Post # 1
Member
1349 posts
Bumble bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - City, State
Hi bees, I need some advice/wisdom. We starting to dive into this wedding planning thing, and FH and I live near Chicago.
Most of the churches that we would love to get married in are in the city. Most of the venues we love for the reception are in the burbs. My entire family (literally every.single.one.of.them) will be coming from out of state. How would you all suggest getting guests to and from different venues if none of them will have cars? Or would it just be way easier to find two venues that are geographically more feasible, and we shouldn’t bother to try and deal with a shuttle company or something? We haven’t committed to anything; we’re still just laying out our options. We just want to explore the logistics a bit and see if that’s something that’s even worthwhile. Please halp.
Post # 2
Member
2871 posts
Sugar bee
Ugh, I wrote out a response and it was eaten!
I think you’re better off having the church and venue close. I’m assuming by your user name that you’re in the Southwest suburbs, but I think if you want your church in the city, especially downtown, it’s going to be tough trecking everyone back to the ‘burbs. You also have to take into account where everyone is staying – are they already in the ‘burbs or are they staying downtown?
Post # 3
Member
786 posts
Busy bee
hickoryhills : None of your family will have cars coming from out of state? Will they not rent a car to get around while in town for the wedding? I would look for a ceremony and reception venue that is within close proximity to each other. That would make it easier as far as transportion. If no one will have a car then I would suggest some sort of shuttle bus. Will they all be staying in the same hotel? If not how will you work out the logistics of a shuttle bus for them?
I think if people are flying in then most of them would rent a car to get around town. Have you thought about having the ceremony and reception all in one venue? That would make the entire process easier. How long of a drive are you looking at from Church in the city to venue in the suburbs?
Have you considered venues that you could have the ceremony and reception?
Post # 4
Member
1349 posts
Bumble bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - City, State
beverly579 : Cars and parking in downtown Chicago is a very expensive nightmare, especially for people who aren’t accustomed to the city, so I expect very few people would rent cars. My little great aunts would probably have a heart attack when they found out day parking was $50 if you pull into the wrong garage, lol. The shuttle bus seemed like the best idea for the day, but you’re right, it does depend on how far things really are. Most of the venues we like would probably be about a 45 min drive from downtown, which is where most people would be staying (and where the ceremony would be). I’m not sure it’s worth it yet.
We have considered venues that are good for both the ceremony and reception, but FH was really excited about the possibility of having the ceremony in one of the old school, beautiful Catholic churches (he grew up in many of them). Unfortuantely, while some of them do have banquet halls and stuff, they’re ugly as sin and difficult to plan around. We may still abandon the idea of getting married in an old church for the sake of ease, but it would be really cool.
sunnierdaysahead2 : Surprisingly, FH and I actually live very close to the city. However, all the pretty garden/estate/nature-y venues are all out in the bumbleweeds of Illinois. I imagine we would get a hotel block close to either the ceremony venue or the reception venue, so I’m not sure exactly where everyone would land. But you’re totally right – the trek between the burbs and the city isn’t a quick 10 minute jaunt.
Post # 5
Member
97 posts
Worker bee
This is hard! As someone whose priority was a church wedding, I’d find it hard to sacrifice a church I loved. But, obviously you’re hosting your guests and the reception is to thank them for coming to the ceremony. Our wedding is in Indianapolis, with the ceremony being in a suburb and the reception being downtown where any out of town would be staying. The two locations are a 15ish minute drive, which I don’t think is unreasonable.
I think it would help if guests stay close to the reception venue if possible. Are buses an option? I’m inclined to think that the only reason a guest should legitimately complain about distance is if no transportation is provided.
Post # 6
Member
3352 posts
Sugar bee
hickoryhills : i think you have two choices: either get a reception venue in the city, or provide a shuttle to get guests from the ceremony to the reception AND back from the reception to their hotels.
i get it; i live in NYC and most people who would fly in here from out of state aren’t going to rent cars because they assume they can rely on public transportation. a car (and driving and parking) in NYC is insane. as a guest, i’d be pretty annoyed to have to rent a car to get our to your reception in the burbs when you live in a major metropolitan area and your ceremony is in the city.
so either get a shuttle to get everyone to the reception and back again, or find a reception venue that’s downtown.
out of curiosity…what is the price of, say, an uber to get from the reception back to the hotel? while i wouldn’t foist that cost onto all your guests, it might be nice to know what that price is in case you have a few elderly relatives who want to leave the reception early before the shuttles do.
Post # 7
Member
1349 posts
Bumble bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - City, State
catskillsinjune : Exactly – we really don’t want people to have to pay for a hotel and a rental car if at all possible. That’s just a lot. We also sort of wanted people to stay in the city because there’s just more to do and they can make a long weekend out of it for themselves if they want. If we put them in a hotel block in thr burbs, they can…I dunno, go to a corn maze or something. Point is: lots more to do in the city for guests, lol.
The uber thing is a great idea to consider – thank you! I didn’t even think of that. It probably wouldn’t be too bad – maybe $35-45 dollars. We could even budget a chunk of change for that and spot people rides if they were really tired.
Post # 8
Member
2871 posts
Sugar bee
hickoryhills : I think if most of your guests are staying downtown, then you need to keep everything downtown..which is going to get really pricey. Is this right now all hypothetical, or do they actually have arrangements to stay downtown?
My husband’s family all came in from out of state so we had our ceremony and reception at the same venue (in the burbs) on purpose. We chose a venue that had many hotels close and we reserved a block at one hotel that had a shuttle bus. It worked out very well for our guests.
Post # 9
Member
1349 posts
Bumble bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - City, State
sunnierdaysahead2 : This is all entirely hypothetical. We’re trying to think through a bunch of different scenarios and potential issues before we start touring venues and fall in love with something that would make things difficult.
The cost is certainly another thing we’ve been deciding on. Downtown is decidedly more expensive, so that’s certainly a factor. Both of our parents are willing to contribute to the wedding, but we don’t know numbers yet (we’ll need to have that convo with them in the next few weeks). But even if we can somehow afford a $20k soiree, I’m not sure either of us would want to spend that much anyway. That’s a huge chunk of change.
Post # 10
Member
4519 posts
Honey bee
You usually have to be a member of the parish to get married in a Catholic church. So II would check out the rules at the churches you are interested in before diving too deep into planning as you may not be allowed to get married in the church of your dreams.
Also, a 45 minute drive (even in a shuttle) is a nightmare for guests.
Post # 11
Member
1349 posts
Bumble bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - City, State
zl27 : He actually has 3 members of his family that are Catholic priests, ha. So they’ve been very gracious in helping us navigate the requirements and letting us know which churches we could use. =)
And yeah…the more we look at it, the more it looks like we’re going to have to either abandon the church-in-the-city idea, or the nature reception idea. I’m not sure we can pull off both.
Post # 12
Member
3352 posts
Sugar bee
hickoryhills : i dont know if uber is still doing it, but i remember like 2 year ago you could get uber vouchers for events. it was something along the lines of, you could activate a certain number of ride codes, each for up to a certain value, and then when used, they would all charge to your account. like you could get 30 ride code each for up to $45 dollars and make them available to your guests – and the ones that are used would charge the actual value to your uber account? again, dont know if that’s a thing still or if they shut it down, but something to look into.
Post # 13
Member
1349 posts
Bumble bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - City, State
catskillsinjune : That’s genius! I looked it up and it does seem as though Uber Events is still an option. We may even still do that if everything is in the city just in case someone needs it. Great idea, thank you.
Post # 15
Member
918 posts
Busy bee
Our hotel provided free transportation if we booked a certain amount of rooms (NYC area). There might be hotels in your area that do the same!