Finding the perfect accommodation for wedding guests

Tying the knot in a large hotel where all your guests can book accommodation is beneficial for numerous reasons. For a start, it allows your invited group of friends and family to spend more of the day together than they would were they to return home after the party has ended. It also cuts out the need for your loved ones to travel to and from the venue. Follow our tips on finding the perfect accommodation for wedding guests.

It is not possible for everyone to get married in a large venue with its own accommodation, but this needn’t stop your guests from having the best of times. If you are currently concerned with finding suitable lodgings for your motley crew, here are our ten top tips to make the job a heck of a lot easier.

Swot up on accommodation near your venue and try to find different options in a wide variety of price brackets.

Include information about local hotels in with your invitations, for example, a short description of each hotel, the travelling distance from the venue, and their website address.

If your guests need to quote a code or refer to your surname to get a discounted rate on their hotel rooms, write that clearly in the information packs you enclose with the invitations.

If you have arranged a breakfast or brunch for your wedding guests the morning after your wedding, again, let them know on the invitations. This may have an impact your guests’ choice of accommodation, as well as whether they book for breakfast.

Always enquire with local hotels to establish whether you can get a better deal by booking multiple rooms, even if your particular venue doesn’t have a current agreement on discounted rates with that hotel.

If some of your nearest and dearest are coming from a way out they may decide to arrive the night before, or choose to make a long weekend of it and relax for a few days after the event. Ask a hotel representative whether any discounts you negotiate will apply on other nights, or whether it is just for the night of the wedding.

See if the hotel will place a small card, note, or gift in the rooms of all your wedding guests prior to their arrival. This can be a well-received personal touch, and will make your guests feel that the celebrations have already begun. Providing the hotel with the names of your invitees and a box of gifts should be enough.

If the majority of your guests are occupying a hotel that is a distance from your venue, perhaps weigh up the pros and cons of hiring a mini bus to provide shuttle runs from the hotel to the ceremony and back. Otherwise, if you know guests are staying at the same lodgings, introduce them to each other so they can share a taxi there and back.

Find out the opening times for the hotel bar, and see if they can serve late for your guests. If your family and friends want to party on back at the hotel, you don’t want them to be halted by a closed bar.

If there is little reasonably priced accommodation in the area you are marrying, you may prefer to rent some large holiday homes with plenty of rooms, and ask your guests to stay there. While the houses themselves can be steeply priced, once people are sharing the cost they can be both good value for money and fantastic fun.