One wedding planning detail that often gets overlooked or rather becomes complicated is wedding transportation, especially in an area where ride-shares to wedding venues and after-party destinations are sparse, if existent.
It’s no secret what makes a great event are the details the host puts into his or her special event or wedding. How many times have you heard a guest say, “There wasn’t a detail, they didn’t consider” when fawning over a wedding or big party they attended? We have taken note wedding transportation services are sparse in our area and many other smaller cities. This is partially due to the pandemic, which caused a mass exodus of limousines and other chauffeur service companies that did not survive.
When we see a void, we do what we can to offer a solution, and we began offering our parent company’s Mercedes Sprinter van as a rental. When rented, it certainly made an impression, and you heard the “oohs and ahs” it received, providing that extra detail that dazzled guests. Today, Weymouth Hill Event Venue owns its own 2025 Presidential Sprinter van fully loaded with a restroom, two televisions, and seats 11 and is looking to add another luxury SUV.
Do you necessarily need wedding transportation if your ceremony and reception are in the same place? Yes and no. This is our path to knowing if wedding transportation is something you should consider or simply would not need.
You might consider wedding transportation if:
- Many of your guests are from out of town and staying at nearby hotels. By providing a shuttle to/from the hotel, you just made your traveling guest’s job much more worry-free. Think about it. When you are unfamiliar with a geographic area, there are a host of questions you have such as: how long will it take to get there? Curvy roads? Will I be able to see after dark? Who will be the designated driver? Trust me when I say we get a number of guests who drive to the venue the day before just to see the route beforehand. We also get calls from guests asking about gravel lots, walking distances, and one who wanted to drive his luxury sportscar but didn’t want to park it where it might be at risk for damage, to which we assisted.
- You are hosting an after party. This is the most common rental of our sprinter van! What a grand way to end your wedding evening than to have a sprinter van pull up to take your guests to a last location. Please note this will take a few runs in our fleet, but you can ask us how we coordinate or ask us about vendors who offer party buses outside of our area.
- You want your wedding party to travel together. This isn’t so much an issue if your ceremony and reception are in the same place, but many brides or grooms feel more at ease when they know the wedding party is traveling together, hence those group photos don’t get thrown off by a missing wedding party member. Our couples who opt for a church ceremony and Weymouth Hill reception often rent our sprinter van to keep that wedding party together, not to mention it’s a pumped-up ride with your gang riding in style.
- You want to elevate your event. The company we purchased our Sprinter Van from sells to the elite and celebrities, reminding us that it’s not everyday folks get the opportunity to ride in something special. In other markets, trolley cars or refurbished school buses are certainly a novelty we’d love to see. This is why we invested in something of our own.
- Your guests will be drinking and are relying on ride-shares for a safe ride home. There are numerous accounts of spirited receptions at Weymouth Hill where guests presumed a ride share would be available as they were from out of the area. In a few instances, they even offered our staff money to drive them to their end-of-the-night stop. In many cases, our couples communicated ride-share unpredictability beforehand, but when guests are feeling festive, they often forget this detail. This is why it’s a good idea to have an end-of-the-evening ride option.
You likely won’t need wedding transportation if:
- Your guests are primarily local While a nicety, your money is likely better reserved for another upgrade if many of your guests are located near your venue and wedding and reception are in the same space.
- You have an alcohol-free wedding or event is a reason to not need transportation. A dry wedding alleviates the need for “safe” rides or concerns about guests driving under the influence.
- It simply does not fit into your budget to include wedding transportation. This is completely understandable. Good communication and directions for your guests lead to no surprises. We typically recommend letting your guests know ahead of time that ride shares and driver services are not to be depended on in our area as other similar non-metropolitan areas. We also suggest having a family member with a large SUV on standby at the end of the evening if a guest or guests don’t heed the warning.
