Wedding Guest Transportation

I'd question how typical it is in your area/crowd to supply transportation and how "difficult" the drive is. Where we're from, even high-end weddings don't include transportation -- people just drive themselves (So Cal, can't go anywhere without driving...). But, we have family on the East Coast and it seems like transportation is practically a requirement, like cake, at their weddings.... The last wedding with that side of the family we attended, the hotel was about 30 minutes from the venue, over winding two-lane poorly marked roads (like, "make the third turn past the big tree" kind of roads...), and we actually had to cross a state line to get to the venue. In that situation, I see the advantage of transportation, but it was also a hassle moving people in shifts between the two locations -- some people get there and/or leave early, others are stuck waiting around and arrive or leave well after others. Maybe it's the Californians in us, but we like to be able to control our own comings and goings. Is there potentially an option where you use the trolley for the wedding party and let the rest of the guests drive themselves?

The trolley sounds like a good, cute idea!
I think transportation is great to offer to guests... and recommend it.

The trolley sounds like such a fun idea! I had looked into it too, but the drive would have been about 1/2 an hour long and they were only available for short trips.


Our wedding was in Southern California. Like you we had over 100 guests staying in our hotel block so it made sense for us to provide transportation to our venue which was 30-40 minutes away. We only had one pickup from the hotel and one drop off. This ensured over 1/2 our guests arrived on time and no one left our wedding early haha. How much more would it cost to rent another charter so that it leaves The hotel at the same time? Otherwise, if 1/2 of your guests get to the venue early, will there be some form of entertainment for them? Like a live musician or will drinks be served? I’m just thinking most people will try to get on that later shuttle so they’re not just sitting around waiting at the venue. However, if you make a note that there will be drinks and yard games or something, most will try to get there early.

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Guests will likely have to arrive a bit early since we're only having the one vehicle going between the venue and our hotel- but I hadn't even thought of providing games or something! That's a great idea since our ceremony is outside on a lawn anyway!

It seems like renting another charter would be too expensive... we're already cutting it close with this one option.

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I think maybe it is an East Coast thing! We're getting married in Newport, Rhode Island... which should have plenty of ubers, etc. but will also be pretty busy during the summer and we really don't want any one to feel forced to drive since people will be drinking.

Thanks for your help!

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Thank you!

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Oh, we LOVE Newport! Especially with potential summer traffic I can definitely see the advantages of providing a shuttle.