Shuttle Vans- Worth it?

Hi All!

What is everyone's opinions on shuttle vans? They are so expensive and im just not sure how worth it they are. I was thinking of giving OOT guests a list of local cab companies in the area, in case they do not want to drive.
Is it necessary? My reception is about 6 miles from the hotel, but on a parkway. If we did do the vans, they couldnt go on the parkway and it would take about 25 min to get back and forth.. help! thanks!

We will be providng shuttles for our guests.
Why wouldn't the vans be able to get on the parkways? Unless they have commercial plates there should be no problem...

We decided to get a shuttle bus because we have a lot of OOT guests who aren't very familiar with Westchester (though it's pretty easy to get to Glen Island from the hotel -- it's a 15 minute drive).

Our main concern though was that we wanted everyone to be able to enjoy themselves and drink as much as they want. I'm just worried about people *thinking* they're okay to drive when they really aren't. This was really important to me so we were fine spending the $800 -- my mother was in a very bad accident 10 years ago in which her best friend died because they were hit by a drunk driver; I'd just hate it if something like that happened because of my wedding.

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Posted by Thumballina

Why wouldn't the vans be able to get on the parkways? Unless they have commercial plates there should be no problem...

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She is completely right....as long as they don't have commercial plates. The most convenient thing for your guests is to have the shuttle for them. It also reduces the chances that the taxi driver may get lost and make them late to your reception. Good Luck!

We are having a shuttle. We rented vans (14 passengers) from our limo company. For a van on the way to reception & a van on the way back to hotel it is costing us $300 total w/ gratuities & they will make as many stops as they need to. I just wanted to make sure my guests had nothing to worry about & could enjoy themselves. My hotel also suggested callign cabs that had shuttle buses the day of & having the shuttle them back & forth it might be cheaper but I thought it would be too much to coordinate.

Absolutely worth it! Our ceremony/reception was in Cederhurst and the hotel was near JFK. It is only about 4 miles away but it could take up to 20 minutes! Our reception didn't end until after 2:00 AM. We really didn't want our guests to worry about driving home after drinking and partying all night. We had over 50 rooms at the hotel so we knew who would need the vans. We also sent out letters to our guests who were staying over inviting them to the brunch the next morning and to let us know if they will not require vans. There were a few people that wated to drive (they all had a designated driver to get them safely where they neeeded to be). The only thing DH and I didn't think about was how we were getting back to the hotel
It was about 2:30 AM and we (DH, me, DH's brother, my parents and my ILs) are sitting in the ballroom, rubbing our feet. All the girls, including me, my mom and my MIL, took a stretch Hummer to the wedding early to get dressed there. My dad drove my FIL in my ILs car (FIL has MS) to the wedding. My parents and my ILs were always going to go back to the hotel together. I guess it was always assumed DH and I would somehow get a ride back to the hotel but it wasn't until the last bus left that we realized we were stuck! DH quickly called the bus driver (ALWAYS GET THE DRIVERS CELL #!!), and asked him to make 1 more trip. He explained it was for us and the driver was happy to oblige! I took 1 row, DH took another row and my BIL took another. It was actually a lot of fun riding the bus when it was just us.