Drunk Bus

NukaNayeli

My fiance's family declared they wanted a drunk bus to take them home from the reception. Now, I don't want anyone driving drunk - but isn't this a little much to demand?

The hall is about 15 minutes from were the majority of people live and there are others who live farther away (mostly my family lives farther away).

I'm not forcing anyone to drink, and if my memory serves me correctly, almost every family has a young person under 21 who can't drink and CAN be a DD.

Your thoughts?

NOLAbridealmost

Haha.  I voted for "Drunk Bus" mainly because it just sounds like a blast. 

But really, they are grown adults. If they can't figure out a safe way home from a wedding they have bigger problems than you need to worry about.

cdavislynn

I think all the PP are great suggestions, however, I have been to weddings where there was a "drunk bus" for the wedding party (not all guests though). It was really fun! But, I voted for having cab's numbers available, or the hotel shuttle.

NukaNayeli

I'm not blocking hotel rooms b/c almost everyone are in-town guests. The few out of towners will likely be staying with family b/c we have large homes w/ lots of guests rooms and that's what everyone has done for all our other events in the past.

Summer2011Bride

I say provide cab numbers and also if you see someone who doesn't seem OK to drive, it wouldn't be a bad idea to talk to them personally and make sure they have a safe ride, whether it be a cab or another guest.

kristinanddan

Since they're all local, I would have a list of local cab companies. We had a drunk bus that took guests between the hotel and reception site, but it was only for guests at the hotel.

Milsey32

This kind of annoys me because I may say that to another guest like "hey wouldn't it be awesome if we had a drunk bus?" but I would never 'demand' it from the bride. If you're at the legal age to consume alcohol, you should also be responsible enough to figure out the safest way back to wherever you will be staying (home or hotel) ... but you could definitely provide numbers [: 

Hatsumomo7

It isn't your job to babysit a bunch of drunken adults by spending money on a "drunk bus". If they use their judgement and choose to drink then they are also responsible for figuring out how they are going to get home. A wedding with drinking should be handled no differently than a night out at the bar lol haha.

jessicabessica

How do they want this drunk bus to work if they are all local?  Would it stop at each person's house?  I would just have local cab numbers available. 

hlq2011

If I'm going to an event and think I'll need a cab home, I'll make my own arrangements - cause I'm responsible like that.

I will say that we're providing a shuttle between the reception and hotel so people don't have to worry about DDs.  But probably more than half our guests are staying there, including us.

They're adults.  Presumably, if they go out to dinner or to a party at someone's house, they are going to manage their transportation requirements on their own, yes?

sioshan

I am providing a shuttle for out of town guests staying at the hotel I reserved a block of rooms at. As the host of a party with an open bar I think I need to be responsible for the safety of my guests. But in-towners--thats tricky. I would say you should at least provide cab info for them but as locals they should already know that info!

tenofcups4me

That's ridiculous. If they want a bus like that, they can go ahead and hire it. Otherwise, if they can't figure out how to have a DD or moderate their own drinking, they can take cabs home. This is not your problem.

Hellokatie0517

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_drunk-bus?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:0403ebc7-31a5-45fa-9129-9480bbedc7bePost:91813d3b-a77b-456c-9b5e-2af6a59e73a3">Re: Drunk Bus</a>:
[QUOTE]<strong>That's ridiculous. If they want a bus like that, they can go ahead and hire it.</strong> Otherwise, if they can't figure out how to have a DD or moderate their own drinking, they can take cabs home. This is not your problem.
Posted by tenofcups4me[/QUOTE]

Was just about to post the same thing.

MilitaryBride2Be

You should have to pay for that. You cold contact a local cab company and tell him you will need some cabs at such and such time. I did this and they offered me a discounted rate for my guests.

katheriner89

I will be visiting one of the local cab companies, and i'm going to have the bartender sit some cards out on the bar around 9pm. Drinking and driving hits FI & myself pretty hard. My brother & FI's best friend died from drinking and driving.
If a "drunk bus" is within your budget, I say go for it.

I've been thinking about asking two of my cousin's friends to help with being DD. One drive the drunk person's car to the hotel for them, the other follow in their car, so the guest's car is at the hotel the next morning. Keep this in mind too. I'm sure you have a cousin who has college friends who want some extra $. Easy job.

MyNameIsNot

Make a list of 2-3 cab companies with their numbers, and give it to your bartender.  Most bartenders have that sort of information, and they can provide it to your guests, if necessary.  

It isn't your responsibility to provide them with transportation.  While it's nice to do a shuttle to a hotel, particularly for OOT guests, it wouldn't even make sense to do this for local guests.  

sklink0486

They can pay for it if they want it. Otherwise, cabs like everyone else posted.

lalarochelle

I'm doing a bus from the hotel to our venue for 2 reasons- OOT guests who might get lost and to save them on paying for parking more (it's Philly, not to many in the city hotels have free parking), but also to keep people safe. 

I feel if I'm providing an open bar I want people to enjoy it the whole time and don't want it on my conscious if people do drive drunk.  Don't want to wake up to bad text msgs. 

tenofcups4me

This idea that a host is responsible for transportation is so foreign to me.

elizabethjane25

drunk buses are awesome if everyone is going to the same place afterwards. but if that is not happening, have local cab numbers available. you'd have to pay a lot to get a drunk bus to drive everyone home individually and you shouldn't have to do that

em01092

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_drunk-bus?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:0403ebc7-31a5-45fa-9129-9480bbedc7bePost:51ee3d9b-0434-4baf-9000-3463c7221760">Re: Drunk Bus</a>:
[QUOTE]This idea that a host is responsible for transportation is so foreign to me.
Posted by tenofcups4me[/QUOTE]

<div>This. x10000. </div><div>
</div><div>I'm with PPs who said no, you should not HAVE to provide this service. Is it a nice touch and eliminates the issue of people finding rides, calling cabs, possibly driving drunk? Yes. Is it mandatory? No. A wedding reception is a party, and I would never, as a responsible adult, expect a host of a party to provide me with transportation home, back to my hotel, etc. I work out a DD situation or I call a cab. </div><div>
</div><div>So I voted to provide cab numbers. </div>

meima

We're not booking a block of rooms at a particular hotel, as there are quite a few options in the area.  I am, however, listing the hotels, distance from the venue, and phone numbers, followed by a list of local taxis, and their phone numbers.

I agree that having a "drunk bus" would be insanely expensive to do door-to-door service to all guests homes, and shouldn't be your responsibility. 

In light of PPs suggestions, I'm going to do some free business cards from Vista Print, with taxis numbers on them as well, and ask that they be placed at the bar.

doeie04

Maybe you could look into having a tab set up with one taxi company and then hand out the numbers and they can call them. (Our hotel has one set up.) That way it is available and you won't have a bus running back and forth from one side of town to the other. That sounds stressful and a waste. Plus, people are going to want to leave at different times, and not wait for a bus.