Shuttle to and from reception...

My daughter wants a shuttle from the hotel to the reception and back again after the wedding for about 40 people.

The cocktail hour starts at 6:30 and the reception ends at 12:30. The limo company said they would do her a favor and consider that their usual 6 hour run and change about $800. They are offering her a 24 passenger van and it will make two trips. Since she doesn't want some of the guests to miss part of the cocktail hour, she needs to tell them to go an extra hour and pay who-knows-what!

How does all of this sound to you? It seems a lot to pay for 7 hours if all they need is 15 minutes one way and 15 minutes back. I realize the driver must be hired for the night, but it does hurt when you are paying for it.

Is it possible to rent one bus from one company to go one way and then find another bus from another company to go the other way? LOL - I'm really trying to find another way.

Does anyone know a company who has a large van or bus that may not charge so much?

Thanks.

Re: Shuttle to and from reception...

Check with Hampton Jitney - that's who is doing my shuttle - I don't know the price though, my parents took care of that.

Re: Shuttle to and from reception...

Check with the hotel. Many of them have shuttle buses to local reception halls. I know that the hotel we had reserved for our Out of Towners ran a shuttle for free until 11pm.

Re: Shuttle to and from reception...

Check with your hotel and see if they recommend anyone. I know the Wingate where I have rooms booked has a company - I can't remember the name? Also, my limo company offerred a pick up drop off service for 1 1/2 each way to from the hotel as many trips as they could make - maybe you can talk to the limo company again?

Edited to add maybe you can post on the vendor board and see if someone can help you?

Re: Shuttle to and from reception...

Why don't you try going for a shuttle van instead? It might be cheaper....

Re: Shuttle to and from reception...

$700 seems like a lot of money for a pick-up and drop-off. Try a post in the vendors area, see what quotes they give you.

Re: Shuttle to and from reception...

When I looked for my wedding, I called many bus companies and $600-800 was the going rate for a bus just to shuttle my guests from hotel to hall and vice versa - you had to rent the bus for the entire time of the reception. I did try local taxi services as well - many had vans (like airport type shuttles) but many would not give you any kind of contract or even solidify anything until a week before and it scared me and it wasn't too much cheaper. I wound up using Coach buses and they were expensive and I had a bad experience with them so would not recommend them but they were the only one free my day because I waited til a month before to decide to do this. (had more people stay in the hotel than I expected so that was why part of the decision was last minute). Anyway, I also heard Peter Pan does this and is reliable (weren't available for my day). Sorry - I don't have my notes on all the other places I tried. Good Luck.

Re: Shuttle to and from reception...

i did a shuttle van through my limo co. i think it held 14 people. they do it in two hours chunks and i think it was $150 per two hours. we had two vans. they made as many trips in the two hours as possible. it seemed to work well. i heard no complaints. if you want the name or more info fm me.

Re: Shuttle to and from reception...

The wingate uses taxi companies for their shuttles - such as all island and ollies - I believe they said ollies or all island would charge $65 ONE WAY for a 14 passanger van - so 1 round trip would cost about $130 for 14 people - you might call some of the taxi companies up and ask what they would charge for say 1 hour of unlimited trips.

Re: Shuttle to and from reception...

Thanks girls. You made a good suggestions. I will let you know what my daughter and FSIL find out.