Wedding Transportation Ideas and Etiquette for Your Big Day

TLDR:

• When considering wedding transportation, you may want to plan transportation for your bridal party, immediate family, and any guests who are flying in from out of town.
• There are many viable modes of wedding transportation, including personal vehicles, rideshare services, taxi services, hotel shuttles, and chartered wedding transportation.
• The right type of transportation for your wedding venue depends on your venue’s location, parking situation, overnight parking rules, and cell phone reception.
• Your budget and guest list will also play a role in your decision.

What you need to know about wedding day transportation

You’ve taken your engagement photos, hired a wedding planner, and booked your dream ceremony and reception venue. Everything is starting to come together. However, there’s one looming topic you need to tackle: wedding transportation. How are you and your guests going to travel from point A to point B on your big day?

The logistics of dealing with a rental company can get a little complicated. Luckily, with the right plan, you can make sure it all goes smoothly.

5 Wedding transportation ideas

1. Have everyone drive personal vehicles.

The most common way guests get to a wedding is by driving themselves. It’s affordable, reliable, and doesn’t require much planning on your part. Just keep in mind that your venue may have a hard time accommodating a large influx of cars. Guests who drive themselves may also face the predicament of being unable to drive after indulging in a few drinks throughout the night.

2. Hire an Uber, Lyft, or taxi service.

Rideshare apps and taxi services are both convenient modes of wedding transportation. They solve the problem of parking accommodations, as well as provide a safe alternative for those who choose to drink at your wedding. Best of all, they’re much more affordable than a chartered car or shuttle service. However, if these driving services are limited in your city or in high demand on your wedding day, it may be hard to get a ride when you need one.

3. Utilize hotel shuttle services.

If you’ve booked a hotel room block for your out-of-town guests, find out if your hotel offers a complimentary shuttle service. This is especially convenient if you're having a destination wedding. Accommodations in popular locations may already have a party bus or other transport services readily available.

4. Book transport through a chartered wedding transporation service.

Chartered transportation companies can set you up with a professional driver and a vehicle of your choosing, whether you want a car, limousine, shuttle, or party bus. One drawback is you may have to adhere to the constraints of your car company’s contract. For example, some car companies require you to book them for a minimum of three hours, even if you only need one or two hours of service.

5. Make an impression with an epic getaway car.

Lastly, you and your future spouse may want to book a unique form of transportation for your grand exit. Check out our creative getaway options below.

• Sports car
• Antique car
• Horse-drawn carriage
• Trolley
• Golf cart
• Vintage truck
• Vespa
• Pedicab
• Rowboat
• Duffy boat
• Sailboat
• Limousine
• Helicopter

Wedding transportation etiquette

Plans for immediate family and the bridal party

Many couples choose to arrange transportation for their inner circle, such as the bridal party, parents, and grandparents. Booking a professional car service or limousine for these special guests can help you get them to your wedding venue on time.

Factors that influence wedding guest transportation

1. Are a large number of guests flying in?

If you have a lot of loved ones flying in to attend your wedding, they probably won’t have cars. Offer your guests a rideshare discount. Uber and Lyft often allow you to give your guests a special event discount code. Or you may be able to use a hotel shuttle. On the flip side, if most of your wedding guests live nearby, they can use their own cars.

2. Will most of your guests stay until the end of the night?

If your guests are handling their own transportation, they can leave whenever they want. However, if you’re providing the rides home, you may need to have a shuttle or car service waiting on standby throughout the night.

3. How many guests are you expecting?

One way to mitigate your transportation burden is to have your guests indicate on their RSVP if they need their transportation covered. This way, you’ll know exactly how many people you need to arrange rides for. It may be a much smaller number than you thought.

How to book wedding transportation on budget

In 2024, the average cost of wedding transportation was $700-$1200. The total cost for your wedding transportation will depend on a variety of factors, such as if you choose a luxury party bus or stretch limo.

1. Decide the types of wedding transporation services you need.

As we mentioned before, relying on personal vehicles, rideshare services, and taxis is the cheapest option. If you decide to use a professional driving service, pricing varies from company to company. You can estimate the final cost of a professional driving service by reviewing their contract and paying close attention to the:

• Number of vehicles provided
• Amount of time you have access to these vehicles
• Service, gas, and overtime fees
• Deposit amount
• Gratuity amount
• Cancellation and refund policies

2. Reduce the number of people you need to transport.

If you can get away with providing transportation for just you and your wedding party, your budget will thank you.

3. Try to lessen the travel time and distance from the ceremony to reception venue.

If your venues are far apart from each other or the hotel you’ve booked, transportation costs can add up quickly. You’ll have to pay for more time, miles, and gas than you would if you have a shorter drive.

4. Get married in the off-season.

During the peak wedding seasons of summer and fall, many wedding services cost more. Wedding transportation is no exception, especially if you try to book last minute.

5. Get creative when you book wedding transportation.

Transportation is one of the easiest places to cut costs from your wedding budget. Here's how.

• Let your guests arrange their own rides (from carpooling, to ridesharing, to driving themselves, they’ll have plenty of options).

• Find out if any of your family members or friends would be willing to volunteer as designated drivers. You may be able to put together a fleet of drivers at no cost.

• Book any professional wedding transportation services well in advance. Consider using the same company for your bachelor and bachelorette party and rehearsal dinner transportation. By bundling these packages together, you may be able to get a better deal on them.

Average cost of wedding transporation

Of course, a getaway helicopter ride for the newlyweds will be a lot different than everyone taking their vehicles from the wedding to the reception. Therefore, request a quote for any companies you are considering. Also ask if they have wedding packages with different types of wedding transportation—say a stretch limo for the wedding party and a coach bus for wedding guests.

According to National Charter Bus service, a large bus can range anywhere from $120-$250 per hour with a per mile cost of $4.00-$6.20. So, the number of people, timeframe, and distance all play a factor. A minibus is similar in price range, although the per mile cost ranges about 50 cents cheaper per mile.

Philadelphia LX Limo also has various options for the wedding day, including Mercedes (holding three people at $135 per hour with a 2-hour minimum), SUVs (holding six people at $135 per hour with a 2-hour minimum), and party buses (holding 18 people at $245 per hour for a minimum of four hours).

For reference, the estimated transportation costs for the average couple is around $1500. However, the cost can fluctuate greatly, depending on the level of service you want to provide for your wedding guests.

How to choose the right type of transportation for your wedding venue

Wedding transportation options are all about getting from point A to point B safely, efficiently, and on time. Thus, point B (your wedding venue) has a notable impact on which transportation options you can choose from. So, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Does getting from the ceremony to reception require a wedding shuttle?

If point A and point B are the same place, you’re in luck! Arranging transportation may be unnecessary. Conversely, your transportation requirements will be simpler if your ceremony and reception are at the same place.

If your wedding features two different unique wedding venues, you may want to arrange a shuttle service to make things easier on your guests, especially if the venues are more than 30 minutes apart from one another.

2. How much parking does your venue offer?

If parking is limited at your venue, you should let guests know ahead of time to arrange a taxi, order a rideshare car, or carpool with other guests. You can also provide a shuttle service for them.

Even if your venue has an abundance of parking, it may be located far away from your ceremony or reception site. If so, find out if your venue offers a valet service for guests who aren’t up for a long walk.

3. Does the venue allow overnight parking?

Due to the celebratory nature of weddings, many of your guests may indulge in champagne and cocktails as they dance the night away. In turn, they may need to leave their cars at your venue overnight if you don't have rideshare or shuttle service on your wedding day.

4. How reliable is cell phone service at your venue?

While rideshare services allow you to order safe transportation in a flash, they require cell service. If your venue is rural, you may want to provide transportation for your guests. In turn, you won’t need to worry about them getting lost, losing cell service, and missing out on the festivities.

7 Tips to help book wedding transportation

1. Book transport in advance.

Limousines, town cars, party buses, and shuttles book up quickly, especially during peak wedding season. School graduation and prom season may also increase the demand for these services.

To make sure you get the type of vehicle you want, research and book your transportation sooner than later—at least three to six months before your wedding date. If you want to use a special form of transportation, like a trolley or a horse-drawn carriage, you may need to book even earlier.

2. Factor in extra travel time.

Many things can set back your transportation schedule, including bad weather, guests needing items from the hotel, or unexpected traffic. To prevent these mishaps from stressing you out on your big day, make sure to pad your travel time by at least 20 to 30 minutes.

3. Choose a spacious type of vehicle.

To keep guests comfortable, choose vehicles that offer some breathing room. You may even want to leave a few seats open. This will allow your guests to travel comfortably and in style.

4. Create a shuttle call sheet.

If you hire a shuttle service on your wedding day, give your driver a call sheet with the names of guests who will be riding along, complete with their pick-up and drop-off addresses. This will ensure no one gets left behind.

5. Don't forget your photographer.

If you want some dazzling paparazzi shots as you journey to the altar, make sure to reserve a seat for your photographer.

6. Factor in transport for gifts and decor.

Are your guests bringing gifts to the wedding venue? Do you have to break down any decorations and bring them home at the end of the night? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, make sure you choose some type of getaway transportation that can fit everything you need to bring with you, along with your and your spouse’s overnight bags.

7. Use your wedding website to communicate to your guests.

Whether or not you’re arranging transportation for your guests, you should let them know exactly what to expect. You can use your wedding website to communicate the:

• Transportation plan
• Pick-up and drop-off locations
• Pick-up and drop-off times
• Parking information
• Rideshare discount codes (if you have any)

Zola: Transporting you to your big day in style

Every wedding is unique. Thus, the right transportation for your wedding depends on your preferences and budget. You can arrange every little detail, let your guests figure it out on their own, or meet somewhere in between. Of course, Zola's expert advice can help you with a transportation plan, but our advice goes well beyond wedding transporation ideas.

From our wedding websites to our beautiful enclosure cards, we have all of the tools you need to share your transportation details in style. Building a beautiful wedding website is simple—and free. Choose from more than 250 wedding website designs to get started. Then, make it unique to you and yours, add all your transportation, meal, dress code, and plus-one details, and — voila! — all that’s left is the big moment.