Transportation Troubles

A shuttle works if it’s affordable, otherwise all the other options are fairly unreasonable, a big hassle and asking a bit too much (there’s a reason shuttles are expensive— it’s a big job!). It may be worth asking with the hotel to see if they have any shuttle options (even if they don’t offer one, they should have companies they recommend), then you can decide if it’s affordable or not. If its not….don’t worry about it. I love a shuttle but I also understand as a guest of an event it is generally my responsibility to get myself there — which is to say, this is not a problem it is your responsibility to solve. When we fly to a wedding, we generally rent a car to get from airport to hotel and around town, so many people will probably have cars available. Still depending on the wedding, even with a car i often opt to Uber to and from so I don’t have to worry about driving home. If you are in a place where Uber/Lyft is an option, you can also look into an event code to help cover some of the cost of your guests’ rides.


What I would definitely do is make sure guests know the hotel in walking distance is in walking distance and that the other one is not ! Plenty of times I’ve chosen my hotel based on that. Sometimes I’ll choose to pay a little more to be right on site and other times I’ll choose a discounted hotel knowing that I’m gonna add to the cost a little taxiing to and from an event but sometimes the savings are worth it in the end!

Does the hotel have a shuttle that they would be willing to drive guests to/from the venue?

If the first hotel is walking distance from your venue, I would definitely put that information on your wedding website and highly encourage guests to book there. I would also contact the second hotel to see if they offer any sort of shuttle services (many do). If not, you could wait to see how many guests actually book at the second venue, and how many of them do not have transportation. If it is a small number of guests, maybe you could pay for a van service to make 1 or 2 trips, which should be fairly inexpensive.

I wouldn't worry about it. As a guest at any wedding, I would assume transport was my responsibility if I wasn't told otherwise, and its never been a big deal.

View Quoted Comment Thanks everyone!
I do have it on our wedding website which hotel is in walking distance from the venue and the hotel has practically blocked off every room for the wedding guests. It's a small boutique hotel with 27 rooms.
The other hotel is a chain so I will definitely call them and see if they offer shuttle service!

I say option 3 would be best. You will always have those drives themselves, but having options for people may be better.

I would not have family members or groomsmen have to do this (2&3). That's asking a bit too much imo. I agree with the suggestions to see about a shuttle, but ultimately I think it's ok to leave transportation up to the guest.

I think option 1 would be great if you can make it work budget-wise. However, in this situation I think it's fine to leave transportation up to guests (some combination of 4&5 and people just getting themselves there). Especially because the ceremony and reception are taking place at the same venue. And as others have said, I think most people assume they need to get themselves to a wedding they're attending and don't expect transportation. I would not ask any groomsmen or family members to shuttle anyone (unless there is someone with a disability or other situation where they need special assistance with transportation).

If you do want to provide a shuttle you may consider looking into non-"party" buses. My friend hired a school bus for her wedding transportation and it was much more affordable than a traditional wedding party bus. However, the bus ended up only having 8 people riding it because everyone CHOSE to drive themselves.

We were going to do shuttles but ultimately decided it wasn't worth the cost and people would have to be adults and get themselves there. I've only been to a few weddings as an adult but they were all up to us to get there and back to our hotel and that was fine.

I just wanted to throw out one option you might not know about. Lyft has something called "Lyft events" where you can set up a special event code that guests can use toward a Lyft ride. Basically, you pay a set amount, say $500, and break it down into 50 $10 credits, or however you want to do it. Then you can make a custom code with your names or whatever and share it with your guests. If they don't use the whole amount you prepaid, you just get it refunded. Since you said you felt bad about guests paying for rides twice, this might be a good option for you and you can choose an amount that still costs less than a shuttle. We set up a code for our event and we are putting a sign on the bar that says "A safe ride is on us, please use our code XX for $10 off Lyft until midnight"

View Quoted Comment This 100%. This is something that is nice to think about for your guests, but not worth your time and stress of the logistics.