Wedding Hotels

Welcoming your out-of-town guests

In the not-so-distant past, it was normal -- even expected -- for a person to grow up within a few blocks of grandparents, aunts, uncles and assorted cousins. He or she could attend local schools, seek work in the area, and perhaps settle down with a hometown sweetheart. Weddings could take place nearby and the reception might be held at a favorite family restaurant within a short commute of friends and family alike. While this kind of idyllic (or not-so-idyllic) situation certainly still exists today, it's much more likely that your friends and family will be somewhat more far-flung. So while you plan each aspect of your wedding experience, take a moment to recognize the special effort made by those guests who will be arriving by planes, trains, and automobiles in the days preceding the main event. With that in mind, here are some ideas to help you plan the perfect 'thank-you,' without breaking your budget.

Begin a Honeymoon Bridal Registry
Your guests can give you any part of your honeymoon experience as a wedding gift.

Rather than a set of “monogrammed towels" or a "toaster oven" you could receive a "couples massage" or pay for your entire honeymoon with "honeymoon trip contributions" as a wedding gift. There is no set up fee to use this honeymoon registry and it's easy to use and you can receive your gift monies at anytime. You also receive a free wedding website, photo album, blog, announcement cards, bridal shower games, gift cards and much more!

Hotel Arrangements for your Wedding

The first thing you must think about is reserving rooms at a local hotel for your out-of-town guests. The worst thing that could happen is when your guests try to call around for a hotel room a few months before your wedding, to only find out that all the rooms in town are $500 per room per night or even worse all rooms in town have all been taken by a large convention or sporting event. This is why it is very important to reserve a block of rooms for your guests at special rates at one or two select hotels with plenty of time before the big event. At most hotels the minimum number of guests rooms required to make a block is 10 rooms per night, but if you are holding the reception or using any banquet space at the hotel sometimes that number can be less. If you are looking for over 30 rooms per night, another good idea is to split the group blocks among two to three hotels. This way your guests can have a choice between different locations and prices.

To accomplish this goal you may not want to start blindly calling hotels in your area. You will not be doing your guests any favors by reserving blocks at the first rates the hotel will quote. First step is to see what rates are out there on the Internet. A great source we have found for easily comparing different hotel Internet rates is HotelPlanner.com (www.HotelPlanner.com). The best thing about their system is that it is free and very easy to use. All you need to do is name your location and dates and HotelPlanner.com will do the rest. If you were thinking of having your event away from home, it will allow you to search hotel group rates in multiple cities at the same time. They will also assign an account representative to you that will help make sure your hotel deals are not only the best, but they will help with the reservation process as well. The reservation process is very important because even if the room rate is very low, the deal may include a very strict cancellation policy, a high cash deposit, or other hidden costs such as mandatory resort fees. The HotelPlanner.com Account Representative will be more than happy to help through these and all of other issues you may encounter. After choosing your hotel they will set up a special online booking website just for your guests free of charge. This will help you keep track of your guests as they confirm with your hotel.