Top Wedding Transportation Tips
- Posted by:
- Admin
- Tags:
- transportation, frequently asked questions, top tips
- Posted date:
- 05-07-2021
Before you plan our wedding day, you should consult our top wedding transportation tips to ensure seamless travel on the big day.
If you haven't decided on your wedding transportation yet, we suggest looking at one of our horse and carriage solutions.
Our wedding horse drawn carriage service is popular throughout Essex and London.
Arriving to your wedding reception in a horse drawn carriage is the perfect way to make a big impression.
Tips for a Smooth Wedding Transportation
Once everything is put in place and paid for, you mustn't forget and stop there if you want your transportation to be smooth and comfortable.
There are a couple of ways you can ensure that your wedding day goes swimmingly in terms of transport; for example, you should consider, during the wedding planning stage, creating a thorough call sheet full of the names, pickup and drop-off locations, addresses and times.
When you have all of these laid out in front of you, it can give you plenty of peace of mind.
Ensure you don't forget to call up your transportation company or car companies to confirm all arrangements and clarify the times, either the morning of the wedding or the evening before.
If you are having a wedding early in the morning, it may be best to do this the day before your event not to cause yourself the stress.
When drivers have this clear schedule, clarified information well in advance, including the detailed directions for the ceremony and reception sites, it will allow them to be fully prepped for any potential barriers like arriving well in advance due to traffic.
It is also a fantastic idea to give your guests a copy of all the directions if they are utterly unfamiliar with any of your wedding sites, along with emergency contact numbers for any lost drivers.
It may be best to choose a transportation point person to oversee logistics to handle any related issues with who is in what vehicle and the know-how of the journey. The person you choose for this role could be anyone; it could be your wedding planner, a maid of honour or best man, a close friend or an immediate family member.
In addition to these guidelines, you should also consider these mistakes that frequently occur during many weddings. Once you know the common mistakes, you'll understand and have ideas of how to avoid them.
The first mistake you can make is Overcrowding. Weddings are highly significant events in one's life, and often couples like to invite many of their friends and family as their entourage, which can lead to cars being overfilled.
Don't strive to fill every vehicle to the brim, especially not brides and bridesmaids in billowing skirts with bustling nerves and excitement; it can cause mass stress.
Allow breathing room and ensure you book enough cars or vehicles.
Ensure your drivers and wedding car company has maps or make some up for them when wedding planning. If they get lost, you and your guests could risk turning up late or, in a worst-case scenario, not at all.
On your wedding day, each vehicle should have a sheet with detailed directions and contact numbers on deck for the driver in case the GPS malfunctions or if your driver is unsure of where they are going altogether.
Don't forget to get all of the details of your wedding day, times and journey in writing with your car or transport rental company. Vague or verbal contracts could be detrimental.
When should you book your wedding transportation?
The best time to book your vehicles is at least between the three to six months mark. When you have all your dates and wedding venues settled, you've decided on your wedding party size; then, you can officially begin booking.
We highly recommend booking as soon as you have all of that information, especially if your wedding is in the springtime; April, May or June.
Spring is one of the most popular seasons for those working in transportation. When proms, graduations, and spring weddings occur, and all the high-class quality vehicles are in high demand during that time, it's best to book well in advance.
The best tip we have to offer is to try to make your final reservations for your vehicles in person. You can ask about the cars you'll be getting and thoroughly inspect them.
Who should get transported to the wedding?
Bride and the Bridal Party
The bride and bridal party are the most obvious answer to this question.
For a very classic, traditional wedding, many see a wedding day as the brides day, so she, her entourage and her parents must arrive in style or creative ways, whether that be a vintage car, a romantic horse-drawn carriage, limousine or an expensive modern vehicle like Rolls Royce.
Usually, this may need two trips to get everyone there, especially if the bride and her party's dresses are very billowing and challenging to fit more people into one trip. One trip can then be for the bride, one parent and the bridal party and the other parent.
Another great tip is that darker wedding cars or vehicles look excellent in photos against the bright white or cream of the bride's wedding dresses and her wedding party.
You may also want to ensure that the vehicle you choose for the bride and bridal party is easy to exit in their billowing gowns and dresses.
Groom and ushers
The groom and ushers are just as necessary as the bride and her party, and they must arrive on their big day in style.
Just as a grand horse-drawn carriage, classic limousine, or expensive car will be taking the bridge to the ceremony and reception, the same applies to the groom, his parents and ushers.
Often the groom's transport isn't as luxurious as the brides, and if you agree on that concept, it is a chance to save some money. The groom and entourage often arrive at the ceremony earlier to plan early travel time to avoid traffic jams if possible.
The Newlyweds
The bride and groom traditionally travel to the reception venue collectively in a getaway car, as they are now a married couple. To save money, you can use the wedding car or vehicle that the bride previously arrived in, or you can pay the price of a new fun vehicle to ride off in.
Ensure you have transport ready waiting for you, whether it's a getaway car or the bridal car, especially if your reception isn't the same wedding venue as your initial ceremony. Alternatively, if your reception and ceremony venue are within walking distance, this can help you save money, and it may be an opportunity for scenic photos.
The Guests
Suppose your ceremony venue is a fair distance from your reception. In that case, you may need to arrange transport for your guests, especially those finding it particularly difficult to get lifts, shuttle buses or taxis.
If you aren't going to provide transportation for guests, ensure that they can get to your big day, all the necessary venues and back home at the end of the night safely and on time through any means.
If your guests stay at the same hotel or place after the celebrations are over, you may want to hire a coach, wedding party van or shuttle bus to collect them. It is not necessary, but it is a considerate option. You also want to ensure your guests know the parking at the venues or hotels if they travel in their own car.
Q&A
How do you transport wedding guests?
Your first option is carpooling. If you leave the transportation up to your guests, often many of them will group or couple up to drive themselves to the wedding ceremony to your reception venue.
Ensure you make your guests aware of parking on the wedding venue site, or perhaps if you can afford to, you may want to pay their parking for them. Some guests will abstain from alcoholic beverages as they are the designated drivers for getting everyone home safe.
If that bothers you, you might want to consider hiring a party bus to transport your guests from the ceremony to the reception.
A party bus will allow your guests to fully let loose on your big day whilst ensuring that your guests will be at your venues in a timely fashion for free. It will also allow for your guests to mingle, take pictures, share stories and begin creating memories to get the celebrations in gear during the travel duration.
You can also arrange a fleet of taxis to arrive for guests to get into. Instead of allowing guests to go through the ordering and waiting process for a taxi company at the end of the night, it's very considerate.
You don't have to pay for their travel fees if your budget doesn't allow it, but it gives your guests an instant available option for getting back to safety and comfort.
How can I save money on wedding transportation?
The best way to save money on wedding transportation is:
Book early. Especially if your wedding is during peak wedding seasons like spring and summer, booking far earlier than usual can make the final costs sometimes 50% cheaper. You might even want to consider getting married during the winter or autumn season if that suits your taste.
Utilise taxi services where possible. Hiring wedding transportation from a vehicle service for the bride, bridal party, groom and ushers and then using an executive taxi service for your guests may be the best way to save a few pounds.
If you luckily marry abroad at a destination wedding, you can save money by opting for a honeymoon road trip or hiring wedding cars or regular cars to cover the ceremony and travel.
How much should I spend on wedding transport?
Minibus and coach hire prices can widely vary; however, it is best to make your budget for wedding guest transport roughly around £300 to £500.
During the process, ask for itemised breakdowns for all overall costs, especially when requesting transportation company quotes. Ensure any quoted prices include the VAT.
Should you provide transportation for wedding guests?
You are never obliged to book transport for any of your wedding guests; however, it is pretty considerate for you to do for friends and family if you can afford it. Especially for those guests you need to know will be travelling extreme distances or from out of town, it may be thoughtful to provide their transport and make it more accessible.
How far should guests travel for a wedding?
23% of Brits have previously said they would consider turning down a wedding invite if the location was difficult to reach or too far. However, 51% collectively agreed they might not even travel to their own child's wedding if the journey was three hours or more or if it were abroad. Try not to make your reception or ceremony hours and hours away if possible; however, if it is hours away or abroad, ensure you can afford you and your guests travel.
If you are planning a wedding in Essex or the surrounding areas, we hope this guide to the top wedding transportation tips helps you choose your ideal location.
Once you have selected your wedding venue, you will want to decide on wedding transportation.
We offer a horse drawn carriage for weddings in Essex and London. Visit our site to book your wedding transport hire.