The Public Option

Make it easy for guests – en masse – to get to your wedding

By Jill Jaracz
CTW Features

When Patrick Delaney and his bride Katie, both 29, were planning their Memorial Day wedding in Alexandria, Va., transportation was one shocking cost. Hiring a charter bus to take guests from the hotel to the wedding site would cost more $2,000 and put them over budget.

Their wedding planner gave them a different travel suggestion: public transportation.

Wedding couples in urban areas are discovering that public transportation systems can be a great asset in keeping wedding costs down. “[Public transportation] was a huge savings for us,” says Patrick. The Delaneys commissioned two city buses to transport their guests and spent between $700 and $800 – a fraction of what the bus would have cost.

San Antonio-based wedding and event planner Greg Paladino agrees. “What do you do when you don’t have money? You do something different,” Paladino says.

Paladino’s company, CRE8AD8, often suggests public transportation because of the large amount of money the wedding couple can save. “When a couple can save 50, 80 or 90 percent of what they were going to pay for private transportation and parking, it’s worth it,” he says.

Using public transportation alleviates the issue of finding parking in a crowded downtown area or hiring valets. “[Guests] don’t have to worry about parking, they can drink and celebrate, and they can interact with the other guests,” Paladino says.

Because using public transportation is an unusual mode of wedding transportation, communication is key. “Considering that some people get nervous – especially if they are not used to traveling via your chosen type of public transportation – make sure that you have clear and detailed instructions so that guests know exactly what to expect,” advises Lizzie Post, an etiquette expert with The Emily Post Institute.

“The main idea here is tell your guests clearly and often about your public transportation choices. Utilize your wedding webpage, map insert, and network of friends and family to spread the word,” says Melissa Wagner-Gens, a Dallas-based planner with Emerald Events & Weddings who relied on public transportation for her October 2009 wedding.

Providing transit passes to guests is also an important detail. “If you can supply tokens, metro cards or bus cards ahead of time, that would be best,” Post says. “You can use an enclosure with the invitation or wedding packet to explain directions and attach the token or card to it.”

On the wedding day, Post recommends designating an attendant, usher, friend or family member as transportation assistant to answer questions and make sure guests know what to do and where to go. “Add [this person’s] cell number to the enclosure so that guests feel they have someone to contact should they get confused or lost. Elderly friends or family who may have trouble in crowded public places should be escorted to and from wedding locations in a manner more comfortable for them,” Post says.

Copyright © CTW Features