Stuck in planning process! Transportation to NYC

I need help.. FH and I are having ceremony in Centereach at 12:30pm and the reception is in NYC at 6. We are stuck on trying to figure a transportation plan. Main issue...FH wants both family's in a bus together so they can get to know ea. other

Plan so far:

1 limo from Brides' home for girls to church.
1 limo from Grooms house for guys to church.

Looking toward doing:
Me and FH want to leave from church in limo, not bus for pictures and wedding tune sake only.
We also want to join bridal party in bus to the city.
We want to stop and take pics with bridal party...don't know where yet.
Me and FH also want to stop and take pics in the city in different areas...central park .etc by ourselves.
We have four hours between the ceremony and the reception.

Possible solution:
We leave from church to park and ride and get on a chartered bus to the city and stop on the way to take pictures with the bridal party.

Dilemma:
We have four hours between the ceremony and the reception!
We have 4 hours to get to the city and take pictures. Fine for everyone except when Me and FH want to take just our pics in the city by ourselves. What do we do with everyone else? The reception place is not open for boarding yet. It will be August 14th so it might be hot and humid or possibly raining. We have elderly partially handicapp people in the bridal party/chartered bus who may be uncomfortable sitting on a bus for four hours, his Dad and My Mom. The rest of the family is going on the bus. It will not be a Limo bus as they are too expensive.

The bus holds 49 people. We wanted to invite some guests from the Island who may prefer to get a ride into the city instead of dealing with a parking garage because there is no parking for the area next to the Intrepid. ...again...there are 4 hours.!! Not good for the guests to be waiting while we are taking pics !
One thing that is REALLY irking and hurting my FH is that one of my family members (niece-bridesmaid) is thinking of renting a van and taking some of my family members from the bridal partyin it! FH feels they do not want to get to know his family. Both family's have met briefly and do get along so I think so I don't see the problem. Anyway, she thinks getting her own bus will make it chaper for us but will only make it more expensive since now we have to get for a limo for his side of the bridal party since it's not that many people.

We have been going back and forth about this for weeks. My FH one night said forget it, me and him take a limo and everyone else finds their own way in. Seems easy but we just can't do that. We are stuck in transportation hell!


Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

I am so sorry that I can't help you but I just wanted to wish you good luck! I am stumped!! Sorry!

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Posted by kkliw99
My FH one night said forget it, me and him take a limo and everyone else finds their own way in.

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seriously, that would be my advice...

think about how hard it is to coordinate a bridal party, now multiply that by 100...

it also depends on the age group of your guests. as much as i would like to provide transporation for some of our guests, there is no way i could ever get my parents or my parents' friends on a bus...

when the time comes, i am going to figure out transporation for my parents, FH's parents and the two of us. as of now it looks like everyone else is going to have to fend for themselves. you will see that people will figure it out and carpool. this way it gives them more control and flexibility over their schedule...

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Posted by nferrandi

I think you should just go in a limo bus with the bridal party and your parents to go take pictures. As for everyone else, why don't you see if another relative will host a little something at their house and then have the bus for family and friends leave LI around 4 p.m. I understand wanting to be able to provide transportation, but don't mek yourself crazy over it. Worst case scenario, people will make their own way into the city.

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I like the idea of someone hosting something close to the ceremony place for your guests and then getting the bus to pick them up and take them to the city closer to the beginning of the reception. 4 hours is a long time, espeically if you're from out of town. Maybe the cousin who wants to rent the van can do it. You and your BP can just take the limo and take your pictures.

Thanks so much. Actually, there are 19 people in the bridal party and the limo bus wants to charge us 4 times the price as a charter bus and holds 1/2 the people. That's why we want to get the charter bus. Other than the bridal party…our parents are handicap and do not drive. It's his Dad and Mom and my Mom so just three more. They have no way to get into the city. We have all our family and close friends in the bridal party already. We never thought of the outcome of that. Eeeek.

Oh, ok parents in the limo bus too, that is a great idea. Limo bus is $2000 + grat, way too much to pay. The Charter bus is $675 + grat. There are no other relatives or close friends besides the bridal party. Maybe take pics local with the bridal party then me and hubby will take a limo to the city to take just our pics around different spots then meet them back at the reception...however way they get there I don't know. Back to the bus...but we wanted to join in too. I guess it may be just to have them fend for themselves but I feel bad because it is the bridal party and our family.

Thanks for all your suggestions and support! I love to hear any and all advise. Thanks so much.