Guests need four facts and they need them in the same place every time: where to stand, what time it leaves, what time the last one comes back, and who to call. Everything else is decoration. This article gives you wording you can copy for the wedding website, the invitation insert, the RSVP question and the week-of email, plus versions for the harder cases, including the wedding where there is no shuttle at all.
Replace the bracketed fields with your own details before you publish anything below.
The four facts, and why vague wording fails
Couples usually write transport information in a tone that sounds polite and reads as optional. “There will be transport available for guests who need it” is friendly and completely unusable. A guest cannot decide whether to bring a car, book a room or leave a car at the venue overnight on the strength of it.
The wording that works is closer to a timetable than an invitation. It is not cold. It is the difference between guests planning around your transport and guests asking each other in the car park at 11pm what the plan is.
Four facts, every time: a street address, a departure time, a last return time, and a phone number for a person who is not the couple.
The wedding website block
This is the long version. Put it on its own page or under a clear Transport heading, not buried in Accommodation.
> Getting to and from [venue name] > > We are running a coach for guests, and there is no charge to use it. > > To the venue: departs [pick-up address, including the street number and a landmark such as the hotel entrance or the corner it sits on] at [time], arriving at the venue by [time]. Please be at the pick-up point ten minutes early. > > Home again: two return coaches leave the venue at [time] and [time]. The [later time] coach is the last one, and it cannot wait. > > Seats: the coach seats [number]. Please tell us on your RSVP whether you would like a seat, so we know we have enough room for everyone. > > Parking at the venue: [what is actually available, in one line]. > > On the day: [contact name] is looking after transport and can be reached on [mobile number].
Three things make that block work. The last coach is named as the last coach. The seat number is published, which quietly tells guests that seats are finite and worth claiming. And the contact is a person with a number, not “us”.
You will only know the seat number once the vehicle is confirmed, so write the block after you have booked and check it against the seat count on the vehicle you have booked rather than an estimate.
The invitation insert
An insert card has room for about forty words. Cut everything except the four facts and point to the website for the rest.
> Transport > > A coach runs from [pick-up address] at [time], returning from the venue at [time] and [time]. The [later time] service is the last coach. Please request a seat when you RSVP. Full details at [wedding website address].
If your insert is even smaller, drop the arrival time before you drop the last return time. Guests can work out roughly when they will arrive. They cannot guess when the night ends.
The RSVP question, and why it must ask for seats
Ask for a number, not a preference. This is the question that decides what vehicle you book, so it needs to return something you can add up.
> Coach transport > > Will you use the coach to the venue? Yes / No. Number of seats: ___ > > Will you use the coach home at the end of the night? Yes / No. Number of seats: ___
Ask both legs separately. The return number is almost always higher, because guests who intended to drive change their minds once the night starts, and it is the number you should size the vehicle against.
Publish the pick-up point and the last return time above the question. A guest who does not yet know when the last coach leaves cannot answer the second question honestly.
The week-of email
Send this three to five days out. Nobody remembers what they read on a website in March.
> Transport for Saturday > > The coach leaves [pick-up address] at [time]. Please be there by [ten minutes earlier]. > > Coaches return from the venue at [time] and [time]. The [later time] coach is the last one and cannot wait. > > If anything goes wrong on the day, call [contact name] on [mobile number]. > > If you told us you were driving and have since changed your mind, reply to this email by [day] so we can make sure there is a seat.
That last line is the most useful sentence in the whole set. It catches the guests who quietly switched plans, which is exactly the group that turns a comfortable vehicle into an overloaded one.
The last bus notice, and why it is a separate line
Print this on a card at the welcome table, and again near the bar if the venue allows it.
> Last coach: [time], from [where it stops]. > > Please be outside five minutes before. The coach cannot wait.
Say it plainly. A coach driver’s hours are regulated, so the last departure is not something that can be extended by asking nicely on the night, and guests should hear that as a fixed time rather than a suggestion. Wording it softly is a kindness that produces the opposite result.
Wording for the harder cases
Guests who want to drive and leave the car overnight. Say what is permitted, in the venue’s words, not yours.
> Parking at [venue name] is [available or not available] and cars [may or may not] be left overnight. If you plan to leave a car, please check with the venue directly on [venue phone number].
A venue a long way from the city. Guests routinely underestimate the distance. Naming it changes behaviour more effectively than advice does. A Southern Highlands venue sits around 120 km from Sydney, roughly an hour and a half of driving each way, and a Hunter Valley venue around 165 km, two to two and a half hours. Write the number down.
> [Venue name] is about [distance] from the city, around [time] of driving. There is no train or late night public transport nearby. If you are not on the coach, please plan how you are getting home before the day.
Rideshare. Do not tell guests rideshare is unavailable unless you have checked. Open a rideshare app at the venue address, at the actual hour your reception ends, on a comparable night, and see what comes back. Then publish what you found.
> We checked availability at [venue] at [time] on a [day] and found [what you found]. Please do not rely on booking a car at the end of the night.
No shuttle at all. This is the version couples find hardest to write, and it is easier than they expect if it is direct and early.
> Getting home > > We are not running a coach, so please arrange your own transport home before the day. [Venue name] is [distance] from [nearest town or suburb] and cars can be scarce late at night. Options include [what actually exists locally: hotel courtesy transport, a local taxi company with its phone number, staying at a venue with rooms]. > > If you are planning to drive, please plan for a driver who is not drinking.
Nobody has ever been offended by clear logistics. What upsets guests is finding out at 11pm.
What to check before you publish any of it
- The pick-up address is a street address with a number and a landmark, not a building name.
- Every time is a specific time, including the last one.
- The seat number matches the vehicle actually booked.
- The contact name and mobile belong to someone who is not getting married that day.
- The same four facts appear identically on the website, the insert, the email and the printed card. Guests notice contradictions and ignore the source they trust least.
If you have not settled the pick-up point yet, work out which suburb makes the shortest single run first. The Sydney areas a pick-up can start from is a sensible place to start, because a pick-up close to where most guests are staying beats a convenient-sounding landmark that half your guest list has to travel to.
Frequently asked questions
Should transport go on the invitation or the wedding website?
Both, at different lengths. The invitation insert carries the four facts in about forty words and points to the website. The website carries the full block. Repeating them is not clutter, it is how guests actually retain the information.
How do I ask guests to plan their own transport without sounding rude?
State the logistics and skip the apology. Name the distance, say plainly that you are not running a coach, and list what actually exists locally. Guests take that as consideration, because it lets them plan. Vague wording is what causes problems.
What do I say about the last bus?
Give a specific time and say it cannot wait. A driver’s working hours are regulated, so the last departure genuinely is fixed, and telling guests that early is fairer than enforcing it on the night.
How do I collect numbers if my RSVP form is already out?
Ask in the week-of email instead, with a reply-by date. It is a smaller sample and less reliable, so count every non-responder as a rider and add a margin on top when you book the vehicle.
Next step
Once the wording is drafted, the thing that fixes the numbers in it is the vehicle. Send the venue address, the pick-up suburb, the date and the number of guests you expect on the return leg, and you will get a fixed written quote back within two business hours with the vehicle and seat count named, which is what you need before you can publish anything above.
Start with wedding bus hire in Sydney or call 02 9469 6600, Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm or Saturday 8am to 2pm.
