Chicago suburban wedding transportation: a planner's guide

A wedding-day timeline, ride by ride

Every wedding runs on its own schedule, but the rides fall in the same order. The example below is built around a 4:00 p.m. ceremony at a church, with the reception at a separate suburban venue and the guests staying at one hotel. Move every time by the same amount for an earlier or later ceremony.

Two habits keep the day on time. First, put the couple and the wedding party at the ceremony 30 minutes before it starts, not 10. Second, give the photographer a fixed slot between the ceremony and the reception and let the chauffeur know when it ends, so the vehicles are already at the door.

The send-off is the ride couples most often forget to book. If the couple reaches the reception at 6:00 p.m. and leaves at 10:30 p.m., keeping the car through dinner and dancing means paying for hours it spends parked. A separate send-off ride, booked for the moment you plan to leave, is usually the better value, and the wedding party's bus can do the same for the after-party.

How many vehicles Chicago suburban wedding transportation needs

Count people per leg, not the total guest list. The couple's car carries the two of you, plus the maid of honor and the best man if you like; the white stretch seats 10. The wedding party is the bridesmaids, groomsmen and anyone they bring: up to 14 fits a Sprinter, and up to 25 fits the standard party bus.

Parents and grandparents often want a quieter ride of their own, and an SUV for 6 does it. Guests only need a vehicle when they are staying somewhere the venue is not, or when the ceremony and reception are in different places. That is where the bigger vehicles come in: the 28-seat mini coach, the 30-seat limo trolley and the 56-seat motor coach are all quoted, and a Transit Van for 14 prices as you book.

Here is a worked count. A wedding of 140 has 16 in the wedding party with partners, 6 parents and grandparents, and 80 guests in the hotel block; the rest live locally and drive themselves. That is a white stretch for the couple, a standard party bus for the 16 in the party, an SUV for the family, and a guest shuttle sized for 80 people arriving in a 45-minute window. A 28-seat mini coach on a 30-minute loop carries 56 an hour, about 42 in 45 minutes, so the 80 need the motor coach or two mini coaches, not one.

Guest shuttle loops from the hotel block

A guest shuttle is a loop: load at the hotel, drive to the venue, unload, drive back. Its capacity per hour is the seat count multiplied by the number of loops it completes in that hour. Time one loop as twice the one-way drive plus about 10 minutes at each end for loading, and you have the number that decides how many vehicles you need.

Guests do not all want to ride at the same moment. For the ceremony they arrive in a 30- to 45-minute window, so size the shuttle to that window. At night they leave in waves, so a first return run around 10:00 p.m. for families and older guests and a last one at the end of the party usually covers everyone. Ask the hotel where the shuttle may wait, because some entrances do not take a full-size coach.

Suburban venues: plan the legs between towns

Some suburban venues keep the whole day in one place. Mesón Sabika in Naperville, an 1847 mansion, holds ceremonies in its garden and receptions in a separate, glass-walled pavilion, so the only ride most guests need is the hotel shuttle. The Deer Path Inn in Lake Forest has 4,500 square feet of event space and suites couples use to get ready, which can take the morning ride off the list altogether. Glen Rowan House in Lake Forest hosts tented events on its grounds, where the question is where a coach can stop.

Other weddings spread across two or three towns: a church near home, a reception at a country club, a hotel block by the highway. Map each leg before you sign anything, and drive it at the same time of day if you can. Out-of-town family adds an airport leg; O'Hare is about 45 minutes from Naperville and 35 from Lake Forest without traffic, and flights are tracked with an hour of free waiting.

Photo stops and park permits

The ride between the ceremony and the reception is usually where portraits happen, and it needs two things planned: time and permission. The Chicago Park District requires a permit for non-commercial photography such as wedding and engagement sessions in its parks. Millennium Park, Maggie Daley Park, Lincoln Park Zoo, the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool and Olive Park are run separately, so you contact each of them directly. Suburban park districts set their own rules, so ask the town where you plan to stop.

Book the couple and the wedding party by the hour so a photo stop never needs a second reservation; our hourly bookings have a 2-hour minimum and unlimited stops in the service area. Tell the chauffeur the stop and the time it should end, and they keep the vehicle close while the photographer works.

Questions to ask before you book wedding transportation

Put these to every company you are considering, and get the answers in writing with the quote. They are the details that cause trouble on the day when nobody asked.

1. Which exact vehicle is coming, how many seats does it have, and does the price change if that vehicle is unavailable?
2. When does the hourly booking start and end, and what happens if the reception starts late or the photos run over?
3. What does the quoted total include, and what could be added afterwards?
4. Can the guest shuttle wait at the hotel and the venue, and who checks that the entrance takes a vehicle that size?
5. Who is the contact on the day, and how does the chauffeur reach the planner or the best man?
6. What happens if the weather moves the photo stop indoors or the ceremony starts late?
7. Is the company licensed and insured for vehicles of this size?
8. How far ahead do the wedding-season dates fill, and what is the deposit and cancellation policy?
9. Can family members landing at the airport be met on the same booking, with their flights tracked?