Getting 200 guests to Udaipur and back

Getting guests into Udaipur, and home again, is one of the least glamorous parts of a destination wedding, but it is where small mistakes cause the most stress. Here is how we plan travel for a wedding of about 200 guests.

We start with a travel sheet. Every guest’s arrival and departure date, mode of travel and contact number go into one list, collected through a simple form we send to the family. Udaipur’s airport is about 25 km from the city, and has direct flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and a few other cities. The railway station is closer to the old city and well connected to Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Mumbai by overnight trains. Many guests from Gujarat and Rajasthan drive.

For arrivals, we group guests by flight and train, and send cars or tempo travellers with a named coordinator holding a sign with the family name. On the busiest arrival day, we usually run eight to twelve vehicles and a helpdesk at the airport. Every guest receives a welcome message the day before with their pickup details, hotel, room-sharing and the event schedule.

Departures need the same care, because the morning after the wedding is when everyone is tired. We arrange late checkouts where possible, a luggage room for guests on evening flights, and pickups timed at least two and a half hours before each flight. In peak season, flight prices rise sharply, so we encourage families to share dates with guests six months ahead.