USA Bus Lines

Wedding Guest Transportation Question?

Ok so me and my fiance will be getting married next summer (not for a year and a half or so) but im wanting to get all this planned. The major problem is this: My boy and his family are from Louisiana. Me and my family and friends are from Illinois. We already decided to marry in Louisiana because his family is much larger than mine is. I have like 30 people that will need to get transported from Illinois to Louisana and we can't afford to rent an 11 thousand dollar charter bus. Amtrak and Greyhound are like 600 dollars round fare. My question is this: Would it be wrong for me to arrange transportation for my family and bridal party and then all my family friends have to arrange their own? I'm not sure if that would be tacky for me to do or not?

Public Comments

1. With people having opportunities to venture out on their own, people are meeting and getting engaged to people further away from them. While it is nice to arrange transportation, that is going to be very difficult for you to do. I am from California and my fiance is from Virginia. We are having the wedding in California and his family is finding their own way out here. While we knew that may hinder people getting to the wedding, surprisingly the vast majority of his family is coming. You could try and find airlines with good prices for them and then pass along the information, but not arranging transportation for everyone is not tacky. Send out save the dates far in advance so they can find good deals. Best of lucky planning!! P.S. Block of rooms at a hotel so they can get a cheaper rate as well. Perhaps make up little welcome bags with things like maps, directions to some of your favorite places around town, and snacks. You could have a Sunday brunch for everyone so it is more of a family get together. Maybe look to renting a shuttle just for the day of the wedding for people if it is feasible. It's going to be so much fun, trust me!
2. My husband and I got married this past summer and had the same issue. Our families live in diffrent cities. We had them arrange their own way here, and had drives for the bridal party. I don't think it's tacky at all. A wedding is very expensive I don't think the bride and groom should have the added expense of transportation for guests as well.
3. How many people can fit on one of those charter buses? Why not have a non-family member arrange bus transportation for people. So, say you have a family friend, maybe Bill and Mary Jones. Bill and Mary get in contact with all your guest in the area and say, " Hey, do you need a ride to Louisiana? Please Contact Bill and Mary Jones, they are organizing a charter bus for all guests for a low price of X dollars per person." This way, it doesn't look like you're forcing your guests to take the bus or drive themselves. Instead, it just looks like a group of people or a particular friend took it upon themselves to organize this for everyone involved and save everyone money. You could have a wedding website online and post the message from whoever decides to be the organizer for the family/friends and give your guests contact numbers. You could also do a separate mailing of different transportation ideas and include a letter from the person who's organizing all this, stating what they would like to do, who they need to contact, etc.
4. You are having a destination wedding, the fact that you are going to arrange for your family and bridal party is plenty. Guests will pay their own way. This is perfectly acceptable. Guests can drive them self's too, a drive from illinois to louisiana is not that far, or they can pay for a plane ticket for them self's. I am having a destination wedding in california and my family is from Michigan, they are all paying for their own plane tickets and hotel rooms. We are renting our immediate family a car while they are there, but other than that it is at their own expense.