Parking Problem

KristenMichelle1986

We're getting married 10-03-10 by a lake on a Sunday afternoon in our local park. The only problem is, we have 250 people coming and not enough space for all of them to park...and at the same time, we can't reserve the parking lot, so if the public is out that day, then there is even less parking room. There is a church about 15 seconds down the road. We were thinking about asking if our guests could park there and then renting a 15 passenger van and shuttling guests over. Is that wrong to ask guests to drop their cars of and then have us take them to the ceremony site? Are there any other ideas of how we can solve this problem? Thx!

tracy_k

Is there street parking near the park? You can always just make it VERY clear on your invitation inserts, wedding website and other materials that parking is scarce, encourage people to carpool, etc.

Otherwise I think your best bet is to have your guests park at your reception venue and then have shuttles available.

I wouldn't ask the church, they are unlikely to want to give up their parking lot on a Sunday. If you do ask them, you should offer to contribute some money to the church.

aerinpegadrak

I think having people park at the reception and get shuttled to and from the park is the easiest route.  That way they can just park once and leave their car for the day, rather than park, get shuttled to the ceremony, get shuttled back, and drive to the reception.

mushE

Agree with Aerin. 

Our ceremony is in downtown Sac, where parking is notoriously hard.  Most of our folks are OOT so they'll already be at the hotel (reception is basically next door), so we're getting quotes for a shuttle. 

FWIW, you might want to consider renting a larger bus rather than a 15-pass. van.  With 250 people, even if only half of them need to use the shuttle, that's a lot of trips.  The quotes I've gotten aren't really more to get a larger bus rather than a van. 

jennylove810

I would definitely check with the church if you plan on having people park there.  It's private property, and if they wanted to be difficult, they would be within their rights to call the police for 100 random cars in their parking lot and NOT at their sermon.  I agree with PP, offer to make a donation, but be prepared for them to say no.

MyNameIsNot

I agree with Aerin.  You're probably going to have better luck getting the reception to agree to all the cars than a random church, and it's easier on people that way too.  

BecW2be

I asked the hotel where I reserved a block of rooms, and they allowed all my guests to park there. We rented a huge double decker bus and shuttled people to and from the ceremony/reception in my DH's parents' yard to the hotel. It worked perfectly, and we used the shuttle for trick-or-treating with the little kids and then later for the after party with the big kids.  I recommend having your guests park at the reception site and shuttle them in large groups to the ceremony. Our bus took two trips to shuttle 120 people to our site, then ran all afternoon/evening as guests wanted to leave or go back to the hotel to get ready for the afterparty.

Amy_Justin

I agree with the PPs. Ask that people park at the reception and shuttle them to the ceremony. I also agree with a PP to get a bus-style transport. Climbing to the back corner of a 15 passenger van in heels and a dress isn't exactly what I would want to do TBH. A limo company around here rents antique trolleys, that could be something cool to look into for your area as well.