head count and make sure there is room for everyone.
@ahoywedding I really like your idea of the shuttle leaving at certain times back to the hotel. We are thinking right after cake cutting (about 8ish) then 9:30, 10:30, and 11:30pm.
If you do this, you should have the DJ make announcements at 15 and 5 minutes prior to departure (basically multiple warnings that "the shuttle is leaving"). Further, you could put a reminder on shuttle times in a picture frame at the bar. That way, the people drinking will be reminded that you're offering a shuttle and when it's leaving and then the DJ will remind them right before.
Great ideas!
We had an FYI card that mentioned the shuttle. We asked everyone to email a special email address we made up just for the wedding. That way emails didn't get lost in our regular email box. The information was also on our website.
I would say 85% of our guests used the shuttle to the event. Some used it to go home, then the picked up their cars the next day.
Ha, I've been at weddings where this happens! The last shuttle of the night always tends to be a party in and of itself