Getting your friends and family to be a part of your wedding celebration is the most important part of planning a wedding.

When guests receive an invitation to a wedding, one of the first things they check (after the date) is the wedding venue. If the venue is too far or they don't have transportation to get there, they will most likely not attend.

When sending out your invitations, provide your guests with written directions to the ceremony and reception. If you are not very familiar with the location of your wedding, you should take a trip to the location following the directions that you are sending to your guests to be sure that they work. You want your guests to be at your wedding on time so avoid them getting lost on your wedding day.

Your guests would greatly appreciate you letting them know ahead of time what their transportation options are for getting to and from the wedding.

If your wedding is out of the way or parking is limited, it is customary for the host to provide transportation.

As soon as you know the number of guests you are expecting at your wedding you should start arranging transportation. When making these arrangements, , make sure that there is enough room for each of your guests to be seated comfortably and that they can get in and out of the vehicles easily.

Here are a few tips for planning transportation for your wedding:

• Make sure your out of town guests have transportation to and from the ceremony and reception

• Arrange for a party bus to take your guests from a selected location to and from your wedding. This will cut down on the number of guests getting lost or stuck in traffic and will ensure that they get to your wedding on time

• Check with your transportation company to see if they can offer your guests champagne and soft music (see if they can throw this in for free as part of the package) while traveling to your wedding

• Do not forget transportation for your guests back home or to their cars. Never plan on taking your guests back all at the same time since some people may want to leave earlier than others. Stagger the times of the transportation in order to accommodate the times that your guests may want to depart the celebration.

• Check, check and re-check all of your arrangements. Make sure that all contracts are signed and that you call the transportation company the day before the wedding to confirm that they have everything in place.

I hope that this guide to planning a wedding transportation needs will help in making your wedding plans go smoothly and your guests will have a fabulous time.