Transportation for wedding guests

LauraChristin

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

My fiance and I are getting married in downtown San Diego in October and we would like to provide transportation for our out of town guests from the hotel to the ceremony and then to the reception. (After the reception, our guests will walk the two blocks back to the hotel). It's hard to say how many people this will be but I'm guessing we'll need to transport 50-100 preferably all in one trip. Does anyone have recs for a bus / shuttle company?

james110

Not sure what your budget is but we used this company http://www.britishbuscompany.com/contact.html.  They picked up guests at 2 hotels including one in the gaslamp and ran shuttle service throughout the night for people who wanted to leave early.  

They can be a little hard to get a hold of which was making me nervous but they showed up on time and everything ran smoothly on the day of the event.  These are the same people that run the double decker buses to and from the train at the del mar fairgrounds if you have ever been to the races.  We also had a lot of out of town guests and everyone loved the double decker bus!

LauraChristin

Thank you for the super quick response! I will call to get a quote from them. I'm not sure what this sort of thing costs but we're definitely going to do it one way or another. I allotted $1500 in my mind for it but really have no clue what it costs. If it's more than that then so be it. I appreciate your help!

james110

Oh in that case you will be fine.  I think we paid $750 for 7 hours of service.  We opted for the closed top double decker that holds up to 80 people.  They are definitely one of the more affordable companies around.  You can even go tour the buses up in Del Mar which is cool so you know what you're getting. 

To make the transportation budget work we decided against a getaway car and just hopped on the bus with everyone at the end of the night.  It was so much fun and definitely the right decision for our more casual wedding.

luvbug1022

That sounds exactly like my wedding!  Getting married in October and the ceremony is about a mile from downtown, but the recpetion is about two blocks from the hotel we blocked.  Are you getting married at the El Cortez by any chance??

Anyway, we are using the Old Town Trolley to shuttle guests to the ceremony site and then back to the El Cortez.  I liked the ide of using the Orange and Green Trolley as it is very "San Diego" and a lot of our guests are out of town.  It only holds 30 people so you would need to rent a few, but I think they could work within your budget. 

LauraChristin

Thanks, luvbug! We are having our ceremony at St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox church and our reception is at the Skybox at DiamondView Tower. It's about a 5 minute drive. I loooove the El Cortez, though! I've worked there a bunch. It's so gorgeous! I'm excited for you.

Thanks for suggesting Old Town Trolley. I like that idea, too.. keeping it San Diego style. Maybe smaller groups would be better anyway so that if there are a few laggers everyone doesn't have to wait. It would make for cute photos, too.

luvbug1022

Oh I LOVE the diamond view tower!!  I actually assist a wedding photographer as a side job so I get to see sll the venues   so I have to ask....as a wedding photographer yourself, who is shooting your wedding?!

LauraChristin

Thanks! I'm really excited about it, too. And how fun that you are a photographer's assistant! It's a great job. Chelsea with Chelsea Anne Photography is photographing my wedding. We're good friends and I've known her (and her work) since 2004. Her style and approach are very similar to mine and I know she will capture our day perfectly. It's been really helpful to know people in the industry as I'm sure you've found as well! Did you go with the photographer whom you assist?

luvbug1022

Yeah!  I work with ABM Wedding Photography.   That was the frist decision I made haha.  Funny story...so I am research nut and I constantly google "photos of weddings at El Cortez" to get ideas and I have totally seen your work before!  I knew the name looked familiar, but didn't put it together until I saw your blog.  Beautiful work!

LauraChristin

Aww, thank you so much!!!

zandj2012

I'm using Chelsea Anne too!  Out of all the photographers we met, she was definitely the nicest and the one I felt most comfortable with.  Not to mention, I love her work!