Transportation! Not sure where else this can go

ellamber

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. 

justsie

ellamber said:

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. 

Nope, trust your adult guests to be adults and either drink in moderation or have a DD. This is not something that you need to provide. 

ei34

What the heck?! You're definitely not liable god forbid anyone gets in an accident.

ellamber

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.

Casadena

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.

MesmrEwe

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.  

ellamber

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. 

charlotte989875

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. 

holyguacamole79

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. 

JediElizabeth

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. 

redoryx

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.

holyguacamole79

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.

ahoywedding

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.

ei34

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.  

Jen4948

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.

ellamber

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.

lyndausvi

I've attended weddings in AZ, NY/LI, PA, DE, CO, USVI, TN, NC, Vienna Austria, among others.  I've a mix of experiences, with most having transportation for at least the WP and OOT guests to/from hotels. 

The club I work out requires transportation.  Nonnegotiable.  If you want a wedding at our place you must provide transportation.    Partly because we just do not have the parking for a lot of cars, but liability also.  Even outside of the club, most weddings around here have transportation to/from hotels.   


As far as liability.  That depends your state's hosting laws.   While a lot of the liability is put on the bartender, it doesn't make the host completely in the clear either.  

    We provided the alcohol to our licensed vendor.   We still had transportation (100% OOT guests) AND we had extra insurance just in case.  Not all our guests used the transportation (although about 90% did).      Sure our guests are adults, but we wanted a party and who the hell wants to be the DD?  Not many of my friends.   Don't get me wrong, they would pick a DD if needed.  We just made it easy for them to not have to draw straws.


All that said, if it isn't in your budget, it isn't in your budget.  Although, I would still do your research on hosting laws.




NOTE - transportation helps when parking is a PITA for guests.  Or if the venue is far from the hotels and there is no reliable public transportation.    I live in a town with no Uber/Lyft  or cabs ::gasp::     I personally would use that to sway my choice also.  But again, only if your budget allows for the expense.

ILoveBeachMusic

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.

MandTFebruary62011

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.