Pay for parking?

If you chose a venue without free parking then you need to pay for parking.

We have the same situation. We tried to set it up to reserve spaces but since the parking lot is public we can't, so we are just telling people to park there and we will reimburse them. Not exactly how I wanted to do it but it's better than not paying for it. Wasn't going to forfeit my deposit or switch venues because of that.

Yes yes yes absolutely pay for your guests to park. Your party = your responsibility.

I think in a downtown area, many people will prefer to take an uber (and enjoy a few drinks)

Thank you!

Yes ...

my venue is in the city so we are paying for valet ... we are sending a card in my invites that you need to bring to the valet to get the paid parking ..

There was a similar post last night and most of the people said parking is the guests responsibility but I disagree. It's your event, you're inviting them, you need to make sure they're taken care of. I never have cash on me (and usually when I know I need it, I forget it) so if I had to pay to park I'd probably be screwed. I too have a downtown setting and I'm paying for a valet.

Definitely talk to your venue. We looked at a location in a downtown and had the same situation. I asked the coordinator how I could pay for parking and she told me that the parkibg parking garage wouldn't allow pre-paid parking. We decided on a different venue, but our only option was to reimburse our guests or pay someone to stand there and pay as guests left.

I don't honestly think you need to cover parking if your in a city. I have been to weddings in Boston and its expected that everyone is taking public transportation/uber. It would not be expected at all for the couple to pay for anyone parking in a garage.

I think you should pay for those who want to drive. Either work out a voucher or have someone run and validate the tickets. Ask the restaurant

We're also having a downtown restaurant wedding. We're providing parking vouchers for the garage next door to the reception. The site can get them for $5/each so I think it's worth it to throw in the couple hundred dollars to allow our guests to park for free.

I agree with paying for parking - but you're sort of in a tough spot where you probably can't block off spots and pay in advance. Someone earlier said reimbursement to guests which seems complicated and a little clunky but I can't think of a better way to do it. Is it the kind of parking where you get a card when you park and then you pay it when you leave? Would it be totally gauche to put a note instead of a favor at everyone's seat with $5 for parking? That would be reimbursing without anyone having to get ahold of you for it after the fact which as a guest I would find super awkward. Kind of like a favor.

I will take the other side of this one. If the event is downtown, and your guests are local, the know that they will need to pay to park.

In my opinion, you do not need to pay for guests parking.

It would be different if you were hosting at an event with a parking lot where guests had to pay to park, or had valet only. Then, I would say parking is on you.

I also sort of agree with Kathy. As a host I'd want to make sure everyone is taken care of but if I were the guest I totally would not expect it to be covered - unless I had to park in the venues lot and it was pay for parking

I would say yes. My bridal shower was at a venue that didn't have free parking and the hostess paid for everyone's parking that attended and used the lot. It was really a nice gesture.

This might be a UO but if there is not a way to pre-pay..then I wouldn't worry about it . Tracking down everybody to reimburse is probably more awkward? "Hi!! Can we meet up so I can pay you the $7 you paid for parking?" In a city setting it'd just not as big of a deal IMO. If there is a way to pre-pay, then I would take advantage of that. But if not...then no.

I would say you should cover it if they were parking at the restaurant for a fee. I think it would be weird to think of a way to pay for city garage parking though. I would say just let it go. I would find it more strange if you were handing out singles to guests at the reception.

It's not really parking at the restaurant, it just parking in the downtown or in a garage near (a legit minute walk) the restaurant.

Many of our guests are local and know the way downtown parking works where we live.

As far as the meters, in our city, you can use cards to pay for parking, so needing cash doesn't really come into play.

We are talking with the venue to see if we can somehow work with them to pay for parking, but it seemed to be very problematic on their end. We won't be changing the venue over parking because we are four months away and because it is one of our favorite places...

I'm going to try my best to find a way to get the parking covered.

Our venue offers parking passes we can purchase, but they give them out at the reception and I feel like it's going to be confusing because people won't know it'll be reimbursed until then. I'm planning on just texting them all and telling them it'll be paid for.

Honestly, if I had to pay for parking and I didn't know about it, I'd be upset because I don't always carry cash on me for that.

So, if there are NO other parking options (no free street parking, etc.), then you should pay for it.