Wedding transportation questions

Re: Wedding transportation questions

• melbelleup member

  

  March 2014

  crackktheskyy said:

  Hi all,

  
  

  Just looking for advice on the etiquette of wedding transportation. 

  
  

  We having our ceremony and reception downtown, where driving and parking can be very difficult. Thus far, we have booked complimentary valet service for any of our guests who are driving (because who really wants to look for a parking spot when they're trying to get to a wedding in time?!) as well as trolleys for guests who are staying in either of the two hotels we recommend. The trolleys will take these guests from their hotels to the ceremony, from the ceremony to the reception, and then from the reception back to the hotels. We will also have a trolley begin to pick guests up an hour and a half before the reception is over for anyone who wants to leave early!

  
  

  As far as the WP and parents of the bride/room go, what did you do about transportation? We were thinking about booking a limo for the WP. In total, we have 12 people in our WP. Will a stretch limo fit 12? Also, do we need to provide a limo for the guests of the WP? What is the etiquette on this?! Also, would it be rude of my FI and I to have our own transportation? We were thinking about renting a classic car.

  
  

  We thought that the shuttles will take all of our guests directly from the church to the reception. During cocktail hour, we will be taking photos but won't need the WP for the entire time so if they have their own limo, we can send them to the cocktail hour to join the rest of the guests after we finish photos with them while my FI and I finish up our own portraits. (I don't want to make them sit outside in the heat of June while waiting for us!) Will it come off as rude if we have our own transportation, though?

  
  

  Also, did you rent limos for your and your SOs parents? My parents are divorced and remarried, but I don't think I would want to put them in one limo together :-/

  
  

  Sorry for all of the details...I just want to do the right thing!

  Okay... before I continue, you don't need to provide transportation for ANYONE. Just how you're going to get there is needed. The rest can drive themselves in their cars.
  
  Now to answer questions:
  1. For my WP we are all riding in antique cars. FI and I will be in a convertible 57 gold chevy driven by FI. My brother, sis in law, best man, and my best friend will be in a 51 Willy's Jeepster driven by my brother. My other brother, his FI, and my FI's brother will be in a 57 4-door blue chevy. Parents will drive themselves as my parents will have my nephew (2) and my grandma most likely. His parents will want to stop at hotel anyways to take the shuttle to and from hotel. Please note: all cars used in this are my father's (chevies) or my brother's (jeepster)
  
  2-3. A stretch limo will fit 12 depending on the company. They usually tell you how many can fit in each car. You should include their SO's if at all possible, but at the same time, how would they get back to their cars if SO is in the limo...
  
  4. It is not rude as many brides and grooms have their own means of transportation either by classic car or just their regular every day car.
  
  5. My parents will be driving their own vehicle as well as his parents.
  
  
  Don't make this harder than need be. You can provide transportation or not. No worries one way or another!
  
  We do have shuttles for our guests provided through the hotel using. It shuttles them from the hotel to the reception and back (whenever the guest calls and tells them they're ready to leave they will get picked up). I feel having a shuttle from the ceremony to the reception is a bad idea soley on people not being able to get back to their cars without having to wait for other people/the bus.
  

  

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• crackktheskyy member

  

  March 2014

  @melbelleup :

  
  

  Thanks for your response! Your antique cars sound AMAZING. I'm a car enthusiast so I wanted to ride in something really cool

  
  

  I was wondering the same thing about the SOs and guests being in the limo. Since we are renting trolleys, they could certainly ride on the trolleys with everyone else. I just didn't know if it was against etiquette or not to have them separated for the sake of transportation. When I have been in WPs, my FI always had to drive himself to ceremonies and receptions, but that doesn't mean it wasn't against etiquette! These weddings also had head tables that separated us! Blech! I'm just trying to know what the right thing to do is.

  
  

  I'm glad to hear it isn't rude for us to have our own transportation! I'm thinking that an old Phantom Rolls Royce would be really cool!

  
  

  The shuttle isn't solely from the ceremony to the reception. Shuttles are being provided for guests that stay in the 2 hotels that we block. So basically:

  
  

  The shuttle will pick guests up from the hotel (where their cars/rental cars are parking)

  The shuttle will transport guests to the ceremony

  The shuttle will pick guests up from the ceremony and transport to the reception

  The shuttle will then make multiple trips back to the reception to pick guests up as the night winds down and bring them back to their hotels (where their cars are)

  
  

  We are having many OOT guests and don't want them to worry about finding their way around the city. We are also hosting a 6 hour open bar and don't want to worry about any of our guests drinking and driving.

  
  

  Since ultimately our guests will be picked up from the hotel and taken back to the hotel, the car thing shouldn't be an issue, right?

  

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• Inkdancer member

  

  March 2014

  Since you're providing transportation for other guests, I think providing transportation for your bridal party would be nice, especially since they are expected to get there earlier than other guests. However, this can be as simple as comping them for taxis or arranging for carpools.
  
  Whatever you do, make sure you're 1000% clear with your company of choice. A friend and I were late for a wedding in which our fiances were groomsmen because the shuttle picked up the wrong women--asked if they were "going to the wedding" and didn't have our names, so the women (going to a different wedding, on a different shuttle) said yes and hopped in.
  

  

  

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• crackktheskyy member

  

  March 2014

  @Inkdancer : great advice, thank you!

  
  

  We are DEFINITELY providing transportation for our WP, we are more or less just wondering how we should go about doing so, whether we have to ride with them, and whether they ought to ride with their guests/SOs. Providing them with limos might actually alleviate the situation you mentioned! If the other guests are in trolleys, only the WP should be arriving in limos! Thus, there is less likely to be any confusion.

  

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• melbelleup member

  

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  Inkdancer said:

  
  

  Whatever you do, make sure you're 1000% clear with your company of choice. A friend and I were late for a wedding in which our fiances were groomsmen because the shuttle picked up the wrong women--asked if they were "going to the wedding" and didn't have our names, so the women (going to a different wedding, on a different shuttle) said yes and hopped in.
  
  

  Okay, that's hilarious! Sucky at the time and I would be freaking out, but still really funny!
  
  ETA: Spelling is my friend
  

  

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• melbelleup member

  

  March 2014

  crackktheskyy said

  
  

  We are DEFINITELY providing transportation for our WP, we are more or less just wondering how we should go about doing so, whether we have to ride with them, and whether they ought to ride with their guests/SOs. Providing them with limos might actually alleviate the situation you mentioned! If the other guests are in trolleys, only the WP should be arriving in limos! Thus, there is less likely to be any confusion.

  Okay, so here's my question to you: Are your WP out of town? Or staying at the hotels? I think it would be nice if you could provide a limo to them and their SO's to the wedding. But you also have the trolly for guests, so TBH I don't think SO's need included... but don't quote me on that. My big worry is, if they live in town, they wouldn't need a hotel room and would most likely end up car stranded if SO's were included. Or they'd have to wait to be dropped off wherever their cars may be.
  

  

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• crackktheskyy member

  

  March 2014

  @melbelleup : oh I see what you're saying! That's a great point! All but one member of the WP (my step-sister) is from OOT. My FI and I live in two different cities and we are having our wedding in a third city that is closest to our family and friends.

  
  

  So far, all of my WP is staying in the hotel because they don't want to worry about driving. I should have my FI check with his groomsmen, though.

  
  

  My other fear is having the guests/SOs of the WP sitting around for photos rather than enjoying the cocktail hour if they come with us. I was in a June wedding and taking photos outside was hot and sticky!

  
  

  For our guests who are not staying at the hotel, we do have valet service. Perhaps the guests of the WP could take advantage of that? Otherwise, I could pay for them to park their cars at one of the hotels, even if they aren't staying, so that they can take advantage of the trolley. 

  
  

  Great thing to think about, though! Thank you!

  

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• [Deleted User] member

  

  March 2014

  We rented a limo bus. In regards to the size, if you have 12 people you want a vehicle that fits at least 16 people. If a limo says it fits 12 that's 12 people sitting hip to hip. You probably don't want people sitting that close to you in your wedding dress. Also stretch limos can be not so easy to get in and out of for you & the BM.

  Our limo was large enough to fit SO but not everyone had a SO and two of the BM, their husbands who are close friends opted not to come in the limo, they drove themselves. The reason behind that is they lived on the other side of town from the reception. They didn't want to have to drive 30 minutes to drop off their cars at the reception hall so they would have vehicles at the end of the night & catch the limo for a 30 minute drive back to their side of town where the ceremony was. They decided they would rather have a drink & relax at home before the ceremony. The SO that opted to join us on the limo bus did have to suffer while we did a few photos, but if they didn't, then they wouldn't have been able to be there because one SO doesn't drive & the other had just had major surgery & wasn't allowed to drive.

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• crackktheskyy member

  

  March 2014

  @Erikan73 : That's great advice when it comes to space! Thank you! I will definitely keep that in mind as we look at vehicles.

  
  

  For anyone in our BP that does not have an SO, we are still giving them a guest. They are our honored guests and we want a way to thank them for sharing in our special day with us, and taking the time to do photos. I know it's not always fun to be outside in the heat of June, and we really appreciate and love them all for doing it! That being said, we are guestimating that with SOs and guests, we might be up to 22 people (one of the BMs is married to the GMs, so they will bring each other, lol). 

  
  

  Is it rude to have SOs/guests ride in the trolleys? Is it rude to make them wait through photos when they could realistically go to the reception? Should we rent a separate vehicle for them?

  
  

  It seems like it could go either way. If I was a guest at a wedding, I personally wouldn't want to sit through photos and I'd like to get to cocktail hour -- but I'm also an extrovert that would have fun even without my SO!

  
  

  We are thinking that if the WP has their own transportation, they can leave the photos immediately after we are finished taking photos with them so that they could quickly join the other guests at the cocktail hour. My FI and I could then finish up ourselves with the photographer and join everyone else for the reception. 

  
  

  We just want to make sure everyone is comfortable! 

  

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• [Deleted User] member

  

  March 2014

  As long as the SO & guests knows of the plans that you aren't going to go straight to the reception that you will be doing photos elsewhere during cocktail hour you will be fine. This way you have extended Trolley offer to SO but if they don't want to come along for the ride & wait while you do photos, then they have the option to drive themselves.

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• crackktheskyy member

  

  March 2014

  Okay, thanks! I think I might have confused everyone but I think I see what you are saying.

  
  

  The trolley is for all guests at the hotels, so it won't be transporting the WP to photos. The trolley is going straight from the church to the reception. I was going to extend the offer to the guests/SOs of the WP that they could ride the trolley if they don't want to drive. This way, they can get right over to the cocktail hour no problem.

  
  

  I think we will be having limos take the WP to the photo area. Everything (ceremony, reception, photo space) is actually within a 1.5 mile radius so we aren't going very far! So I can maybe ask the guests/SOs of the WP if they want to come for photos and if so, rent them another limo since we won't all fit in one!

  

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