organise travel or leave guests to arrange it themselves?

binkyboo_2

Hi all,

New wedding fanatic here! i am in the early planning stages at the moment and just trying to gather ideas at the moment really so i hope some of you can offer your thoughts or advice on this one!
we live aproximately 1 hours drive from most of the guests so a wedding would involve either a lot of designated drivers or expensive hotel stays! I'm all about money saving for our big day not only for us but for our guests too so i have been toying with the idea of hiring a coach to bring all the guests (probably 30-40) the hours distance and then to drive them back again afterwards to one or two designated drop off points. Is anyone else considering something like this?
I thought seen as we are considering a friday then people will already have to book time off work and might buy a new outfit so a £60 + hotel room plus whatever they spend on the day would be too much to ask of them. As we are also trying to stick to a budget i was wondering whether to ask for contributions towards the coach hire - haven't actually priced it up yet so no idea what it might be! Would you consider it cheeky to be asked to contribute?

Lexxi

We went to a wedding where a coach picked us up from the town centre then dropped us back there around midnight. We'd make our way to and from the Town Centre any other weekend so it was a good central point. You would have to think about day and evening guests, you might need two pick ups and one to two drop offs?
You could include in your invites that you are going to try and get a mini bus/coach for people that didn't want to drive and it works at at £__ per person ?

binkyboo_2

we won't be having day/evening guests everyone from a distance will be invited from 3pm - 12am. I was thinking about sending out save the date cards and mentioning the transport idea then so it gives people plenty of time to decide whether they want to drive and stay the night whatever then i could perhaps see how people respond to it with a yes great idea or no rubbish idea!

Lexxi

I don't think it's a rubbish idea, we are hopefully getting married in a village with no hotels 60 miles from our family so we'd be putting a coach on from the local hotel.
How long till you get married? You could always compare the cost of a night at the hotel with a seat on a coach?

*Louise*

I think it's a good idea, it's good to consider your guests travel and costs. So many weddings can cost a fortune just to attend, so having transport provided can help out a lot

We offered to put on a coach for our family members (venue was 80 miles away) in the end most decided they would like to drive and stay at the venue overnight, so we only needed a 7-seater taxi for a few people who didn't drive/couldn't stay. That picked them up and dropped them all off at their homes at midnight.

I think a central location is a good idea if you are going to have enough to fill a coach.

Phyzelda

We are providing a coach to get the daytime guests there free of charge because they are all paying for hotels, as they are having to travel from up north and down south to us who seems to be exactly in the middle

However we questioned how much it would be to add a second journey in and now we are thinking about offering the coach to evening guests but thinking of charging £2 per person to secure places, because the last thing we want is people saying they are coming and wanting a seat, paying for the coach and them not use it. - If you were an evening guest would you be willing?

Our venue is 30minutes away from our home town, but it's not the most straight forward places to get too.

angelavdavis

We put on a double decker bus for all our family and they picked up everyone enroute - no excuses not to have a glass of champagne then!

Taadaa

Although I think this is a lovely idea...it's not very MSE. I have never been to a wedding where the transport is organised, we have always just offered whatever space inthe car we have to other family and other drivers have done the same, and it has always worked out okay. Don't feel obliged. After all, when they get to the reception,they are in for the duration. It can mean that some don't entirely join in on the festivities, but having said that, not everyone will anyway. Someone is usually the driver when peeps go out. x

Horace

I have never been to a wedding where the bride has organised transport for her guests. People make their own way to the church (or wedding venue) and then make their own way to the reception - that way they can leave when they want and don't have to wait around for a bus or taxi to take them home. If the reception venue was say 2hrs drive then maybe I would consider some form of transport. Remember if you are having the reception/wedding in the hotel then negotiate a room discount for guests with the hotel.

Don't pay for the hotel rooms just say to guests - mention xyz wedding party when you book.

Apricot

My cousin's wedding was about an hours drive from where most of her side of the family lived so she organised a coach for everyone to go down on. I think it was a fab idea as without the coach a few people either wouldn't have gone or would have had very expensive travel costs (our nan for example who is partially sighted). Quite a few people don't drive in our family and those who do wanted to have a drink so this was the best solution all round.

I wouldn't say that it is cheeky to ask for a contribution as it will likely work out cheaper than petrol costs although if you base the cost on everyone going by coach and then only 50% decide to take you up on the offer, people may not be as happy to pay more.

There is a sikh temple near where I live and you regularly see the coach full of wedding guests arriving.

stuart.pinfold

princessleah_ wrote: »

My cousin's wedding was about an hours drive from where most of her side of the family lived so she organised a coach for everyone to go down on. I think it was a fab idea as without the coach a few people either wouldn't have gone or would have had very expensive travel costs (our nan for example who is partially sighted).

This is the main reason I think this is a bad idea - what if your Nan hadn't wanted to wait until 2am to go home and wanted to leave at 10pm instead? You then end up having multiple journeys at a much increased cost which probably works out more expensive than paying for individual taxis for those who really can't get there (because, for example, they don't drive).

We are considering laying on a bus at the end of the evening (our venue has an 11pm finish anyway) to a designated hotel and telling people on the invite that if they would like transport (if, for example, they would like to drink) at the end of the night, they should stay at that hotel and a single journey bus will be provided at, say, 11:15 - although we haven't yet costed that up...