Wedding transportation is one of the easier vendor categories to book badly, because from the outside every company looks the same: a phone number, a fleet page, and a promise. These are the questions that tell you which kind of company you are actually talking to.
About the vehicles
- Will the vehicle I am quoted be the vehicle that shows up? Ask it plainly. Substitutions happen in this industry, and the time to establish what happens if one is necessary is before the deposit, not the morning of.
- How many passengers does it actually seat comfortably, in wedding attire? A vehicle rated for twenty seats twenty people in jeans. In gowns and suits with bags, the real number is lower. A company that has done weddings will give you the real number without being pushed.
- Is the vehicle detailed before the event? The exterior of that car is going into your photographs. Ask.
- Can it physically get to my venue's front door? A long stretch and a narrow historic gate are a bad match. The answer should be specific to your property, not general.
About the timing
- How is the time structured — a continuous block or individual trips? For a wedding it should be a block. A vehicle that leaves and comes back is a vehicle that might not.
- How much buffer is built into the route? If the answer is the app's drive time, keep looking.
- What time does the chauffeur arrive relative to my pickup time? It should be before, with margin. Arriving exactly on time means any delay is already your problem.
- Have you worked at my venue? And if not — will you look at the approach before the day? Both answers are acceptable. Only one of them is acceptable if the answer to the first is "no" and to the second is also "no."
About what happens when things move
- What happens if the wedding runs late? Weddings run late. The question is whether the vehicle waits, how additional time is charged, and whether that is written into the confirmation rather than decided in the moment.
- Who does the chauffeur stay in contact with during the day? The answer should be your planner or coordinator, not you. You should not be fielding logistics calls in a wedding dress.
- What is the contingency if a vehicle has a mechanical problem? Every company will eventually have one. A company with an answer has thought about it.
The question that matters most
- Who will I actually be dealing with? Ask who plans the day and who drives it — they are different jobs and that is fine. What matters is whether one person owns the planning from the first call onward, or whether you get passed from a salesperson to a dispatcher to a driver who has never heard of your wedding.
A car service moves you from one address to another. A wedding transportation concierge plans the day the movement is part of.
Two things to check on the paperwork
What is in writing. Vehicle type, hours, pickup addresses and times, overtime terms, and gratuity treatment should all appear on a confirmation before you pay a deposit. Anything agreed verbally and not written down does not exist on the wedding day.
Whether gratuity is included. Practices differ across companies, and the difference is meaningful on a multi-vehicle booking. It should be stated plainly on your confirmation rather than discovered at the end of the night.
How we answer them
You are welcome to put every one of these to us directly. Most of them are already answered on our questions and answers page, and the ones about your specific venue and vehicles are the conversation we would rather have on a phone call than in a form.
Call or text Tina, name your venue, and ask the awkward ones first.
Check your wedding date
Tell us your venue, date, and transportation needs. Tina will personally confirm availability and recommend the right options.