Planning Wedding Transport in Melbourne: Cars for the Couple and Every Guest

Transport is one of the wedding details that gets left until late and then causes the most stress on the day. The photographer is waiting, the celebrant is checking the time, and someone in the bridal party is ringing a fourth driver who cannot find the church. Getting it right does not take much: an evening with the run sheet, a few honest numbers, and a booking made early enough to get the cars you want.

This guide walks through how to work out how many cars you need, which car suits which part of the day, how to keep the timings realistic, and how to get every guest home at the end of the night.

Start With the Movements, Not the Cars

Most Melbourne weddings come down to three or four movements:

• The couple and the bridal party, from home or a hotel to the ceremony.
• Everyone from the ceremony to the photo location, if it is somewhere else.
• Everyone on to the reception.
• The guests home again at the end of the night.

Write each movement down with its addresses, the time it has to leave and the number of people travelling. Only then work out the cars. Couples who start with “we need two cars” often find they need one car making two trips, or one maxi instead of three sedans.

Which Car Suits Which Job

• The couple: a silver service car. It is a late model premium sedan with a driver in a suit, and it runs on the meter with a flat surcharge rather than an hourly charter rate.
• Parents and grandparents: a second silver service car, or a standard sedan if the arrival is less on show.
• Guests: a maxi taxi seats up to eleven on one meter, so a group moves together instead of spread across three cars arriving at different times.
• Bags and equipment: an SUV or wagon takes overnight bags, a band’s gear or the box of table settings that someone forgot.
• Children: taxis in Victoria do not have to carry child seats, so ask for one to be fitted when you book. Our car seat page explains which seat suits which age.

Counting Cars From the Guest List

Count the guests who need transport, not the total on the guest list. Many will drive, share with friends or stay at the venue. The easiest way to find out is a line on the RSVP: does this guest need a ride between the ceremony and the reception, and home at the end of the night?

Once you have the number, divide it by eleven for the maxis, and put any small remainder in a sedan. Ask older guests whether they would prefer the front seat of a sedan to climbing into a van, since a step up into a maxi is not for everyone.

Building Timings That Hold

The run sheet the venue gives you is usually the ideal version of the day. Build a little slack around it:

• Ask for the couple’s car a little before the departure time, not on it. Hair and makeup run over far more often than they finish early.
• Photos always take longer than planned. Leave a real gap between the photo location and the reception start.
• Check what else is on in Melbourne that day. A Saturday in spring can bring football finals, the racing carnival and road closures for events, all of which slow the roads.
• Give the drivers one contact on the day who is not the couple: a member of the bridal party or the venue coordinator. The couple have better things to do than answer the phone.

Trip by Trip or by the Hour

There are two ways to book the day, and many weddings use both.

Each movement can be booked as its own timed trip on the meter. That suits a day with short drives and clear gaps, and you only pay for the driving that happens. Metered fares rise in the evening and overnight, and again late on Friday and Saturday nights, which matters for the trips home. Our fares page lists each tariff and the hours it applies, and the calculator estimates each leg before you book.

Alternatively a sedan, SUV or maxi can be kept for a block of three hours or more through hourly hire, waiting at each stop and moving on when you do, at a rate quoted before you book. Silver service cars are not hired by the hour, so the couple’s car is booked as timed trips while the guest maxis can be held by the hour if the day has a lot of waiting in it.

Weddings Out of Town

Winery weddings in the Yarra Valley and venues down the Mornington Peninsula change the sums. The drives are longer, guests are often staying in the area, and there is rarely a taxi rank outside the cellar door at midnight. Book the guest runs, including the trip back to accommodation, with the rest of the day, and tell us where guests are staying so the pickups can be planned in order.

For city weddings, venues and hotels in the CBD, St Kilda, Toorak and Brighton each have a suburb page with local fare estimates.

Getting Guests Home

The last movement of the day is the one most often forgotten, and the one that matters most to guests who have been celebrating. Book the return runs at the same time as everything else so the maxis are at the venue door when the music stops. If some guests will leave early, book an earlier car for them as well, rather than asking them to wait for the last dance.

A Short Checklist

• Every address in order, with the time each car must leave.
• The number of people on each movement, and any children with their ages.
• Which cars: silver service for the couple, maxis for the guests, a sedan or SUV where it fits.
• Timed trips or hourly hire for each car.
• One contact for the drivers on the day.
• The trips home, including any early departures.

Send that list through our wedding cars page or call us, and we will tell you honestly how many cars the day needs.

Questions People Ask

How many cars do we need for a wedding?

Count the movements and the people on each. Usually that is one silver service car for the couple, a second car for the bridal party or parents, and one maxi for every eleven guests who need a ride.

How far ahead should we book wedding transport?

As soon as the venue and the timings are confirmed. Saturdays through spring and summer are the busiest days of the year, and silver service cars are booked out first. If the date is inside a fortnight, call rather than booking online.

Can a silver service taxi be the wedding car?

Yes. A silver service car gives the couple a premium car and a suited driver while staying on the meter, which suits a day of short, timed trips. Simple decoration such as ribbons can be arranged when you book.

Can guests be taken home from the reception?

Yes. Book the return runs with the rest of the day and the maxis will be at the venue at the finishing time, with an earlier car for anyone leaving before the end.