Welcome to Wedding Day podcast with your host Sonja Babich, CEO of Iron Diamond Media, a leading wedding resource featuring seven localized wedding brands across the country and Dan Riggs, photography and videography expert and founder of Summit Hill Studios. Come along as they travel from state to state to connect with the most creative and well-respected professionals in the wedding industry. Every episode will arm you with the hottest new trends, wedding day tips and details, and they'll show you all the joys of planning your perfect wedding day.
Wedding Day Podcast Episode 3 is powered by Luli Young Couture and I Am Artistry. This week we're in downtown Seattle, Washington, home of Washington Wedding Day magazine, talking to Rod Childress, the director of Butler Transportation. Today we'll learn all the different types of vehicles you can utilize to transport you and your guests on your wedding day, find out how to make grandma and grandpa's date night at your wedding as comfortable for them as possible, and learn why booking quality transportation should be much higher on your priority list than it probably is. All that and more is 30 seconds away.
Hi, I'm Jenna Culley, owner of LinenFX Minneapolis. I bet I can guess the third thing you did after getting engaged. Number one, you called family and friends to share the good news. Number two, you started a Pinterest board. Number three, you realized that you have no idea how to bring that Pinterest board to life. That's where we come in. Let the design experts at LinenFX take your ideas and bring them into reality. We have everything including floor length linens, charger plates, table settings, centerpieces,
pretty chairs, lounge furniture sets, and more to make your event picture perfect. Go to our website at lineneffects.com to schedule your appointment today. That's lineneffects.com and see your Pinterest board come to life. We are here with Rod. Rod Childress from Butler Transportation servicing the entire Pacific Northwest. We're happy to have you here today. It's great to be here, guys.
So tell us a little about you, Rod, and why you're the expert in transportation. Yeah, so we specialize in large corporate transfers, weddings, just big events in general. So we handle everything from getaway cars to airport transfers all the way up to 2,000 person moves. Yeah. And you've been doing it a long time in this area. It's been 30 years, right? Yeah, they've been in business 30 years. They actually started out at Ray's Boathouse Restaurant as a valet company.
They started their valet company and just grew from there. Wow. So yeah. Wow. And their cars are beautiful. Yeah, top of the line. The first time I saw a Butler car was at an event in 2022. And I walked out. I'm like, whose ride is that? Yeah. Many great options. So they're all, yeah, tell me about the cars. Are they all limos? Are they? No. So we actually don't have any limos in our fleet. Not a single limo. So people say limo transportation, that's not us. But we have.
Our smallest vehicle is a Mercedes S-Class, which is just a beautiful vehicle. We do a lot of getaway cars and that, it just never disappoints. I'm sure. Immaculate, all of our feed is all black. We move up to the Escalade SUVs, and then we move into the Mercedes Sprinter vans. So those are multiple sizes. So we have 14 passenger, it's actually a 15 passenger, we don't count the driver. It's 14 passenger, and then we have the executive Sprinters, which I think I want to hit on today in this case.
podcasts. So we do a lot of the bridal party transfers in those and they are limo style inside. They have rear face seatings, leather captain's chairs, all the great lighting that you'd see in a limo. We offer that. And the reason being is it's the ease of getting in and out. Yeah. Share that. That was, we were just chatting a little bit before and I was just, I never thought about that before about how I'm sitting, what I'm wearing. So yeah, the bridal parties, the ladies come out.
You know, the guys are a little different. They're in tuxes and they can move around. But the ladies are in these nice, beautiful, long dresses or the wedding gown itself if they didn't dress at the venue. And in a limo, you've got to squat down, you've got to get on your knees. It's just not a comfortable. Yeah, and you're doing the hop, the hop, the hop. So with these, yeah, exactly. And so with these, it's an easy step up in, wide aisles, single seating. It's just a comfortable ride. And...
We put nine back there so we can hold a large wedding party. And everybody likes looking at each other. Oh, they do. So we have rear-facing seating and everybody's checking everybody out and it's just, it's great. So of course I have to ask, can you like bring beverages on your shuttles? Yeah, so they're all limo credentialed vehicles. So when I say that, that means they have a special designation that you're allowed to have adult beverages on board. Okay. But the cool part about what I like to do is the special touches, right?
So when we talk with a planner and somebody books a wedding with us we talk what are the colors of the wedding? Okay, so when the bridal party comes out the ladies come out if they're wearing a lavender or red or whatever We change the lighting to that color in the van so when they come on it matches everything and it just it just adds to the It's another detail. It's another detail. We're experts in that. So yes timing is important Quality all that stuff, but the little details that just makes that day
Cause every time we open the door, they're like, oh wow, it all matches. And so we just kind of do those extra touches. Yeah. Can I call you a week before the wedding and get my entire bridal party, groom party, everybody. Can you get us where we need to go? Not between April and October. You can't cause we're booked. So that's one of the things I want to talk about, pitfalls that people fall into not knowing. Cause transportation, while
it's super important for a wedding, it's not the main focus. It's the cake, it's the dress, it's the DJ, it's the venue, it's all those things. Getting people there, oh yeah, we gotta do that. We need some lead time, right? So what is the minimum, the max, what do you recommend? Well, we're already booking 2025. Okay. So I would say, as soon as you get, yes, I want, yes I do, I wanna get married. I would start the process of reaching out and have a planner that.
is proactive that way. And just put the feeler out, just go, hey, we're looking at August of 2025. What does that look like? How do we reserve a vehicle for that? What do we do? And that's because we want a reputable company to do our transportation, right? Absolutely. Because if we don't get you. That's the key. Setting expectations. What are you really, what are you wanting to do? How many people are you wanting to move? And one of the things that people focus on when they first get engaged is the venue.
Where are we gonna do this? And in Washington, especially, there's great venues in downtown Seattle and all that stuff, but a lot of people like, really trendy now is outdoors. Scenic, remote, that kind of thing. So we have a dozen, maybe 20 venues around the area that are in the outskirts. They're beautiful, but they're 35, 40 minutes away.
They look great in photos, they look great in video, but for transportation. Right, so you show up and they go, oh we love this, we gotta do it here. Great, well there's 10 parking spots. Right. And it's 35 minutes away from the closest hotel. So then you start the process, well kid we gotta move 200 people. And 150 of them from around town, how do we do this? So when you're looking at your venue, you're not thinking about parking. No. But you have to think about parking.
And the other big thing that people don't think about is safety. When you're putting on a big production and open bar and all the fun adult beverages that go along with that and eight hours of a wedding and a reception and, and drinking and partying and having fun at the end of the night, it's not so great to drive. We had an event at the, um, one-on-one last night and we had no cars that could be parked in front of the valet came in. It's like cars need to be moved.
I'm getting hassled by the cops. It's time, so that's why it's so important for transportation to help that experience. Once we book and we understand what we're gonna do and how many people we're gonna move, then we start with the small details. And it actually kind of starts with when we pull up to the hotel or the Airbnb or wherever we're getting people. Usually we reach out ahead of time and go, okay, we're moving the ladies at the bridal party at 11 o'clock. What playlist do you want on the radio?
I'm all about the music. So actually 11.15 then if we're moving the ladies. Yes, no, or 11.20. Yeah. Or earlier. Yeah. No, never earlier. We try to get some kind of idea of what they want. Sometimes they send over the playlist, and we get that ready. And then the driver gets out, and usually they're running behind. And we open the door, and the lights are on.
the music's playing, the experience starts, right? It does. So they jump on board and we got champagne, we got whatever they wanna have. It's about a half an hour drive, we pull up, we get out. Oh, we're here! That was so fun! Yeah, exactly, that quick. So when we do a wedding, especially in the summertime, we may do seven or eight weddings on a weekend. So we never book close. And it costs us business sometimes.
But it's not worth the risk. Right. So that's a good question for engaged couples to ask is like how many weddings are you doing on my date? What is the capacity here? I mean, are we open to run over? I mean, we try to leave everything wide open so there's never an issue because you never know what's gonna happen. We did a wedding once that was an hour and a half running behind. Wow. The bride's dress malfunctioned at the last minute and they had to, I mean, it was just a, it took a while. So if we had other engagements.
and we're sold out, wow, now you're handling that when you're impacting the next one. That's when my blood pressure would always get up if the time line or the shuttle's late. And again, it's not the shuttle's transportation's fault. There was a hiccup, some gas or. It's a ripple effect. It is. Oh, it's a huge effect. So that's the part that, those are the questions that have to be asked, right? And we offer that information because we have to think for our client.
That's one of the main things we talk about in our office and our operations staff, think for the client. Bring up all the things that you know the what ifs. Could possibly happen that they're not thinking of, so they know. I love that. So actually I was on my wedding day as a reference. I actually wanted to make sure everybody was on time. So I had a mini coach. Good luck. Yeah. Yeah, I had a mini coach, so I actually had one picking up the girls.
and we all hopped in after we all got ready and then they didn't have to worry about leaving their cars at the venue. It's very helpful to think that far because that's one of the biggest things, like who's taking what car or who's leaving a car. So if you can make the day easier for your bridal party, your wedding party, it'll make the day a lot easier and less of those like what to do and extra, like not say drama, but like. Yes.
But it's- It turns into that if you're not careful. It sometimes does. And then they're like, I don't wanna leave my car here. It's not a safe area. Or it is a safe area. Or it's way too far away from the hotel. So- And at the end of the night, God is my witness, there's always somebody or a group that you just wanna take care of because they shouldn't be behind the wheel. Yeah. Exactly. And you wanna be careful with that. And so we do like the first look, for instance, you were talking about the- Mm-hmm.
We do, a lot of times we do the groom separate from the gals. Because they can't see each other. Yeah, because it's the first look, right? It's the first look. And we show up, and a lot of times the pictures happen before, somewhere, and they do that first look at those, wherever they're getting their pictures done. And so we have matching vehicles, you know, and- Because they're black. Yeah, they're all beautiful. So we have like 55 vehicles in our fleet. And they're all black, and they're all-
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for transportation? So we've done weddings for $10,000 for transportation, and then we've done weddings for $200,000 for transportation for a day. 16 vehicles, you know, it's a big deal, right? It's a trinky service. We give our quote out, and we give you the best recommendation because we've been doing it a long time, and if we're moving 200 people, we know that we need this many vehicles to do it comfortably and the time-wise. So sometimes we get a...
quote back that says, this is a little bit out of our budget. Is there anything you can do? And then we set the expectation. Yes, we can do it with less vehicles, a little more time, things like that, just set the expectation. It's not gonna be the same as what plan A was, but this is plan B. If we wanna have a group leave earlier, we can circle back and do things differently to help save some money, that's fine. And sometimes that's okay for couples too, because not every couple is going to have a.
you know, by the minute timeline where you're taking photos everywhere and you're doing a lot of traveling around, that's usually what takes up the most time is that travel time. So that might be just right for somebody else. For another couple. So we spend a lot of time fitting those budgets as well. And that is just part of, it's a service that we, we don't want to push anything on anybody. We just do what we think is best and this is plan A and we can go from there. Well, actually going off of that timeline, so if you have,
puck drop, right? Ceremony time starting at four. And you don't want your guests to really start entering the ceremony time. Totally. Because this is one of my big things, everybody. This is important. I always say you should be hiding 45 minutes to the wedding time. And that really means an hour. Because if you say one hour to the wedding time, you're really hiding by 45, because guests come early. Yes. They are so excited. They bought their new dress. It's date night.
They want to come so they have the best spot for their niece, their coworker. They don't know where to park. They might not be able to find the place. So yeah, I always get to get there early for sure. And that's the part locally that we're experts in that, right? So we know we get bridge closures, we get construction, we get all that stuff. We plan the routes ahead of time so we know, make sure the timing is exactly what they want. And there's many times we get a call from the planner.
hey, I know you're on your way, but can you take the long way? Because we're running behind and we don't want everybody showing up. Another reason a planner is so great to have. Yes. Because she's the communicator. Totally. Reason number 2,562. Yes, so Auntie Patty is not being the one to step in and be like, who do I call? And create that energy that you don't want on your wedding day. No, because they bring that panic back to the bridal room.
where she's changing and getting ready. So now going back to that time of hiding, and so if you have 400, 300 guests, and how many seats are in a big coach bus? So yeah, we have 34 passenger coaches, and we have 23 to 31 mini coaches, and then we have a fleet of 25 to 30 Sprinter vans, right? So depending on the location, what the logistics of that are, the coaches may not fit. So we have to go to Sprinter's. And so we...
have to extend that out. So we have to go do site visits and look at all that stuff. And if you want to move everybody at once, do you want to move them in stages? Move everybody at once, you know, we have to have 15, 20 vehicles. So everybody there. And that also goes at knowing how many people booked in their room block. Right. And that also will help you know who, how many people are going to be on that. Totally. Transportation. The communication is just key. So we can make sure that everything is happening efficiently on time and.
meeting the expectations. Right, and also having a big fleet, and that's so huge, by the way, another key question to know how big fleets are, locally where I am, there wasn't a big fleet, so it was three coach buses having to do two routes. So two big drop-offs before puck drop of the ceremony. And if you're 30 minutes away, it's not a quick turn, so now you're looking at 10 minutes to load, you're looking at 10 minutes to unload, and then an hour in trample. So you're looking at an hour and 20, an hour and 30,
to complete that trip. I had a situation like that, a wedding that I, I'm a videographer, so wedding I filmed in Duluth, Minnesota. The ceremony was delayed at least an hour because of the shuttle was one, they had one vehicle. I think it was a bus. And it was going back to the hotel and grandma and grandpa were like the last to be picked up.
And so we couldn't start, we had to wait. It was an August wedding and we're all cooking in the sun, sitting outside waiting and yeah, I mean that was rough. That's that ripple effect. I love that he said that too. I'm glad you said grandma and grandpa because that is always a thing. So wedding starts at five. By eight o'clock, they're done and they wanna go. But the reception's going till 11.30. So that's another question that we have. Do you want us to have a vehicle there?
for grandma and grandpa, extended family who are elderly that may not wanna do the woo all night long. Right? So. I just want one woo. Yeah. Woo! By the time the cake is cut and the toast has happened, that's great, we're tired, we wanna go. So we talk about that, make sure there's a vehicle there. Yes. You know, there's just so many little details. And to talk just in general about the elderly that are coming to the wedding. Yes. Like who is.
just to make sure what time they can get picked up. They don't wanna be sitting a long time, especially if they're 80 years in their 90s or they wanna just kinda come in right too right before show time. Yes, they're excited to see their grandchildren getting married. And they've probably been talking about it for months with their girlfriends and friends. This is their big event, yeah. This is huge. And getting their hair done and it's their life, their purpose till that day.
but make it as easy as possible. It's such a big deal. Yeah. It really is. I'm going to share an example. I had to pick up my grandma Mary for my brother-in-law's wedding. Hi, Mary. She's not in PSD. She's still here. Hi, Mary. She's still here. But I still had being a daughter-in-law and wanting to be there too, a part of that stuff. But they had to figure that out and be like, well, and I just jump in. I got grandma. Yeah. Right? And so having a transportation.
to help that so you're not pulling some certain key people away. You don't wanna do that. No. And it's in- Even though I loved it. Actually it's one of my favorite memories with my sister. Yeah. Yeah, we do that quite a bit. I gotta tell you, there is, or we usually provide a shuttle of some kind that fits in with what they're doing. If it's not just for two people or four, sometimes it's a sprinter, and the elderly group gets on and goes. That happens a lot.
So this podcast is about education, and you've mentioned getaway car and sprint. Getaway car is not for people robbing banks. No. Right? Yeah. Can we talk about maybe some of the different, the different vehicles that you have? Like what is a getaway car for those who don't know? And what's trendy with these? Cause getaway cars are really trendy right now. It's interesting because some people like the old fashioned look, right? The old Bentley from, you know, the 1960s or whatever. And
We don't have that, but we're very, all of our S-Class sedans are just super high end. They're just a comfortable ride. They're amazing. The back seat is what's so cool about these cars. The leg room is forever. And the bride can get in with her dress, as big as it is, and have plenty of room. That's the key. Because if you have a getaway car that's smaller, it's a struggle.
and it's not comfortable. We love those too as a videographer and photographers because we can do all the posing. Yeah. And get in the car too, right? If we need to. Yeah, we have a shot from one of our weddings where the bride and groom are just like, woo, and we're following that car. I mean, there's so much you can do with those. Yeah, so that's what we offer as far as the getaway car. It works great for us because they're just so reliable. Some of the older vehicles that you don't- That's a good point. It can be-
Oh, it didn't start. They need a little more TLC. We need a new carburetor. They look great. They're amazing. And they're that old style look and the and the traditional the look. But I had a situation. We didn't have the getaway car at this particular event. We did all the other transportation. The car didn't show. Didn't make it. It broke down. And things happen. The planners like, what do I do? I got on the phone and I called dispatchers like, do we got an S class in the warehouse? We can get over here in 30 minutes. And they're like,
Yes, we can do that. So we've able to dispatch somebody over. And that again, shows that your wedding professionals got your back. That's just it. That's a great reason to have a planner because the planner is gonna know. What they have. Well, they're gonna know what they have, but they're gonna know all the wedding professionals that can do things like you can do. They know that they can call you. She felt comfortable calling you. Yeah. And knew that you would have an answer to the problem. She was panicked. I'm not gonna lie. Yeah. But yeah, she knew who we were and that we can.
probably make something happen for her. And nobody knew. Yep, and so I'm just saying, if things happen, because a lot of times couples don't know what's happening behind the scenes, that is a perfect example that if you walk out and you see the car is not the car you ordered, but there's a car there, somebody took care of you. Yes, completely. Yeah, so just know that you got some people behind the scenes and they wanted to make sure you still had your getaway car.
The thing about transportation that's a little different than the rest of the vendors that are involved in weddings is there's not a lot of us. There's thousands of photographers, there's thousands of people that make cakes, and there's all of that, and you have your pick. With transportation, it's a little different. You gotta be really on it early, otherwise you're gonna be settling for less than maybe what you want. And...
You may not be able to move 200 people and you may have to change venue. I mean, there's just all kinds of things that it affects. So reaching out early, going back to timelines, I would say a minimum of six months. So what do you think the order is? So I'm down on one knee, will you marry me? Yes, I will marry you. Okay, great. Do we call the transportation that, or are we booking the venue? Where do you fall in line? Honestly, I think the first thing you should do with your plan or is pick your venue.
Yes, that's number one. When you pick the venue, then we can step in and go, you need this many vehicles, you only need one vehicle. This location is easy for us to do, we've done it before. There's picking the venue, and then we can style the transportation around what we gotta work with. And it is very common that a lot of couples will choose the venue before the planner, but the smart ones, the planner first, then the venue. But I think it's just amazing to look at the parking situation and the distance away from your.
hotel that you want or accommodations where you want them to stay. And what do you want your client experience to be? Do you like when their times are displayed in the venue when the shuttles are doing their routes like and you kind of have estimated time and kind of that cushion time? It's great when they do that because everybody can just take a look instead of waiting for the DJ at 1130 going, hey the first shuttle is cutting out.
No one's paying attention. Yeah, it's a lot more classier to put a little schedule out on display, even if it's by the bar, by the coat check. And here's the warning with shuttles. This is one of the things that is really important. We book the amount of vehicles we book based on human nature. I'm not taking the first shuttle, I'm taking the last shuttle. And if you're moving 200 people and you only have 150 seats because that's what they wanted to do and we had people expecting to get on earlier shuttles, everybody wants to leave at the same time at night.
That's a great point. And now you don't have, you're getting across in a ferry that it's the last ones at midnight and you have 50 seats that you can't put people in. Right. So. And that's when the drama begins. I'm just telling, oh yeah. And a little tipsiness kicks in too, so it's more a little escalated sometimes. And so that is, we overbook the seat count for a reason. It's not because we want to overbook, it's we're trying to protect you.
At the end of the night when you have 50 people need a hotel over there because they can't get over on a ferry. And that's with you being the professional. Because you've seen it all. We've seen it all. We've had to drive. You can take a ferry or you can drive around. The drive around is three hours. The ferry is 30 minutes. And a lot of times when they do those like four hour increments, it's usually the elderly is usually the first one, or the littles need to go to bed. So that's kind of how you can start it too to be like, how long can they last? And our drivers know when they come out of the hotel.
We got the baby car seat and the elder lady, that's the first group that's leaving. It is. So we know, we kind of get an idea. We know we're gonna have 15, 20 people that are gonna move out. So that can help those couples. If you wanted those little last goodbyes with your grandma and grandpa, go to that shuttle bus. So you mentioned littles. So do you provide car seats or do, are couples expected to bring their own? Our wedding planner is amazing. That works with us. And she's...
Nicola is one of them. She's our senior sales manager and she handles weddings. And she asks all those questions. Like, how many kids are you expecting? Do you need car seats? We have a certain amount of car seats. We need to provide those for you. Are you gonna have them? We go through all those details. So, because the last thing we want is someone coming out and they've got a one year old and.
they're not in a car seat and we're in this bus, right, or the Sprinter or whatever. So safety is huge, it's all, it's just, it's those things you just have to ask. So for those living in Wisconsin who don't have a Nikola. Yeah.
then that's a great question to ask. Like make sure that you're asking, does your transportation company have car seats that they can drive and what not? And we provide those based on whatever they ask for. Or handicap. Yeah, we don't have any ADA vehicles in our fleet, but we have plenty of space in the back of the vehicles where we can do the wheelchair, that kind of thing. Accessibility. Yeah, and we ask those questions too. Sometimes, hey, do you have any ADA vehicles? And we don't have any in our fleet, but we reach out to
people that do and we bring them in. You have a network. Yes, completely. I'm getting the Rolodex, everybody has a Rolodex. War Paint International Beauty Agency, a team of on-site award-winning hair and makeup artisans that bring the beauty to you. On-site beauty whenever, wherever. They understand how valuable your time is and the importance of looking your best. Their team of vetted professionals design exquisite hairstyles and makeup applications for corporate, editorial, weddings, headshots, special occasions, and more. All in the comfort and convenience of the location you choose.
The ultimate symbol of luxury and excellence in hair and makeup artistry. So what does your team do, you know, between the flip of new guests and more guests coming on, all that jazz to keep that transportation clean? Yeah, so basically what will happen, unless we're on a continuous loop where we just got to turn and burn, we bring somebody over. Like I said, if there's a downtime of any kind, the driver goes through, wipes everything down, cleans everything up. Personal items we don't touch.
Oh, we just kind of like, oh, it needs, wipe that off, whatever. Clean the back of the seats, clean the windows. It takes 15, 20 minutes to go through the cabin and tidy all that up. So when the guests come back on, it's not, because on the way there, we got champagne, we've got cake, we've got cookies, and we got, I mean, all that stuff. And you don't want people coming in the same time. Okay, I have to ask a juicier question. Yes. How common is...
Do people get sick on the bus? So transportation. It's not as often as you think. Okay. But it does happen. I want to say it often as you think it happens. Occasionally. Occasionally is a good word. That's difficult. So in our terms and conditions, in the fine print, if someone gets sick and there's biohazard waste, we charge a $500 cleaning fee.
I don't blame you, that's not fun. Because that bus. Do you pass that entire amount onto the driver? I sure hope so. Whoever has to clean that up. That's great. So what we do is the driver gets 50% of that. Yeah. But yes, it's a difficult thing. We do a lot of wine tours as well. So in Woodinville wine. Yeah, right. So we do a lot of wine tours. And you'd be surprised when people start out in the afternoon and they haven't eaten and then they eat.
and then go to their last couple tastings and it's like, yeah, it happens. That wine'll hit you fast. It does happen, that's why I have to talk about it. So the drivers, we all teach them in their training, identify who may or may not be in that condition. Again, it's a safety thing for other clients too. Exactly. I tell our drivers, this is your vehicle. You're in charge of it.
you need to make judgment calls and you need to understand what's going on. So a lot of times the drivers, we have the little hospital brown vomit bags for lack of a better term. Like you'd find in an airplane? Totally. And we have a bunch of those in all the vehicles in the kit. And so when somebody, you know, you identify that, hey, would you like to have this on the right home just in case? Some people are like, oh, no, no.
I don't need this. I don't need that. So to answer the question. And then they're walking out. We work really hard at, after every run, at the end of the night, the vehicle gets flipped, meaning it goes through a deep clean. And that's another thing that there's that communication because as venue, wedding planners, coordinators.
with their transportation, you are kind of part of the babysitting aspect of guests with safety and just getting them home and still having a great, and the others to have a great time with them. So it is a common thing that they'll connect with if somebody has had too many beverages that night or somebody's really tired or just exhausted. We call Ubers for people. Yeah, oh, okay. That's a really good tip. Because you have 20 people on your bus and they've all had a great time. And...
they're going home and it's a half an hour ride and you have someone who's not feeling great and they've had too much. It can ruin the trip home. For everyone else. And so a lot of times our drivers, it doesn't happen often, but I would say two or three times in a season, I'm not gonna let you on my bus, but I am gonna call you an Uber and I want you to grab a friend who's sober to ride with you to take you back where you need to go. I love that, because we were just talking beginning.
how it's so important to start the experience. And you want to end it with a bang. Oh my gosh. A great experience. We had a situation literally over Christmas where someone got sick and when somebody's already, when people are already feeling really good, that smell can be a chain effect. Oh, we know that smell. We know that smell. It can be a chain effect.
It's like the pie eating contest. That happened with, it started with one and went to four or five. And now that bus is out of commission for eight to ten hours because we're we have the deep clean that we do is it's heavy. I mean, it's hardcore. After having babies, my nose is so much more sensitive. Yeah. So you just you just have to plan for those things. And I we really educate the driver on do not be afraid to call an Uber, get a hold of the planner.
get ahold of, there's always sane people on the bus. Yeah. Right, there's always somebody that's clear minded. Yeah. And you. Which is your driver most of the time. But it's not the driver. Hopefully it's not just the driver. No, it's just the guest. I know, but you know. Yeah, absolutely. If you find somebody that's like, hey, this person could ruin this trip for everybody, we don't wanna do that, we don't wanna make a big deal about it, let's get him an Uber, you go with him. Find somebody to partner with them and go. And we just take care of it. All right, now the final question possibly is, tipping your driver.
Yeah. Is that included in the budget planning or is that on top of it or are they expecting a tip at the end of the night? Very good question. So all of our drivers are paid extremely well. We do we give them a very good living wage. We do not include gratuity in the bill and we let them know, we let the client know ahead of time, hey, we do a really good job with our drivers. We take care of them. They do this for a career. It's not a gig for them.
And so if you want to include gratuity, it's appreciated. That's great. If not, understand. We give them the option to do that. Weddings are different. And I say different because they're different than corporate. Corporate's like, yeah, just put 10% on the bill, call it good. Weddings, people generally like to tip the drivers because they're the ones that they bonded with on the experience and it wasn't just a half an hour ride. It was a 12 hour event.
So it's encouraged, of course. The drivers love that. And they're motivated by that. They really like the idea that somebody appreciated their service. The drivers that we hire, that's one of my jobs as director, is I sit people down, we talk about this, to get them to jump from another career.
This is a career move. And so the professionals that we hire and we have are fantastic. So they like feeling that their service was valued. So for engaged couples, that is a key question to ask when you're booking your transportation. Is the service charge gratuity included in the final payment if not, because they want to take care of their driver. That's a great tip to what to ask transportation companies. Can you give us like...
four more, like what are your top five tips that engaged couples should ask when booking transportation? Yeah, obviously getting a quote that meets their budget is huge because sometimes they get sticker shock. I'm not going to lie, they'll be like, oh I did not expect that. Timing of that, of getting it booked early, usually we require 50% deposit upon booking and then.
two weeks before the event, full payment. I was gonna ask you that, what is the standard that you think 50% down to reserve your transportation? Yes, that's the standard in our contract. The next thing I think would be setting expectations. That's a big thing. This is what you get when you get us. You get high professional, you get class A vehicles, you get all these things that will enhance the experience. You get what you pay for. And when you're talking about sanitation on vehicles,
Sometimes somebody's dropping a group off at the Seahawks game, and then they're going to pick up the bridal party. And they don't have time to clean the van. Eww. Right? And there's beer on the floor, there's peanuts, there's this. And they show, I'm sorry, we booked and I didn't have to, what are you stepping into? And it's like, so understanding expectations of what you're booking and why you're paying extra. Yeah, the last thing probably I would say is don't underestimate the value of.
having your transportation handled for you. Rod Childress from Butler Transportation. You are the director of transportation. Yeah, you had some really good stuff for us today. It's great being here and talking on this whole subject because we do so much of it. And it's just, it's great to get in front of everybody and talk about it because we don't get to talk about it a lot. No, no. It's not something you think about, like you mentioned already. That's the biggest thing is, people don't think about it. I learned a lot today. Until it's the last minute.
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it. It's been fun. Of course, this will be live on Apple, Spotify, YouTube and all the brands. So check out this great transportation podcast. It was a great day, don't you think, David? It was a great day. Make sure you follow us on Instagram at Wedding Day podcast on TikTok. All the places, too. We love that. All the places and go to Butler Seattle dot com. That's our website. And you can see all the things that we offer.
We also are the founders of the Northwest Event Show. Yes, Weddings in Woodinville. Weddings in Woodinville as well, yes. Well, awesome. Well, thank you so much. And we'll see you all next time. See you, bye.