Wedding Blog
Hiring a trolley for your wedding day transport has become pretty ubiquitous in Chicago. All the knotties are talking about trolley rates, tipping your driver and whether or not to buy the “wedding decor” package which includes some tulle and a “Just Married” sign.
photo from flickr
I am usually a little hesitant to go for something that is so popular. I like to do my own thing. The basic outline of my wedding is pretty traditional, but I like to think that the little details are all my own. There aren’t that many options out there, so I had a hard time deciding on my wedding day transportation. I wanted to invite all the members of our large-ish wedding party, their dates and our parents to join us on the photo tour. I needed something to take us around for pictures before the ceremony and then take the wedding party (or whomever can fit!) from the church to the reception site. My options were a trolley, bus or some ginormous limo. Due to the many opportunities for great photos, we decided to go with the trolley.
photo from flickr
Some trolley companies (including ours) will allow you to bring a cooler of snacks and beverages on board, so it’s pretty much a party on wheels. Woohooo! San Francisco has the real deal running day and night, but for some reason Chicago decided to create a fleet of knock-offs and I love it!
Did anyone else use a (somewhat) unique method to transport their wedding party or guests around?
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What trolley company is that? It looks awesome! Have you looked at the prices? I’m thinking about doing that, too… I’m in Chicago, too. 
Love the trolleys — I live in Chicago, but am getting married on the campus of our alma mater out-of-state so no trolleys for us. BUT we’re doing charter buses emblazoned with our alma mater and the mascot. Slightly cheesy, but it’s practical and so goes with the theme!
We are using a trolley. I had wanted a dodge charger limo, however, my FI and his brothers are all a minimum of 6′3″ and 200 lbs….there is no way they’d fit. Then we looked at party buses, but they were too “traveling strip club” for me. Thus, we opted for the trolley. But I love it and its semi-cheesyness!
Bethgraced- I’m not sure which company is featured in that photo, but I think it might be Chicago Trolleys? I found it on flickr. I actually only priced out trolleys so I am not sure how the prices compare to the buses, limos, etc., but my guess is that they are on the higher end of the scale. I do know this though- they will negotiate!
Dreambml- my contract actually says “NO KEGS OR STRIPPERS!” I laughed out loud when I was reading it. It is a little cheesy, I agree, but so fun at the same time.
Oops, I accidentally deleted this-
Mickey- That sounds like a fun wedding! If Mr. P could play his alma mater/fight song while we walked into the reception, he would in a HEART BEAT! Too bad for him, we didn’t go to the same school.
In San Francisco they have the fake ones too. I think they’re all run by Gray Line. Here in Silicon Valley the unusual mode of transportation would have to be some sort of hybrid vehicle.
I’m so jealous! Our town has a couple knock off trolleys that run a quick loop around and cost a quarter to ride, but they don’t rent them out since they’re part of the state’s transportation system. We looked into renting a a trolley, but the closest private company was an hour away and wanted to charge up $1500, waaaayyyy over our transport budget. We’re stuck with a party bus since we have a wedding party of 18 (including the groom and I), but since our ride is literally 5 minutes from church to reception I’m not really sweating it.
It’s a really adorable way to go! Congrats!
I was looking into trolleys outside of Nashville, which they use as a small public transportation around the small town where we’re getting married. I looked into it, and I think it was $250 for two hours and another $100 per extra hour and seats 21 passengers. I haven’t priced limos in the area yet, but it would definitely be a fun option.
OOH! That picture was taken by our wedding photographer, Peter Coombs 
We ended up taking a limo around Chicago but I’ve been on a couple trolleys before for birthday parties and even one for a bachelorette party - I believe that both went through Chicago Trolley. My in-laws rented a trolley for the wedding weekend to showcase Chicago around to their relatives who came in all over the place!
If it’s going to be hot on your wedding day, make sure the air-conditioning is working AND that the driver has instructions to shut all the windows and blast the air for 10 minutes before you board.
I was a BM in a wedding last summer, and they rented a trolley. They did not take the above precautions and we were all miserable. It was so hot, and the guys sweating like crazy in their tuxes kept opening the back windows to get some air circulation, which guaranteed that the air conditioning didn’t cool off the trolley. I felt so badly for the bride, since I know she was really looking forward to the trolley ride, and we all ended up at our pictures hot, sweaty and cranky.
We tried so hard to find bicycle rickshaws to bring people the quarter of a mile from the parking area, up the long driveway to the site. The one company in the vicinity didn’t even return our messages.
We too are having trolley but completely out of practicallty. We are having our wedding literally on the side of two 45 degree hills and there is 0 parking around our church so our paster said either get trolleys or a bus or you wont be able to get your guests here.
So after much discussion we are getting not 1 not 2 but 3 trolleys to take our guests and us to and from the church. Our families keep going are you sure we really need these and then when we take them to the church they are like “Oh we get it.” While I am excited about the photo opportunties this will create I fully expect complaints from both families about the schedule we are forcing them to abide by to get to the church. However on the up side they cant be late Thank God trollys are alot cheaper 1600 for 3 for 7 hours in Galena vs. like 900 a piece for 3 or 4 hours in Chicago.
We just started creating our Save the Date graphic, which is a pic of a “L Taraval” train (which is the line that goes to the zoo, where my wedding is) and we were talking about how cool it would be to like rent it out and take that over ! We still aren’t sure about transport… as I think I’m actually staying in a hotel across the street the night before…. so we may just use it to leave the ceremony ?! I’m not sure… but a trolley did cross my mind as well, and although I’m in San Fran, it would still have to be a fake one since there’s no cable car tracks out in the zoo area.
Yes, we do hundreds of weddings, bachelor(ette) parties and rehearsal dinner transportation at Chicago Trolley Co. each year with over 50 trolleys in our fleet. Our slogan is “enjoy the journey” because we think that day should be fun.
I am really pleased to read some happy experiences in this chain. And yes, the NO KEGS OR STRIPPERS clause IS in all CAPS in our contracts. Break the news to Grandma. 
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Miss Peacock, Chicago
Age and Occupation: 26, PhD Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Internet Whiz
Engagement Date: December 5, 2006
Wedding Date: September, 2008
Blogging Since: December 13, 2007
Venue: St. Clement Church, Cafe Brauer (or a big church wedding and a fancy party at a cafe in Lincoln Park.
About Me: I am a grad student with a secret obsession for all things wedding related. I also love to read, travel, drink champagne and go for walks with our dog, Maisy, and Mr. Peacock. We are planning our very vintage wedding in the greatest city in the world, our hometown of Chicago. I am so proud to be a Bee!
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