Accommodation for bridal party?

Flirtini_2

Hi all,

We're planning our wedding for next year and I've just had a thought - should we be paying for the hotel rooms for the bridal party - bridesmaids and best man etc?

We will be sharing rooms on the night before - i.e. I will be in a suite with my bridesmaids, and the groom with his best man and groomsman, which we will pay for. However, on the wedding night, I hadn't thought about it- but is there some etiquette here I should be aware of? Should we cover the cost of their rooms for the entire stay?

Thanks!
x

Stephb1986_2

Hi I'm just paying for mine and h2b's room for both nights we're staying together the night before too I think it'll be exciting. I have sorted out discounts for everyone else though if they want to stay over if not they can go home.

Steph xx

GwylimT

Are any of them traveling a considerable distance? Do they all have transport and would it be a reasonable distance for them to travel home at night after what would have been a quite tiring day.

Flirtini_2

Thanks for the swift replies. The wedding is kind of in the middle of all of our family so kind of convenient for everyone to get to and stay over, but not really feasible for them to travel back home at the end of the day - probably a couple of hours drive each.

I know that they won't have a problem with staying and paying for a room - we have negotiated a pretty good discount with the hotel - and we are doing various activities the following day with any guests who want to stay on as it's a touristy area that many of them haven't experienced before, so they'll all be staying on. I just was about to send out hotel information/reserved room reference numbers etc, and wondered if it was actually bad form to expect the bridal party to pay for their rooms, or if it would be expected that we would cover it?

Am discovering there are a variety of wedding etiquette and 'rules' that i'd never considered before and don't want to offend anyone!
x

Stephb1986_2

I wouldn't personally offer to pay for the bridal party rooms or it gets silly. MIL2B and her sisters are already talking about sharing a 6 sleeper room and splitting the costs as with most of the other guests who are coming. I'm letting people book their own rooms it's their choice if they stay or not then. I've also put on a few other hotels nearby for people to choose from instead of having to pay for quite an expensive room

Steph xx

sheeppappar

Oo no!! I was bridesmaid last year and my friend had her wedding at a posh hotel in the middle of nowhere, but I didn't expect her to pay for my room x
She did find out about some cheaper accommodation options nearby and provided that information on the wedding invite, as well as details for booking "her" hotel. That's all you need to do, in my opinion (as long as you don't then take the huff if they decide to take a cheaper option or travel home on the wedding night)

On our wedding night we are paying for accommodation for my in-laws to be and my BIL to be, but only because they will be sharing rooms with my fiance's kids - so they are really helping us out there as we would have a logistical problem otherwise. We haven't offered to pay for my parents and wouldn't be paying for the in-laws if the kids weren't part of it . My parents have decided not to stay over at all (not because we're not paying BTW!!) and we are fine with that.

Have a fabulous wedding XX

ska_lover

Nollllllllll

GwylimT

Flirtini wrote: »

Thanks for the swift replies. The wedding is kind of in the middle of all of our family so kind of convenient for everyone to get to and stay over, but not really feasible for them to travel back home at the end of the day - probably a couple of hours drive each.

I know that they won't have a problem with staying and paying for a room - we have negotiated a pretty good discount with the hotel - and we are doing various activities the following day with any guests who want to stay on as it's a touristy area that many of them haven't experienced before, so they'll all be staying on. I just was about to send out hotel information/reserved room reference numbers etc, and wondered if it was actually bad form to expect the bridal party to pay for their rooms, or if it would be expected that we would cover it?

Am discovering there are a variety of wedding etiquette and 'rules' that i'd never considered before and don't want to offend anyone!
x

If they made their own separate booking hopefully the hotel would let them simply stay in the same room instead of checking out and into another room again otherwise they would have to take all of their belongings to the wedding and the reception.

When we got married we paid for certain rooms, the maid of honour lived quite far away so it she either had to stay for night or leave as soon as the wedding ceremony finished so we paid for her room on the night before the wedding and the night of the wedding as she had already paid for her hair, make up, shoes and over £100 on a train ticket to get there. Everyone else lived within a couple of miles of the venue so we didn't pay for them to stay on the wedding night but I did pay for myself and my best man to stay in the same hotel the night before.

floss2

When we married 3 years ago we paid for rooms for the best man & his wife, bridesmaid & her husband, my 2 sons & girlfriends, DH's parents and DH the night before.

We figured that they wouldn't have been staying at the wedding reception venue if we hadn't been getting married as they would all normally stay with us when they visit (not at the same time obv! ), and in the case of my kids they aren't cash-rich.

We saw it as a nice gesture that we could afford within our budget (with a rather good discount for booking the rooms). 95% of the other guests who stayed in our home town stayed in the same hotel, all with discounted rates.

ETA: Forgot to say, quite a few of our guests travelled 250 miles or more, with others travelling up to 100 miles, so we felt immediate wedding party accommodation was only right for us & our budget.

74jax

We paid for our close friends and bridal party but it wasn't many. I don't think it is expected tho. Was a last minute decision for us and the rooms were relatively cheap.

Mellypoos

We have both sides of the family who will need to travel and probably stay both the night before and the night of the Wedding. How far in advance will hotels block book rooms for? Our wedding isn't until next Sept.

Also, is it better to block book rooms or to just offer guests a range of hotel options?

Thanks