Wedding transportation Costs

My ceremony/reception are in the same place, the hotel is next door so I'm not getting a limo. I'm driving to the hotel the night before in my own car.

Why are you providing transportation for your guests? Why can't they get there on their own? Is this a DW?

I just looked up a quote for a mini-bus shuttle for 25-30 people and was quoted $850 for a pickup at the hotel at 4:30 pm and then a return at 10:30 pm.

$1300 does seem a bit high but you have to think that you're essentially blocking out the schedule for 5+ hours where they can't book another client.

All my unique ideas are expensive, unfortunately! I'd love to do a trolley but those are pretty $$. One of my friend's sister paid an underage family member (17 year old nephew) to be DD during her wedding (he drove family members over, stayed for the whole wedding, and then drove them all back to the hotel) but that made me side-eye kinda hard...

I don't think your guests will mind hopping in a cab or an Uber.

The reason why the price is so high is you're not just paying for 15 minutes each way... you're paying for the entire block of time (maybe). Or the time it takes to get to you and get somewhere else, twice.

I ran into this problem too. I called about 20 companies. You will have to pay an hourly minimum. Ask if companies are willing to split. 2 hours at the start and 2 at the end of the night. I ended up finding a 32 passenger mini coach willing to do this. Uber does have an event set up where you can do what asking, but depending on the number of guests $20-40 per group will add up quickly. Keep in mind, the closer you get to your date, those who didn't want to miss out on a better job before may be more willing to work with you if they're not booked.

I've been to a few weddings that provided shuttle service for their guests. It was so nice to not have to worry about drinking and driving (and in a city/area we weren't familiar with) and be able to drink and enjoy ourselves. I was so appreciative to the hosts for this perk. Our wedding and reception was going to be just two-three blocks from our hotel, so we didn't have this issue. But we definitely would have looked into providing transportation if it hadn't been so close. I hope you find a cheaper option.

ETA: I realize I didn't actually give you any advice at all. Sorry.

@Lauren - that split idea is a good one! I might look into that for our shuttle, especially since our wedding is going to be about 6 hours total, which is a long time to block out.

@bownetogether it was the only way. I would've needed 8 hours if they didn't. It came down to the wire, but I found a shuttle! Lol

Yeah exactly that's the problem! Most of these companies have a minimum amount of time that you're required to book the shuttle for! BUT I did find a place that ONLY charges for the time their services are used, so their might be light at the end of the tunnel! I'm keeping my fingers crossed they come back with a reasonable quote.

And yeah we will be having quite a few out of town guests as well. And our venue is kind of in the middle of no where (on a farm), so we won't be in a city where people can easily call a cab. So to make sure our guests are safe I want to make sure they have a ride back to the hotel after a night of drinking.

@MattB yeah my hotel gave me a list of shuttle services that other brides have used. The one I'm waiting to hear back on is one of the ones on that

list. Keeping my fingers crossed it'll be affordable!

Did you look at uber event?

We used school buses! I've seen them at other weddings too. Very economical!

@MrsInSeptember no I haven't! I'll have to look into that. Do you know if you can set it up where the ride is ONLY for a trip from venue to the hotel? Aka I wouldn't want to run into any situations where the guests used the uber to drive them other places through out the night.

As you said, there's usually an hourly minimum that you can't get around, but $1,300 is extremely high even for that. We paid about $1,100 for 12 hours and most the companies here in Southern CA charge like $150-200 an hour, even for larger vehicles. Definitely keep looking.

Look into school buses! We paid $500 for 9 hours, it worked out perfectly!

I am running into the same issue but it doesn't look like there are a lot of options. My venue is 45 minutes from where I live. I also conveniently live within 10 minutes of the airport which a lot of OOT guests will be flying in. I have received 4 quotes from bus companies.. providing quotes from $1,100-$2,000 for 54 passangers. Since my venue is a 45 minute drive we can't do multiple trips without the next group waiting a minimum of 90 minutes :/

If anyone has more ideas I am definitely open to suggestions since this threw a wrench in our party planning..