Planning Your Wedding Transportation: The Questions Most Couples Don't Know to Ask

When couples start thinking about wedding transportation, the conversation usually begins pretty simply:

“We're getting married next June and we're looking for a trolley.”

Great. That's the easy part.

The bigger question is: How is everybody getting everywhere they need to be throughout the entire wedding day?

After talking through wedding transportation with a lot of couples, we've learned that there are several things brides and grooms simply don't know to think about yet. That's completely understandable. Hopefully, this guide can help you ask the right questions, whether you ultimately book with Club Car or someone else.

Start With the Locations

One of the first things we ask is whether the wedding is in Fort Wayne.

Why does that matter?

Because transportation isn't just about the time you're physically sitting inside the vehicle. If your transportation company is based in Fort Wayne and your wedding requires traveling to Bluffton, Auburn, Rome City or somewhere else outside the city, travel time to and from those locations may affect your total rental time and price.

Ask your transportation company how they calculate that time. You don't want to discover later that you and the company had two different definitions of a “three-hour rental.”

Once we know the locations, we can start talking about what transportation you actually need.

The Question That Catches a Lot of Brides Off Guard

A very common wedding transportation plan looks like this:

The ceremony ends. The bridal party gets on the trolley or party bus. Everyone goes somewhere for pictures. Then the vehicle takes everyone to the reception.

Pretty straightforward.

Then we ask:

“Okay, how are you getting to the ceremony?”

And sometimes there's a pause.

“Oh. I haven't thought about that yet.”

You're not alone.

Getting everyone TO the wedding can require just as much planning as what happens afterward.

If the bride and groom aren't seeing each other before the ceremony, you also can't necessarily throw everybody onto one vehicle at the same time.

One solution we often use is taking the bride and bridesmaids first. Once they're where they need to be and getting ready, the same vehicle can go back for the groom and groomsmen, who typically don't need quite as much preparation time.

The important thing isn't that every wedding has to do it this way. It's simply remembering to plan both sides of the ceremony.

Count More Than Just the Wedding Party

If you have seven bridesmaids and seven groomsmen, don't automatically assume you need transportation for 14 people.

Are their significant others coming along for pictures?

Are there siblings or close friends who aren't technically standing in the wedding but will be joining you?

Are the bride and groom included in the number you just gave the transportation company?

It's completely fine to bring additional people. We just want to know about them when we're choosing the vehicle.

A vehicle that technically holds your wedding party may suddenly feel very different when another six friends decide they're coming along.

Start with a realistic headcount and give yourself some room.

Pick a Vehicle That Fits More Than Your Headcount

Capacity matters, but so does the personality of your wedding.

That's why one of the questions we like asking couples is:

What kind of vibe are you going for?

A larger group whose biggest priority is keeping everyone together might be perfect for our Big T Trolley.

For a traditional wedding with fewer than 30 passengers, we're probably going to talk about our White Bridal Trolley. It's one of our favorite wedding vehicles and has become something pretty special here in Northeast Indiana.

But suppose you're having a rustic wedding. Maybe your reception is at a barn and you're heading into a field or country setting for pictures. In that case, we might recommend our Authentic Trolley because its old-school, train-like appearance can fit that wedding perfectly.

There's no universal “best” wedding vehicle.

There's the vehicle that fits your people, your locations and the experience you're trying to create.

You Don't Need Your Exact Timeline a Year in Advance

This is one area where couples sometimes create unnecessary stress for themselves.

You might know your ceremony date but have absolutely no idea whether the trolley needs to pick you up at 3:15 or 3:30 eleven months from now.

That's okay.

If we reasonably expect your transportation to happen between approximately 3:15 and 5:45, for example, we can initially plan a larger window around that. As the wedding gets closer and you've worked through the timeline with your venue, photographer and other vendors, we can tighten things up.

What you DON'T necessarily want to do is wait until every minute is finalized before reserving a specific vehicle you really want.

Popular wedding vehicles can book well in advance, particularly on desirable Saturdays.

Once you have your wedding date, general locations, approximate timing and a rough headcount, it's a good time to start the transportation conversation.

Google Maps Doesn't Account for Dave

This might be one of the most important pieces of advice in this entire article.

Couples sometimes build transportation timelines based entirely on driving time.

The church is eight minutes from the picture location. Pictures should take 20 minutes. The reception is another 10 minutes away.

Easy, right?

Except you're not moving one person.

You're moving 20 or 30 people dressed for a wedding.

Someone is in the bathroom.

Someone left their phone.

Someone is saying goodbye to Grandma.

And somehow it takes 11 minutes to find Dave because he's out back smoking.

Build people time into your transportation schedule, not just driving time.

Give yourself breathing room. Good communication with your wedding party, photographer, planner and transportation company can prevent a lot of unnecessary stress.

What Happens If the Wedding Runs Late?

Ask this question BEFORE your wedding day:

“What happens if we need the vehicle longer than we planned?”

Because weddings run late.

Pictures take longer. Ceremonies start late. Somebody disappears. Plans change.

Ideally, good communication and realistic scheduling prevent most of those issues. But you should still know what happens if you need additional time.

At Club Car, we try to have that conversation beforehand. If additional time is needed and the vehicle is available, we can have the driver aware that you've approved additional time and add it to the card on file. We also offer 10% off additional time.

The point isn't to encourage you to keep the vehicle longer.

It's the opposite.

We want to plan well enough that you probably won't need it, while making sure that if something does happen, it doesn't become one more thing for you to stress about.

If You Have a Lot of Out-of-Town Guests, Think About Them Too

Here's a rule of thumb we discuss with couples:

Once you start getting around 50 or more out-of-town guests, seriously consider guest transportation.

Think about what those guests need to do.

Hotel to ceremony.

Ceremony or hotel to reception.

Reception back to hotel at the end of the night.

A guest shuttle is a completely different transportation need than the trolley carrying your bridal party around for pictures.

And there's one surprisingly important person to include in your transportation plan:

Your DJ.

Tell Your DJ About the Shuttle

Imagine you've arranged for a shuttle to make trips from your reception back to the hotel.

The shuttle arrives, but everybody is still dancing.

“I'll just catch the next one.”

Then another group says the same thing.

Eventually, the final shuttle arrives and suddenly far more people need a ride than the vehicle can accommodate.

That's avoidable.

Tell your DJ or MC the shuttle schedule beforehand.

Then 15 minutes before departure, your DJ can make an announcement:

“If you rode the shuttle here, your next shuttle back to the hotel leaves in 15 minutes. Please be ready to go.”

It sounds like a tiny detail.

It can make a huge difference at the end of the night.

Transportation works much better when everybody knows the plan.

Please Don't Make the Bride the Transportation Dispatcher

Before the wedding, designate one person as the day-of transportation contact.

It could be your wedding planner, maid of honor, mom, sister or another responsible person in the wedding party.

Just preferably not the bride.

For one thing, your wedding dress probably doesn't have pockets.

More importantly, who wants to bother the bride with transportation questions on her wedding day?

If your driver sends:

“Hi, this is John. I plan on being at the church at 2:55. Congratulations, and we'll see you soon!”

that text should ideally go to your designated contact.

If the driver has a question or needs to find someone, there should be one person who knows the plan and can help.

The bride should be getting married, not dispatching transportation.

Don't Forget About the End of the Night

Finally, think through what happens when the reception ends.

How are your out-of-town guests getting back to the hotel?

What about members of the wedding party who have been drinking?

Does the bridal party need transportation?

Do the bride and groom want to leave together privately?

Sometimes the answer to that last question isn't another trolley or party bus at all. Maybe a limo for the newlyweds is exactly what makes sense.

That's why good wedding transportation planning isn't about trying to rent you the biggest vehicle or the most vehicles.

It's about understanding the entire day.

The Best Wedding Transportation Plan Is the One You Don't Have to Think About on Your Wedding Day

When you're comparing transportation companies, don't only ask:

“How much is the trolley?”

Ask questions.

How is rental time calculated?

What happens if we're running late?

How many people will comfortably fit?

Who communicates with us on the wedding day?

Can the timeline be adjusted as the wedding gets closer?

What transportation are we forgetting?

And pay attention to how the company handles those conversations.

Weddings already come with enough deadlines, deposits, decisions and moving parts. Your transportation company should help take stress OFF your plate, not add more to it.

You don't need every minute of your wedding figured out today.

You just need a company willing to sit down, understand your day, ask the questions you may not have thought about yet, and help you build a transportation plan that makes sense.

Because ultimately, the goal isn't just getting everybody from Point A to Point B.

It's making transportation one less thing you have to worry about while you enjoy your wedding.

Of course if you ever have any questions call or text us at (260) 492 2102.