Wedding Blog
Since our wedding’s going to take place about 45 minutes from Grand Forks, Mr. Mary Jane suggested it might be fun to hire a limo to bring us and all of our guests there and back.
I was thinking, ‘OK, I guess I would be alright with going a little over budget to spend a couple hundred dollars on this…’
A couple hundred? Hah!
We’d need at least three hours, I figure. I found out that for this vehicle, which seats 14…:
[source]
… Three hours would cost us $475. You get a lot for that price, though (champagne, red carpet rolled out for you, etc.)! If our wedding were fancier, I’d definitely consider it. I was a little disappointed that all of their limos were SUVs. I prefer the classic Towncar/Cadillac types myself.
Then there’s this other option…:
[source]
…It’s called the “Black Betty”, and it’s (pretty obviously) a party bus. It seats about 35 and it boasts a 5000 watt sound system and crazy lighting. I think it has a stripper pole in it, too. Not exactly our style, and for $100/hour (5-hour minimum), it’s not cheap either.
Short of renting a 15-passenger van (which, by the way, none of our regional auto-rental facilities have available), we were pretty much out of luck.
I decided to call the limousine company and ask about a discount for our weekday, non-fancy wedding. They offered us a rate of $100/hour (same as the party bus). In the end though, we still decided that $300 was too much money to spend on that. There’s also the fact that I get carsick in pretty much any vehicle I’m not personally driving. An empty wallet + a barfing (or doped up on Dramamine) bride is not how I picture our wedding day! So I think we’re going to pass on the limo.
Our transportation’s going to be a caravan of vehicles probably including my Honda Civic, Mr. Mary Jane’s Nissan Rogue, and our guests’ vehicle(s). Classy and streamlined? Maybe not. But budget- (and tummy-) friendly.
Are you renting wedding day transportation for yourself, your wedding party, or your guests? What factors went in to your decision?
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We rented a shuttle bus for our guests, and it was actually pretty reasonable - a 32 person bus that shuttled people back and forth for 5 hours for just a little over that limo quote you got!
I was driven to the wedding by my bridesmaid’s fiance, and my new brother-in-law took us back to the hotel.
We’re not renting any kind of transportation for ourselves or our guests. My parents live 15 minutes from our venue, and most of our guests are either local or will be staying about the same distance away. I have faith they can get there on their own. For us, transportation was one of those expenses we’d taken on if we had a bigger budget, but we don’t, so I didn’t worry about it.
My sister had the same issue….$300 for a stupid car was insane. Plus, I have been to many weddings where the limo doesn’t show up on time! Ridiculous. Maybe you could all tie fun ribbon to the antennas in your wedding colors and you guys could be the last car—on the back with a sign or something, “We’re on our way to get married!” Then on the way home change it out to say, “Just married!” That way there’s no car paint involved.
Most of our guests are from out of town and our wedding is being held at a winery far-ish from downtown. We’re renting a bus to pick everyone up at the hotel and drop them off at the winery and then to make several return trips into town throughout the night. It’s not cheap ($300-500 is the quote) but is preferable to drunk driving and making all our guests hire rental cars. We really want our guests to be able to kick back, relax and not worry about anything. For us, that is worth the $300-500…
700 plus tip for a school bus. The bus did two pickups and then two drop offs at the end. It was great as most guests stayed the night and didn’t have to worry about driving.
I drove to the wedding with my bridesmaid in the back seat and my videographer in the passenger! My husband and groomsmen took the bus.
We rode the bus back after the ceremony (i got my car the next day) It was a lot of fun!
we took that into consideration when we picked our location - we’re having it in manhattan and counting on ny yellow cabs to get our guests to / from the location and at the end of the night - no additional charges, no minimums or time constraints. we may schedule a car pickup to get the groom and i to the pre-ceremony photos and ceremony spot, etc to make sure we don’t run into any delays but are hoping that it shouldn’t be too bad if we don’t mention the w-word!
We’re probably just going to use our own car. Any kind of rented transportation is wayyyyy too expensive for me to be able to justify (not to mention that it’s something I really don’t care about). Also, my fiance and I totally agree with you, Miss Mary Jane — SUV limos are u-g-l-y!
We have rented a trolley bus to shuttle us and all of our out of town guests to and from the wedding and reception. I am so excited about it!
We actually went with a school bus and it was SUPER cheap- even in the NY/NJ area. I am paying $211 for a school bus to take the bridal party + their significant others to and from the church (just to make all our lives easier) and that price covered a 4 hour window of time, and a bus that seats 44. I think the photos will be cute!
We rented busses for the guests and trolleys for the wedding party but mama cloud insisted on a limo for daddy cloud and I to ride in, its only going to and from the church but its still a small fortune!!
I was actually thinking those limo prices were pretty good! In our area (within Atlanta and tons of universities), the limo prices are sky high. I know it’s because of the greek life and Atlanta being a major city, but geez, it’s just a vehicle! lol
We’re renting a trolley to take our guests back and forth between the reception & ceremony because of the limited parking in Savannah’s downtown area (and the confusion of so many squares). They’re supposedly pretty affordable but I won’t know until I go see for myself in a couple weeks. *fingers crossed*
We’re not renting a limo. Our wedding and reception are both @ the same venue, which is about 15 minutes away from our apartment. Also, there are about 3 hotels literally 30 seconds down the road from our apartment, so it is certainly an unnecessary expense!
this is actually one of the items i haven’t even think of , until now. I really love the bus idea (without the stripper pole lol) I’m hoping we don’t need it 
@Miss Labrador: You’re right - if we were having a larger or fancier wedding, I’d definitely think the price quotes we got were worth it, and even a good deal! But for our very casual wedding, I just can’t see spending more than I’m spending on photography, on a limousine.
I think some of it depends on how many people you are transporting. For us, it will be about $400 to take all 150 guests in a 55 seater Coach bus to the venue and back. We decided that for WAY less than the cost of a DUI, it was worth it for our friends and family
i felt the same transportation pain, miss mj. i was opposed to renting a limo because it was not “us.” for about fifteen seconds, i researched a car service (misc. vintage styles and standard limos) - way too expensive! i ended up checking out rental cars on line. when we went to pick up the car, we scored a big, pearl white buick lucerne for almost exactly $100. i was very nervous about being handed a non-coordinating color, but i guess it was bride’s luck. the pearl white was perfect. i enlisted my closest brother as our chauffer. the photographer sat in the front seat to capture all of the love and it worked out perfectly. hang in there, i’m sure you’ll find the perfect mj transportation choice!
We’re going to get a shuttle from the hotel for the elderly guests, but everyone else gets a parking pass so they’ll be driving themselves.
We rented a car for Mr. K and the groomsmen to use on the wedding day and for us to use as our getaway car. I had planned on using a minivan taxi to get to the wedding, because it was just a 15 minute ride and limos are VERY expensive in the Cayman Islands, but after my dad saw me in my dress he decided we couldn’t take a cab and surprised me with a limo to take me, the bridesmaids, and my mom to our venue! It was so sweet, and something I would have never splurged on myself!
oh, but limousines are so fun. and you’ll only have one wedding! if i were you (even for a courthouse wedding) i’d splurge and get the limo. i think it’d make the day more special
Hey, why don’t you have signs made–like the magnetic car door ones–for all the cars?!? Then as you head down the road caravan style, at least the passersby can get a warm fuzzy and it’ll make everyone feel special to be so inculded!
I know vista print has them for a reasonable price!
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Mrs. Mary Jane, Grand Forks, ND
Age and Occupation: 26, Instructional Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Lead Programmer
Engagement Date: February 28, 2009
Wedding Date: September 2009
Venue: City Hall
About Me: I'm a career woman on the surface and a homemaker at heart. I love fast cars and high heels, and my favorite food is cake. Mr. Mary Jane and I are both full-time employees and students, and we just bought our first house. We love to curl up on the couch with buttery popcorn, Sour Patch Kids, and the latest Netflix arrival -- whenever we can get a break from everyday life.
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