Many weddings include guests who travel: grandparents from another district, cousins flying in from another city, friends who take a train after work. They arrive at different stations, at different hours, often with luggage and children, and they do not know the roads. If nobody has planned their journey, the family ends up answering the same phone calls all week. A little structure removes most of that.
Start with an arrival sheet
As soon as the guest list is firm, list every outstation guest or group in one shared sheet. It does not need to be fancy; a spreadsheet on WhatsApp or Google Sheets is enough. One row per group, with these columns:
| Column | What to note | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Group and size | Names, children, elders, anyone with mobility needs | Decides the vehicle and the room type |
| Travel mode | Flight, train or own car | Decides where they land in Pune |
| Arrival point and time | Airport, Pune Junction, Hadapsar station or road, with the time on the ticket | Lets you plan a pickup instead of a scramble |
| Who receives them | One named relative with a phone number | Guests call one person, not five |
| Stay | Locality and property, with the booking name | Everyone knows where to go after arriving |
| Which functions they attend | Mehendi, haldi, sangeet, wedding, reception | Tells you who needs a ride on which evening |
| Return journey | Departure point and time | The last job people forget |
Ask for these details in the invitation message itself: "Please reply with how you are travelling and when you arrive." Relatives answer far more reliably when the question is that direct.
How outstation guests reach Pune
By air
Pune Airport is at Lohegaon, on the north-eastern side of the city, the same side as Viman Nagar and Kalyani Nagar. Prepaid taxis and auto-rickshaws run from the terminal, and PMPML, Pune's city bus operator, runs an airport shuttle. Coach services and private car rental also operate from the airport. Pune Metro's Aqua Line runs east to Ramwadi. Services change, so check what is running before you tell an elder to rely on them.
For most family groups with luggage, a cab arranged in advance is the calmer choice. Give the driver the exact pickup point and the stay's address, and share the driver's number with the person receiving the group.
By train
Pune Junction is the city's main railway station, and most guests will arrive here. It is also the interchange with the Pune Metro Aqua Line at Pune Railway Station metro station. Hadapsar station, on the eastern side, now has some long-distance trains starting and ending there to ease the load on Pune Junction, so look at the ticket carefully: a guest may be told "Pune" and actually land at Hadapsar. The two stations are in different parts of the city and the onward road differs, so write the station name in your arrival sheet, not just the city.
Long-distance arrivals are often very early in the morning or late at night. If a guest lands before check-in time at their stay, ask the property in advance whether luggage can be kept and a room can be held earlier. Get the answer in writing, in the same message you use to confirm the booking.
By road
Guests coming from Mumbai usually take the Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway, which ends near Kiwale on the western edge of Pune, and then cross the city. If your venue is on the eastern side, as ours is, that crossing can be the slowest part of their trip. Ask them to check live traffic before they leave and to pin the venue on Google Maps ahead of time. Two-wheelers and three-wheelers are not permitted on the expressway, so relatives on bikes need another route.
The last stretch to the venue
Whichever way they reach the city, the final leg is the one guests get wrong. Share one thing with everyone: the Google Maps directions link for the venue, not a typed address. It opens the right pin and the live route from wherever the guest is standing.
Our location page lists the usual road routes to Balkrishna Banquets from the airport, from Pune Junction, from Koregaon Park, Kharadi and Hadapsar, using road names. Send it to the relative who is handling transport.
Open the directions in Google Maps: directions to Balkrishna Banquets.
For guests who drive themselves, tell them where to leave the car. There is ample parking at the venue.
Before the first function, send every guest a short message with three things: the pin, the name and number of the person who will meet them, and the time each function starts. Resend it the evening before.
Where outstation guests can stay
This page names localities rather than hotels. Choose the locality first and then look at properties yourself, checking their own listing and reviews. The right locality depends on who is staying.
| Locality | What to know | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Koregaon Park | A mostly residential neighbourhood with many restaurants and places to stay; it sits south of Kalyani Nagar across the Mula-Mutha river. | Guests who want restaurants nearby and a wide choice of stays |
| Viman Nagar | Right next to Pune Airport, with a number of hotels, malls and restaurants. | Guests flying in or out, or arriving or leaving at odd hours |
| Kalyani Nagar | A residential neighbourhood on the airport side of the city, with a Pune Metro station. | Guests who prefer a quieter residential area |
| Kharadi | A business-park area on the eastern side of the city, across the river from Mundhwa. | Colleagues and friends who already work in the area |
| Magarpatta and Hadapsar | The south-eastern side of the city; Magarpatta Road leads north into Mundhwa. | Guests who arrive at Hadapsar station |
A checklist before you book a stay
- Is there a lift, and are there steps at the entrance? Elders and guests with prams will ask.
- Does the property have parking, if guests are driving?
- Will it hold a group of rooms under one booking name, and on what terms? Ask for the answer in writing.
- What are the check-in and check-out times compared with the guests' arrival and the muhurat?
- Can the property arrange a cab for the group, or will your family do it?
- For families with children, would a service apartment with a kitchen work better than separate hotel rooms?
Keep the stays together. Three properties in three localities means three pickups and three sets of delayed guests. One or two nearby is far easier to manage.
On the day: moving guests between the stay and the venue
- Assign one coordinator per stay. A cousin who lives in the same hotel can gather the group at the lobby, count heads and call the driver.
- Arrange the vehicle before the muhurat day. For a morning ceremony, guests need to leave early; a shuttle that the whole group boards together is simpler than five separate cabs.
- Plan the return trip. Evening functions end when elders are tired. Agree who takes which cab home before the evening starts.
- Collect food preferences up front. Outstation guests with special diets are easier to look after if the caterer knows in advance; our post on choosing a wedding menu covers it.
- In the monsoon, keep a plan for wet roads and delayed trains. Give each group a buffer on arrival day instead of fitting a function right after landing.
Fit these steps into the rest of your planning with our month-by-month wedding checklist: invitations go out with the travel-plan question, stays are fixed well ahead, and the week before is for sending pins and confirming pickups.
Planning guest arrivals around your venue visit
Do one thing while you are at the venue for your site visit: ask how guests will be received at the entrance, where cabs can stop and where the walk to the hall begins. The answers become the instructions you send to the guests.
Balkrishna Banquets in Mundhwa, Pune has one AC banquet hall and one open lawn. Our wedding venue page explains how we plan a wedding with you.
Site visits run 9:30 AM to 8 PM, every day. Drop in any time then, or message us to book a time and the right person will be free to show you around.
To plan around your travelling relatives, send an enquiry with your muhurat options and the functions you are planning, or message us on WhatsApp at +91 90969 99947. Reply time: same day (next morning if after 8 PM).