Wedding car etiquette

Here’s your guide to wedding car etiquette and how to make sure your wedding day travels all go smoothly. Will you turn up on time with all your bridesmaids in tow or will you arrive fashionably late with your father and keep your groom waiting at the altar? There’s more to booking your wedding cars than you might think.

Booking your wedding cars is as much about budget as about timings and who goes with whom. With a few careful considerations you’ll need to work out:

Locations - Where exactly each collection address & destination will be and timings for the collection & arrival plans?

Style - What type of cars would you like and would they be suitable for the distances to be travelled?

Budget - How much to spend on your wedding cars, cars vary in cost depending on their style & distance to travel.

Passengers - Who needs to travel to the locations and with whom?

Numbers - How many people do you need to transport?

Cars - How many cars will be needed to suit the passenger transfers and numbers?

Traditional Wedding Car Etiquette

It’s up to you whether you choose to follow traditional etiquette or do your own thing. Here’s the traditional way: 

On the way to the ceremony:

1        The ushers travel to the ceremony together first

2        The guests start to arrive

3        The groom & best man travel together

4        The bridesmaids & mother of the bride travel together

5        The bride & father of the bride travel together

The ushers should arrive at the ceremony venue first, in order to direct guests to the correct seating, hand out orders of service and be on hand to assist with any other issues that may come up.

The groom and best man should arrive next, and with some fanfare, just after the guests begin taking their seats, followed by the arrival of the mother of the bride and bridesmaids. The bride and her father arrive last.

After the ceremony, on the way to the reception:

1        The bride and groom travel together, usually with glasses of champagne after photos are taken outside the ceremony venue.

2        The rest of the bridal party should aim to arrive at the reception ahead of the guests to ensure all is as it should be.

3        The parents should be there with the bride and groom to greet their guests on arrival.