Parking woes again
 

So I'm just about to take a booking and have checked out the town (market town in East Yorkshire) only to find all double yellows or max 30 minutes parking apart from two car parks about 5 minute walk away but max stay 2 hours.

Bearing in mind I'm going to be on site 3-4 hours I emailed and said she needs to provide for me a parking space at the minster (I'm sure there must be some spaces available for church workers) she says sorry but there are none?

Now bearing in mind after 2 hours the bride will be about to arrive, it will be impossible to take 10-15 minutes out of shooting to move to another car park and get back again how would you handle it? I could say 'well I'll use one of the car parks but you'll have to stand the £60 fine' - I don't think that would go down well. Plus I need my car reasonably to hand as I keep spare kit in there.

There is another market town where I turn down bookings for this same reason but this is a new one to me. I think this might be a deal breaker - without somewhere 'legal' to park for the 3-4 hours I'm going to be there how can I do my job?

Pete

Re: Parking woes again
 

Hi Peter,

5 mins walk isn't too bad; I've had 10 to 15 mins. Do the car parks accept Ringo or some other mobile app payment. I've got around the 2 hour gap by simply booking a new session on my app. Though wonder if some prevent you on this.

Failing that another trick I do is arrange a guest to top up the meter. I've had an usher do this for me once about 15 mins before the Ceremony, and the 2 hours was enough. They are there to help so make use of them. Of course if your car is noted in the first hour you put in and then later for the 2 hours, they might impose a fine or they might turn a blind eye. Only if they check that frequently.

Re: Parking woes again
 

Would it be possible to park up close to unload your gear then move to the car park that's further away?

I've just been scoping out parking for my latest wedding, thankfully there is a pay and display right next to the church.

Re: Parking woes again
 

Problem is it's a maximum 2 hour stay and would then necessitate a move to another car park (also 2 hours max) - It's a busy market town and on a Saturday in July will be swarming with traffic wardens.

Re: Parking woes again
 

Ah right, sorry I missed that bit. How come so long at the church? I'm usually there 2 hours at most (I say that, I've only ever done three weddings!). Do you think you could call the local council and ask for some kind of permit to allow you to stay a little longer? Could be worth a shot. No pun intended!

Re: Parking woes again
 

I've emailed the council so let's see, but normally If I'm not doing bride prep I'm at the church maybe 90 minutes before to get outside shots and set my gear up - then there's the ceremony - 45 minutes and then group shots outside the church and in this instance the tog is going to keep the couple back for portraits. So it would certainly mean 3+ hours.

Pete

Re: Parking woes again
 

Well best of luck! Nice to have some decent time at the church to get exteriors!

Re: Parking woes again
 

I used to come up against this problem all too frequently in town/city centres and often I had to transport quite a lot of heavy equipment to sites. The days of speaking to a friendly traffic warden have long gone and one thing is certain, no-one on the council these days gives a stuff what problems parking restrictions causes workers.

The best solution I found overall was to put everything on wheels and trundle it to site from a long stay car park somewhere, making as many journeys as necessary. Yes, it is a pain, but it's the only way I could find to not have to pay parking fines. The alternative of trying to remember to move the vehicle every couple of hours is not really an option, you WILL get busy and forget, I promise you!

Best of luck.
Dave

Re: Parking woes again
 

That's a bummer Pete!

We seldom have parking issues but once I did have a wedding in the city centre and there was a huge charity event on the same day. Luckily my wife offered to drop me off and pick me up when I was done. Maybe you need to find a "hire a driver" service? Let some uni student be your driver for the 3 hours using your car? He/she could drop you off at the Church and then twiddle his/her thumbs until you give a call on your mobile/cell saying "I'm done, come and pick me up now!" Maybe your better half might be happy to do it? You could always slip a bit extra into packages for troublesome places saying "due to non existent long term parking I need to pay for a driver for 3 hours"

I'm doing a Church wedding on the 30th and it was nice to know that the bride organised a barrier space that would allow both the limo and our vehicle enough space to remain parked free until the group shots are done ...This is a Church in a coastal town and it's right in the centre so Saturday morning at 1:00pm finding a parking is almost impossible but our allocated area is a mere 10 paces from the Church door.

Re: Parking woes again
 

parking is one of those things that make me want to move away from the city. surviving it really takes just a lot of pre-planning. google street view is one of my favorite tools to see if there are street restrictions. more often than not i build in a parking/travel fee to cover it.

if you anticipate having to park far, and have more than a backpack of gear, one of these can be super handy http://www.amazon.com/Cosco-Shifter-...ing+hand+truck

Re: Parking woes again
 

Here in the USA, they might send a "meter maid" around with a piece of chalk on the end of a long stick.
She will mark the outside rear tire with a chalk-mark. When she returns 2 hours later, if the tire is still marked, you will get a ticket. The "2 hour" limit is not to collect more money, it is to encourage turning-over the parking space to another driver.
In your case, the guest would need to physically move your car from one space to another.

Re: Parking woes again
 

Perhaps you can pay a colleague or friend to drop you off and pick you up as needed, pay him, and add that to the bill.

Re: Parking woes again
 

Taxi. Factor in the fare when quoting.

Re: Parking woes again
 

Sadly it's a 4 hour round trip - a bit of a big ask

Re: Parking woes again
 

Nice Idea and in the summer I am doing a city centre wedding where 3 locations are all in the centre - none of which have any parking - indeed the church is even in a no loading zone - the parking wardens are legendary here as well so i'll be leaving the heavy stuff at the rehearsal and using taxis on the day - super inconvenient though and I'm sure will impact on my work a little, despite the best of planning - it's one headache too many at times