How to use a golf buggy on your wedding day

Before the guests arrive

The buggy usually arrives and is set up before the day begins, which is the point to settle two things: where it lives when not in use, and who drives it. Give it a home, out of sight of the ceremony and the photographs, near power if it is charging, and brief the driver on the running order so they know the day's shape before it starts. A driver who knows the schedule can have the buggy waiting at the ceremony before the older guests reach the end of the drive, rather than being summoned once they are already struggling.

Guest arrival and the walk to the ceremony

The first real job is arrival. Guests park, and at most wedding venues the parking is a walk from the ceremony, sometimes a long one across gravel or grass. This is the buggy's first peak, and it is best reserved for the guests who need it: the elderly, anyone with limited mobility, a guest in a wheelchair. Able-bodied guests can walk, and letting them keeps the buggy free for the people it is there for. Run a steady loop from the car park to the ceremony through the arrival window and the older guests are seated comfortably before the bride arrives.

The turn between ceremony and drinks

When the ceremony ends everyone moves at once, which is a wave. If the drinks reception is a short walk, let the crowd flow on foot and keep the buggy for the stragglers and the less mobile. If it is a long walk, the buggy works the wave, but be realistic that one vehicle cannot move a hundred people quickly, so the crowd walks and the buggy takes those who cannot.

The couple's photographs

This is often the buggy's most valuable half hour. The photographer wants the couple somewhere with a view, which is usually a walk across the estate, and time spent walking is time and daylight lost. A buggy takes the couple, the photographer and a bag to the location and back quickly, without a dress dragged across a field. If your photographs matter to you and the timing is tight, this is the moment to have the buggy dedicated to the couple rather than sharing it with guest transport, so it is never off elsewhere when the light is right.

The call to dinner

The second big wave is dinner, when everyone crosses from the drinks reception to wherever they are eating. At a marquee or barn set apart from the drinks lawn this can be the largest single move of the day. The buggy helps, but as with the ceremony turn, one vehicle serves the less mobile while the crowd walks. Plan the timing so the older guests are moved first and seated before the general call, rather than left in a queue at the back.

The quiet afternoon and evening meal

Through the meal and the speeches the buggy rests. This is the long idle stretch, and it is entirely normal. There is no value in a buggy circling an empty lawn while everyone is seated, so let it stand down, charge if it needs to, and give the driver a break. Its next job is hours away.

After dark and the departures

The buggy's last and often most useful phase is the end of the night. Guests leave across a couple of late hours, in the dark, having had a drink, and the walk back to a distant car park across unlit ground is exactly where people turn an ankle. A lit buggy with a sober driver running departures is a real safety measure, not a luxury, and for a wedding with older guests it is worth planning as deliberately as the arrival. Make sure the hire and the driver cover the departure window, not just the daytime, so the buggy is there when it is needed most.

Briefing the driver is the whole trick

Everything above depends on one thing: the driver knowing the running order. A buggy with a briefed driver is a plan; a buggy with a driver waiting to be told is a scramble. Give whoever drives the schedule, the key moments and the priority guests, agree it with your venue coordinator, and the buggy quietly does the right thing at the right time without anyone having to manage it on the day. That is the difference between a hired vehicle and a wedding that runs.

Common questions

Is the buggy used all day

No, and it should not be. It has a few busy moments, arrival, photographs, the call to dinner and departures, with long quiet stretches between, including the whole meal. Planning it as constant transport wastes it; planning it around those moments is how it earns its place.

Should the buggy be for guests or for us

Both, at different times. At the busy waves it serves the less mobile guests while others walk. During the photograph run it is often best dedicated to the couple so it is not off elsewhere when the light is right. Deciding which job it does when is part of the plan.

Do we need it for the evening as well as the day

For a wedding with older guests, usually yes. The end of the night, when people leave in the dark across a distant car park, is one of the buggy's most useful phases. Make sure the hire and the driver cover the departure window, not just daytime, so it is there when it matters.

How does the driver know what to do

You brief them, ideally through your venue coordinator, on the running order, the key moments and the priority guests. A briefed driver has the buggy waiting where it is needed before it is needed. Without that briefing the buggy ends up being chased around the day rather than working to a plan.