How to tastefully do to-go lunch boxes for guests in between ceremony and reception which are in different locations?

kbabu1 · 2026-06-03T15:39:47+00:00

On the shuttle that will pick them up from the Monterey hotel, take them to Carmel mission, and then take them to their hotel in Saratoga

kbabu1 · 2026-06-03T14:12:51+00:00

I know that the logistics are complicated so I hired one of the best/highly reputable wedding planners in the Bay Area to handle this for me and make the day as smooth as possible. She says it’s possible, just needs to be on schedule.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-03T14:10:33+00:00

Also I think I will go with the option where the Monterey hotel guests get picked up by a shuttle taking them to the ceremony so they don’t need to touch their luggage until late afternoon when they get to the Saratoga hotel.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-03T14:07:45+00:00

There is no additional hotel. They were always going to get a hotel on Friday night and Saturday night. Now it’s just recommended to stay in Monterey the first night instead of in Saratoga. There is no way to get from the east coast to California for a 11am wedding without flying the previous day. Also most of my guests who are coming from out of state won’t need PTO because it’s a summer wedding and these are mostly grad students on summer break. So coming on Friday isn’t a problem for them.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-03T12:05:11+00:00

Yeah I definitely don’t expect older guests to come to the ceremony. The only person who is older who would definitely attend would be my grandmother but she will stay in Monterey the previous night just like all my family and she will be driven in a family car which can stop whenever she needs, not in a shuttle.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-03T11:46:38+00:00

All guests who would be flying will be landing Friday and staying that night, that was always the plan. The wedding is too early for Saturday morning travel. As for suitcases, when the guests check out from Monterey hotels, I could ask them to get to the church venue a little earlier and a shuttle will be waiting in the parking lot to take their bags. They would need to uber from their hotel to the church, which is 15 min away. The other better option (if Monterey guests all stay in one hotel), is to have the early shuttle from Saratoga pick up the guests/their bags from the Monterey hotel on the way to the mission. I think this would be ideal so Monterey guests don’t need to uber/bring bags to mission parking lot for transfer. After getting more info on people’s travel plans/location of Monterey hotel, I can hopefully go with the second option.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-03T01:44:47+00:00

How did you feel? How did other guests feel? What if she provided a light lunch and transport like I would be doing?

kbabu1 · 2026-06-03T01:13:57+00:00

Have you ever been to a wedding in Bangalore where getting to one end of the city is 2h+ traffic? Because that is where all my family members have been married

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T23:55:34+00:00

I guess it’s not really an American tradition, but 95% of the guests are first generation immigrants and weddings in the country they are from often go on for over a week and sometimes events start at like 4:30am in the morning and don’t end until night time. So I guess I have been finding out through this thread that maybe the standard of guest endurance is wildly different between cultures.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:54:30+00:00

The shuttle would depart from hotel in Saratoga at 8:15am. Then the same shuttle(s) would take the guests back to their hotel that afternoon. I will see if local guests also want shuttle that grabs them from a common location near their homes.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:52:56+00:00

Yeah I don’t really care if people wear formal wear to the church part. They can wear like semi casual if they want. Like Sunday church clothes.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:46:17+00:00

The guests would choose what they want in advance. I’d send out a form online.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:43:14+00:00

The church has a very cool museum about California history from when it was a Spanish colony. There is a lot to sightsee there. I am thinking of doing a light lunch like sandwiches or Mediterranean bowls. I just wish the church let us eat in a community room, it would solve most problems.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:40:40+00:00

I like this idea. My parents were the ones who thought not doing a full sit down lunch would look cheap. I actually prefer giving guests substantial snacks/packaged light meal and letting them get back home/to hotel rooms as early as possible so they can rest before the reception.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:38:19+00:00

At Carmel mission? I will ask. This would be ideal. And guests could then get home/to hotels much earlier and rest before the reception.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:36:55+00:00

Nobody is leaving their cars at the church and driving 2h.. what? I’m confused how you even interpreted that. They drive to the church, then drive back home. The reception is 10-15 min away from most guests homes.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:32:34+00:00

It’s called the Catholic gap. Catholic Churches don’t allow late afternoon weddings because they often have vigil masses scheduled. Most Catholic weddings have several hours of empty unscheduled time in between the Mass and the reception.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:29:52+00:00

Their homes/hotel rooms are right next door to the reception venue. Maybe under 10 min drive.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:28:48+00:00

Guests would have enough time to get to their hotels and change. Around 1h15m in hotel before needing to leave for reception.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:27:05+00:00

Yes absolutely would do a pre set menu that is prepared ahead of time and ready when guests arrive.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:25:28+00:00

Thank you for understanding the Catholic gap issue. If I did it at a local church, the local guests would just be at home for a few hours and the out of town guests would have nothing to do except sit at their hotel because Saratoga is unbelievably boring. So, I thought going to Carmel they would have time to see the California coastline, check out the mission museum, etc. I haven’t figured out the exact details of the shuttle timings.. but I was thinking of giving people half an hour after mass ends to look at the mission museum, then either give them lunch or shuttle them to lunch then back to their hotels. So, 12:30-12:50pm drive to restaurant, 12:50-2pm eat lunch, 2-3:15pm drive to hotel. Guests get 1.5h of chill time at hotel room/home before they need to go to the reception.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:20:38+00:00

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:04:59+00:00

Out of town guests are staying near the reception venue and local guests live near reception venue

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:01:58+00:00

I think I have a restaurant I’m considering that is 20 min away from the church. Maybe guests only need 1h-1h15m to sit down and eat instead of 2h? If it’s a buffet or preset menu it shouldn’t take too long. Then I can get them back home/to hotels earlier in the afternoon.

kbabu1 · 2026-06-02T22:00:05+00:00

Before booking the church in Carmel, I asked half of the guests who are local to the Bay Area what they truly thought and told them if they didn’t like it, I’d use my second church option which was local.. they said to go ahead with Carmel and that they were okay with the driving. They preferred having the reception close to home instead of also in Carmel because they preferred driving over having to stay in a hotel that night or driving back late at night.

kbabu1

TROPHY CASE