Photo: Jade and Matthew Take Pictures
Providing transportation for your wedding guests is a kind gesture that they'll definitely appreciate — unless you have them waiting around for over an hour to get somewhere. How can you make sure they're where they need to be, on time and without a headache? Our experts have a few tips for making wedding-day transportation as painless as possible.
Rent vehicles that can hold more guests.
By renting vehicles that can hold 50 or more guests at a time, you'll limit how many trips they have to make, meaning everyone will get from the hotel to the ceremony or the ceremony to the reception in record time.
Plan something for guests to do while they wait.
If you can't transport everyone all at once, make sure that there's something planned on either end of the trip. If guests are waiting at the church for the next bus to come by, offer coffee (or champagne!) andsnacks. At the reception? Have cocktail hour begin as soon as the first wave arrives. Set out the guest book or have the photo booth attendant on-hand to get the festivities started.
Schedule who leaves when.
While you may want to be at the cocktail hour as quickly as possible, the in-between time is the perfect opportunity to snap family photos. Have your photographer organize a group picture with all of your guests, then dismiss anyone not related to either family (or in the wedding party) to hop on a bus. Then, whittle it down from the full family, grandparents and cousins included, to a smaller and smaller group until only you, your parents and siblings, and the wedding party are left. Then get on the last bus and head to the reception — cocktails are waiting!
See more: The Deal on Providing Transportation for Guests Between the Ceremony and Reception
Start moving people earlier than you think you need to.
Add at least 20 extra minutes to your timeline to account for things like traffic or stragglers. You might only need 45 minutes to get all of your guests to your 4pm ceremony, but scheduling the first shuttle to leave at 2:30 instead of 3pm means everyone will be comfortably in their seats before you walk down the aisle. At the end of the night, set up the first shuttle to leave two to three hours before your reception ends, around when you expect dinner to be over. Older guests or guests with children will be happy to know they can head back to their hotel whenever they're ready.