The short answer
- A chair helps even if they can walkA guest who manages around the house can still tire badly across a long day of car parks, photographs and standing. A chair lets them walk when they want to and sit when they need to.
- Four places to askThe British Red Cross hires out manual wheelchairs. Shopmobility schemes lend chairs and scooters. Private mobility hire firms cover all three items, and the venue may keep a chair for guests.
- A commode is only needed in some placesIf the venue has an accessible toilet near the tables, a toilet frame or nothing at all may be enough. A commode helps most in a hotel room overnight or where the toilets are a long way off.
- Book early and try it at homeBook as soon as the date is fixed, have it delivered to the house, and try it in the car and around the garden before the day.
We do not quote other organisations' prices or hire terms, which they set and change. Each one is linked so you can check with them directly.
Why a chair helps
A wheelchair for the day, even for someone who walks short distances
An older guest who walks around the house without help may not think of themselves as someone who needs a wheelchair, and on an ordinary day they may be right. A wedding asks for much more.
At home, your relative sits down whenever they like. At a wedding the walking comes in long stretches, often outside, and the chances to sit are set by the order of the day. By the evening, someone who started the day well can be very tired, and tiredness makes a fall more likely.
Having a wheelchair does not mean sitting in it all day. It can be pushed alongside them and used for the long walk from the car park and for getting to the toilet later on. If they feel self-conscious about it, it can help to say plainly that the chair is there so they can stay to the end and enjoy it. The planning guide for a wedding with an older or disabled guest covers how to talk this through with them early.
- Arriving
Car park or drop-off to the ceremony
Gravel drives, grass and long corridors.
- Ceremony
Standing for the entrance and the vows
Guests usually stand as the couple come in. A wheelchair at the end of a row lets them stay seated.
- Photos
Group photographs outside
They may be on grass or steps, with a lot of waiting about while groups are arranged. A chair with the brakes on is somewhere steady to sit or to hold.
- Drinks
The reception before the meal
Mostly standing, sometimes for an hour or more. Ask for a seat to be kept for them, or bring the wheelchair in.
- Meal
Getting to the table and to the toilet
Moving between rooms and through crowded tables.
- Evening
The end of a long day
This is when tiredness and unsteadiness show. Plan the journey home and keep the chair close for the walk back to the car.
Where to hire one
Where to hire a wheelchair or mobility scooter for a day
There are four main places to ask for a single day, plus whatever your relative already has. Each one works differently, so check their own pages for prices, delivery and how long you need to hire for.
Who lends what, and how to ask
Yes means the organisation lists it. Ask means it depends on the place. Prices and hire terms are set by each of them, so check on their own page.
- British Red Cross
National charity
- Wheelchair
- Yes
- Scooter
- Not listed
- Commode
- Not listed
Book a manual wheelchair through their website, including a transit chair that someone else pushes. Check the delivery date and the shortest hire period, which may be longer than the one day you need.
- Shopmobility
Local schemes in towns and shopping centres
- Wheelchair
- Yes
- Scooter
- Yes
- Commode
- Not listed
Find the scheme nearest the venue and ring it. Schemes lend equipment for getting around a town or shopping centre, so ask whether a chair can be taken away for the day.
- Mobility shops and hire firms
Private businesses
- Wheelchair
- Yes
- Scooter
- Yes
- Commode
- Yes
Search for mobility hire near the venue or near home. Ask whether they deliver to a hotel, and whether a scooter can be used on grass.
- The venue or hotel
Ask when you book
- Wheelchair
- Ask
- Scooter
- Not listed
- Commode
- Not listed
Ask whether they keep a wheelchair guests can use. If they do, ask to see it, and ask whether anyone else might need it that day.
- NHS and council equipment
For longer-term needs
- Wheelchair
- Ask
- Scooter
- Not listed
- Commode
- Ask
Supplied after a referral or an assessment, for needs that last. It is not a way to get a chair for one day, but bring whatever your relative already uses.
The British Red Cross runs a wheelchair hire service across the UK. It hires out manual wheelchairs to the public, both the kind your relative pushes themselves and transit chairs that a helper pushes, and you book through their website. Read the hire terms on their page before you book, including the delivery options and the shortest hire period, so the chair arrives in good time for the wedding.
Shopmobility is a network of local schemes, usually in town centres and shopping centres, that lend manual wheelchairs, powered wheelchairs and scooters to people with limited mobility. Each scheme sets its own rules, so ring the one nearest the venue and ask whether a chair can be taken away for a whole day.
Private mobility shops and hire firms are the most flexible route, and can usually supply a wheelchair, a scooter or a commode. Ask what is included, whether there is a deposit, and how collection works after the weekend.
The venue or hotel is worth asking at the same time as you go through the accessible wedding venue checklist. A chair a venue keeps for emergencies may be old, hard to push or needed by somebody else that day, so treat it as a backup rather than the plan.
If your relative already has an NHS wheelchair, a walking frame or a commode, bring it, since they will already be used to it.
Commodes and toilet aids
Commode hire, and when a guest needs one
If the venue has an accessible toilet close to where your relative will sit, they may not need a commode on the day itself. One helps where the toilet is a long way off, in a marquee, or in a hotel room overnight.
Start with the venue. Find out where the accessible toilet is, how far it is from the tables, and whether it has grab rails and is kept clear rather than used for storage. If your relative needs a hoist and a changing bench, a Changing Places toilet near the venue may be the answer, and the map shows where they are. The guide to toilets, continence and medicines on a wedding day goes through the day hour by hour.
Commode hire is mainly a private hire firm or mobility shop service. If your relative needs a commode at home all the time, ask the council for a needs assessment rather than hiring one: in England, equipment the council provides after an assessment is free, as Age UK's factsheet on disability equipment explains. Living made easy, run by the Disabled Living Foundation, has independent advice on choosing toilet equipment, and our guide to the right equipment to aid the elderly covers equipment at home.
A toilet frame or raised seat
For a guest who struggles to sit down and stand up
A commode chair
For the night in a hotel room
A wheeled commode
For a marquee or a long walk to the toilets
Continence products and a spare set of clothes
For every guest who might need them
If you are staying away, arrange delivery with a hire firm near the hotel and tell the hotel it is coming. A wedding far from home with an older relative covers the accessible room and the overnight stay.
Booking and the trial run
Booking the equipment and trying it out before the day
A chair that has been tried in the car and with your relative before the day is far less likely to cause trouble on it.
- 1
Decide what they need
As soon as the date is setA transit chair, pushed by a helper, is lighter and folds smaller. A self-propelled chair has large back wheels for a guest who likes to move themselves. Note your relative\'s height, weight and the width across their hips, since hire firms may ask, and ask for a cushion. - 2
Book it, with delivery before the day
Several weeks aheadHave it delivered to the house a few days before rather than to the venue on the morning. - 3
Try it in the car
The week beforeFold it, lift it into the boot of the car that is taking them, and check it fits alongside anything else going. - 4
Try it with your relative
The week beforeA short trip out, ideally over grass or gravel. Check the footplates, the brakes and the height of the seat at a table. - 5
Brief whoever will push it
Before the dayChoose one person to look after the chair, and make sure they know the route at the venue, where the step-free entrances are and where the chair can be kept during the meal.
On the day, somebody has to push the chair, wait by the toilet, fetch the coat and notice when your relative is flagging. If that falls to the parent of the couple who is also their usual carer, they can spend most of the day looking after them instead of being at the wedding. Sharing it out between relatives by the hour is one answer, and a wedding carer who stays with your guest all day is another. The guide to getting an older guest to and from the wedding covers the journey and the car, and walking down the aisle with a parent in a wheelchair covers the ceremony and the photographs.
Questions
Questions about hiring equipment for a wedding
Yes. Some private mobility hire firms and Shopmobility schemes will lend a wheelchair for a single day. The British Red Cross also hires out manual wheelchairs, with a set minimum hire period. Hire periods differ, so check the shortest hire on offer, and have the chair a few days early to try it at home.
You book through the British Red Cross wheelchair hire page, choosing the type of chair and the delivery date. Their page sets out the current price, delivery options and hire period.
Yes, from a mobility hire firm or a mobility shop. Ask whether they will deliver to the hotel, and tell the hotel it is coming. If your relative needs a commode at home too, ask the council for a needs assessment, since equipment the council provides in England after an assessment is free.
No. Under the government rules, a driving licence is only needed for a scooter or powered wheelchair that falls outside class 2 and class 3, which covers the scooters made for pavements. Class 3 road scooters must be registered with the DVLA. The user must have difficulty walking because of an injury, disability or medical condition.
Not as a rule. Under the Equality Act 2010, a venue has a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, such as step-free access. Whether that stretches to lending a wheelchair depends on what is reasonable for that venue, so ask when you book and arrange your own chair as well.