Wedding Day Transportation | Tips and Advice

Let’s talk about wedding day transportation: limo pros and cons, their alternatives, tips, and advice!
*This was post was originally published on April 6, 2017 and I’m updating it on August 24, 2023 – the advice is solid and it simply needed a little refreshing.

When planning a wedding, there are 3,927 “hidden” expenses that seem to pop up (and yes, that is an exact number). No matter where you turn, as a wedding day gets closer and closer, unexpected and un-budgeted expenses seem to come up from out of nowhere and rear their ugly heads, threatening to take your big day way off budget.

Don’t let your wedding day transportation be one of those things!

When you think of a wedding day and the bride arriving to the church, what is the picture that comes to mind? I can almost guarantee that you pictured a black, stretch limo pulled up to the front of the church with a gorgeous bride in a huge fluffy white dress getting out (and if you didn’t imagine that, you need to watch move movies with weddings in them).

Hollywood has programmed our brains so that is what we automatically picture.

However, if you are planning a wedding on a budget (and let’s be honest, who isn’t?), I promise that you’ll be shocked when you begin to research limo prices.
Further, let’s be real: it’s 2023 – being shocked be how much things cost is now a daily part of our lives. Wedding day transportation can be a huge expense, and depending on the size of your bridal party, it can be a gigantic expense.

When Derrick and I were getting married (way back in 2010), we had 5 bridesmaids and 5 groomsmen, plus 2 junior bridesmaids, a ring bearer, and a flower girl. In total, our wedding party was 16 people. Even if we didn’t plan on the junior bridesmaids, ring bearer, or flower girl riding with us, we still had too many people for the smallest limo option. And, the next “level” of limo was more than we could afford to pay. So, we were faced with a choice: either cut a few bridesmaids and groomsmen, or find an alternative to the limo. (If you’re curious what we did and whether it was a regret or a win for us, you’ll want to read this post!)

What problem does wedding transportation solve?

On a wedding day, even if your ceremony and reception are taking place in the same location, there is still “travel” involved. The bride must get from where she spends her last night as a single lady to where she is getting ready (the salon, a hotel room, a house), and from there to the ceremony location. The groom also needs to get from where he’s sleeping to where he is getting ready, and then on to the ceremony location. Then, the entire bridal party needs transported from the ceremony location, to potentially a portrait location, and then on to the reception location. And then, don’t forget! Everyone needs to then have a ride to get home or to their hotel that night!

In other words: traditional limo service solves all of a wedding party’s transportation needs.

What happens if a limo (or a party bus) is simply not in your budget though?
What are your alternatives?

Depending on your budget, you can rent a school bus or a 12-15 passenger van. The school bus will require a CDL-licensed driver, while the 12-15 passenger van will not – so definitely take that into consideration. For my sister’s wedding, we all piled into my Dad’s 12-passenger van. Our cousin was our chauffeur and he drove us from the ceremony, to the portrait location, to the reception.

*If you don’t know someone who owns one of these “big vans”, most car rental places rents these vans out (for a fraction of what a limo would cost) and can be a great option if you want everyone to stay together!

Another option, is for everyone to drive themselves and/or carpool with each other. I recently saw a pretty heated discussion on a local Facebook wedding group where a bride was saying that they didn’t have the money to rent anything, so they needed to ask their bridal party to drive themselves – and asking for advice whether that would be okay or not.

Trust me, it’s 100% okay and as a wedding photographer, I’ve seen it happen many, many times.

Asking your bridal party to drive themselves is completely fine, but I do have a major piece of advice if that is the route you are going: make sure everyone’s rides are arranged BEFORE the wedding day. And not just the ride from the ceremony to the reception, but the rides getting from where everyone is getting ready to the ceremony, and don’t forget how everyone is getting home or to their hotel after the party is over! As long as there is a plan in place for who is driving, who is riding with other people, and how they’re getting back, you will be in good shape.

When should you splurge and rent that limo?

Obviously, if you have the money budgeted for a limo, go for it! It can however, be a pretty hefty expense, and when you consider the course of your wedding day, it can be one of the easiest expenses to cut if you find you need funds for other things.

Here is my general rule of thumb when it comes to renting transportation so the entire bridal party can be together:

•How much time will you actually spend in your wedding day transportation?

If the answer is 45 minutes or more (as it was for our wedding) – I’d whole-heartedly say rent that limo, party bus, school bus, or large van. The time you spend together with your friends will be well worth the investment.

If the answer is less than 45 minutes – I’d whole-heartedly say to weigh the cost of the limo against other things that you want to have for your wedding. If there’s one thing for sure about weddings, it’s that there are plenty of other things to spend your budget on!

What do you think?
Did you rent a limo or party bus? Have you ever been part of a wedding party where they asked you to drive yourself?
Leave me a comment below – I’d love to hear your thoughts!