Beep, Beep!

Wedding transportation is TAKEN CARE OF!!!  Can I get a “Hell Yeah!”?

As you’ll recall, I dubbed transportation the “bane of my existence.”  I found it to be very difficult to narrow down the options, get good customer service, etc.  In the end, I decided to just say eff it.  I went with the company that had a good price for what we wanted and were the easiest to work with.  Admittedly, I didn’t do a lot of comparison, because at this point, I just wanted it checked off the list.

So, without further ado, I present to you our mode of transportation on the wedding day:

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Yup—a school bus!  Honestly, it was the perfect solution for us—it will fit up to 48 adults, alcohol and fun decorations are allowed, and they’ll take us all around town AND wait ‘til the reception is over to shuttle us back to the different hotels, all for a really great price.  We went with a company called Lamers Bus Lines, who have transportation services in Wisconsin and Florida.  They were amazing to work with!  I uploaded my itinerary to their website and received a quote back within an hour.  Their salesperson called me personally to answer all my questions, and we have such flexibility with them—we can have them go anywhere in downtown Milwaukee at any time that night, which means if our older guests need shuttles back to their hotels earlier than the reception ends, we can send the bus driver to take them.  SO NICE!!  Compared to some of the quotes I was getting for limo buses and shuttles, going with a Lamers school bus is an absolute steal—and a huge relief!

I’ll be honest, though—I was a little leery at first.  We are having a formal event and a school bus doesn’t really fit into that style too well.  In the end, however, I just didn’t care. We’re not going to be spending that much time on the bus anyways and it was literally perfect for our needs—we can cram our entire wedding party, their guests, and a few of our other friends on the bus to hang out with us.  Plus, I am envisioning cute photo opportunities like this:

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And this:

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Cute, no? 

I still have a two-hour free package for a stretch limo that I won from a local company to use, but I am not sure quite yet how that will play in.  I will either use it for me and my bridesmaids before the ceremony, or have my sister use it for a possible Bachelorette Party excursion.  Either way, I am sooooo happy to have Transportation crossed off the To-Do list!

What are you using for your wedding transportation?

The Bane of My Existence

Or more aptly titled, The Post About Transportation.

We’ll get back to the Flower Power series later this week, but for now, I interrupt your regularly scheduled flower blogging to talk about booking transportation for the wedding:

What a PAIN in the ASS.  Seriously.  This is the one wedding task I absolutely HATE.  Not only am I finding out that transportation costs vary greatly from company to company, but I’ve also noticed that most of the companies I have contacted so far have little to no customer service.  As in, I will send them an email and get a one-sentence reply back with their price.  No signature, no thank you, no “here’s how to book.”  It’s annoying!

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So, will we end up with a limo bus?

I feel really overwhelmed when I think about working on transportation and in truth, I have been avoiding it.  Originally, I thought we would offer our guests some transportation to and from their hotels to the reception site, but Dr. Groomy and several others have pointed out that although that is a nice gesture, it is a) completely unnecessary because our hotels are within walking distance and b) an added expense that we just don’t need.  So, we scratched providing guest transportation.  Instead, I will be supplying the name and phone numbers of local cab companies to all of our guests via our website, in our welcome packets in the out-of-town bags, and with a small sign on a table near the doors of our reception site.  Guest transportation:  Check.

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Or perhaps a school bus?

Next to think about is transportation for our wedding party, their guests, and our close family members.  “You’re providing transportation for your wedding party’s guests?”  You say.  “Why, yes, we are!” I say.  Why?  Because I have been a guest at weddings where my date was in the wedding party and I have felt utterly left out and awkward, because I didn’t know that many people at the wedding.  It may not be a priority for you, but I have to say that it is bizarre to me how many brides don’t give much thought to their wedding party or their dates.  Hello, these people have paid money to stand up and support you on this special day in your life!  The least you can do is make them and their dates comfortable during the process.  Yes, it may cost a little extra money, but to me, it is worth it to keep my wedding party happy.   So, we’re looking at transportation for about 25 or so people to the ceremony, from the ceremony to the pictures, from the pictures to the reception, and the reception back to the hotels.  Can you say “logistics problem”?  How will that work out?  A lot of companies have four hour minimums, but I have had little help in knowing if we can use two hours here and two hours there.  The whole thing is totally frustrating to me. 

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Or maybe even a trolley!

I won a $250 gift certificate from a local limo company at a fundraiser at my local pub a few months ago.  Great, right?  Wrong.  The limo company is easily the most expensive company I have dealt with so far.  Even with the gift certificate, their costs come in well above many other companies in the area.  Le sigh.

So, I turn to you friends:  what are you doing for your wedding transportation?  If you feel comfortable sharing how much you are spending, I would appreciate it, since I feel as though I don’t even know what’s reasonable anymore.    Any tips for me as to how to make this task easier?  Please share!