In Los Angeles, driving is a hazardous sport. For those who aren’t well trained at it (and often for those who are), disaster is lurking around every corner. Take it from us, who managed to total both of our cars within 2 days of each other, within 2 blocks of each other, last Christmas. Yep, it happened.
Roughly half of our wedding guests are out-of-towners, and we really didn’t want to subject them to unnecessary driving, especially given the mojito madness that we expect to ensue at our reception. We opted not to have our ceremony and reception in the same spot to allow us to realize our dream of marrying in nature, so that added yet another transportation hurdle to the game.
Even though our budget is super slim, we decided that shuttle service was a must-do for our guests’ safety and sanity. I can only imagine how late our wedding would start if we unleashed 50 midwesterners, New Yorkers and Europeans onto the mad streets of Hollywood to fend for themselves!
We checked into several options, but the one that won, hands down, was a no-brainer. Meet our double-deckered beauty, in all her glory!
(Topless Fun Tours? ‘Nuff said!)
Being that our wedding is literally blocks away from such Hollywood goodness as Mann’s Chinese Theatre (home of the handprints), the walk of fame, The Kodak Theatre (home of the Oscars), Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum, the Wax Museum and more, it only seemed fitting that we get a ride that would allow for maximum sightseeing and fun along the way to the reception!
We’ve always seen Starline’s buses lined up along Hollywood Blvd, waiting to give tours of the area and the movie stars’ homes (fun!) to visitors and curious townies, and we thought it would be such a great idea for a wedding fun bus. I contacted them on a whim, and found that not only were they available for hire, but they’re extremely friendly and accommodating (which, it turns out, is a rareity in this market).
We’re going to chart a course to The Bungalow Club to include these and a few other sights for our guests to enjoy (and to buy us a little time) as we take our formal portraits at the ceremony garden. Then, the bus will swing back around and pick the bridal party up for a private tour which we can hop on/off for some fun tourist-y wedding photos before we hit cocktail hour!
Starline Tours run charters and have services in San Diego, San Francisco, New York and Las Vegas as well as Los Angeles. I’ve been very pleased with their responsiveness and support, and customer service. I talked to all the Hollywood tour companies, and Starline was by far the most professional and reasonable of them all. Deal. Sealed. How exciting!
It is a bigger expense, but it kills so many birds with one stone: its safe, easy, reduces emissions, is on-time (we hope), fun and unexpected! It may not be a carpet, but its sure to be a magic ride :)
Wouldn’t you like to ride? What’s your transportation plan?