Rant: How much will everything cost?

hmgiffor

I get we are having a destination wedding (although even if we had it in Phoenix the same costs would apply) but people have been calling me left and right asking how much things will cost. I don't have the time or energy to search flights for everyone. I don't know how much food will cost them. I don't know how much they should budget for. I am just so over it and had a breakdown today. I know destination weddings are costly for guests. Would I like them there?...Yes. I just really dislike all the questions about how much xyz will cost. 

Has anyone else dealt with this? How have you handled it? 

tcnoble

Oh dear god can I totally hear where you are coming from. If I had a dime for every time I was asked about flights, shows, cab fare, etc. I would be able to profit from this wedding! Ha!

When people asked I would say I hadn't looked at flights recently but I know that xyz airline usually has good rates. For food, check out hotel websites.. they usually post the menus, but you can find food for every budget. It's really best just to give them places where THEY can go find the information. Don't do the digging for them. You aren't the travel agent!

Ndelible

I communicated through the wedding website and just kept an ear to the ground.  People are adults, they can figure it out.

vegasgroom

Do you have a wedding website?

On ours, we had links to all the common airlines and the fares from several Florida airports since I knew where most guests would be traveling from.  I also added a tip to book at the time rather than wait because it would be going up.  Fares were $200 when we sent save the dates, remained that way until about four months out, then they creeped up to $440.  I had a link to kayak and the ITA Matrix too http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

We had the three room block codes (Mandalay, Luxor, Excalibur) and links to other nearby hotels with estimated prices.  I also included the smartervegas coupon codes, which were 30% off at the time.  I linked to smartervegas as well.  I gave estimated walking times from them all to our wedding venue too so guests wouldn't be late to the ceremony.

hmgiffor

Oh I have a wedding website and get calls/text at least 2x week about where to find the info that is on our site. Feel free to check it out and see if I am missing something. weddingwire.com/littletons

I just think people are being lazy and it is annoying the hell out of me. I keep saying we understand the cost is high but that was why we sent out STD 10 months in advance. My MIL stated "well nobody saves up that early" but is complaining how much it will cost my finance's sister. 

I will look into adding smartervegas and some airline info (the hard part is we have people coming from all over). 

hmgiffor

I'm glad though that I'm not the only one dealing with this  

[Deleted User]

Yes!!! I'm going through th exact same thing. And we also sent save the dates 10 months in advance. These adults literally want me to search and book flights/hotels for them. We also have a website but clearly that means NOTHING, because I don't even think most people have visited. (Even though the site is on the STDs.) I have too many other arrangements to make. I can't hold everyone's hand throughout this process. I have tried to be as helpful as possible, like suggesting hotels or airlines, and announcing deals. But there's only so much I can do for 50+ adults. Like at least try first! Then ask me if you have questions. You are not alone!

trm358

You are preaching to the choir! I just reiterated to everyone that I knew our wedding is a luxury, but if they can make, we would appreciate it. I can't control everyone else's finances- the way I see it is that no matter what, my FI and I will be there at the chapel and that's all that matters! 

nyhollyday

@hmgiffor I like your site..great pics! You have everything spelled out nicely. I think folks should just read and book their stuff. I think they just don't want to do the actual research. Sometimes I post cheap flights in my travel FB group. There have been some amazing fares lately. I hope everything works out.

vegasgroom

Of course people are lazy, that's what people do! :-)

hmgiffor

Thanks everyone! After my breakdown yesterday and posting on here...I am feeling much better! I added some of the items VegasGroom suggested and from now on I am just going to direct them to my site. I am too close to the wedding to deal with all this craziness

nyhollyday

@hmgiffor Where are the majority coming from? I will find a few airfare deals for you to post on your site.

EAR123

I hear you. I've also been getting questions about things like whether they have to pay hotel service/amenities fees (yes), and how much taxis cost, and if it would be cheaper to get their hair done at Salon A or Salon B. I think if you have guests who are not big travelers, then more of these queries may come your way. Either that, or they are lazy and prefer you to fill them in than have to research on their own.

One thing I was both surprised and not surprised by, and has been discussed a lot here, are the folks who said "I can't wait to party with you in Vegas - I wouldn't miss it" when you told them where your wedding would be, but, in the end, RSVP no saying they wanted to make it but could not due to costs.

hmgiffor

Yea @ear123 we had quite a few of those people...which annoys me because we could have saved quite a bit of money in RSVPs and lowering our guest count. Oh well...it is what it is at this point. 

@nyhollyday - The majority of our guests are coming from WI (Milwaukee/Chicago) and from IL (Champaign) area. Are there any good sites you recommend to find the deals? 

tcnoble

hmgiffor said:

Yea @ear123 we had quite a few of those people...which annoys me because we could have saved quite a bit of money in RSVPs and lowering our guest count. Oh well...it is what it is at this point. 

@nyhollyday - The majority of our guests are coming from WI (Milwaukee/Chicago) and from IL (Champaign) area. Are there any good sites you recommend to find the deals? 

Try Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Allegiant, etc. I know sometimes Spirit has $69 one way deals. We have a lot flying from the Midwest and we keep suggesting those airlines.

hmgiffor

Thanks! I did add those to the website last night so hopefully that helps some people  

nyhollyday

The only thing about Spirit is that the fees end up adding up. I get stuff from all over. People contacting me and letting me know. Etc. I also post stuff facebook.com/hollydayztravel

I will keep my ears to the ground...

If anyone is coming from B-More to Vegas JetBlue has flights $98 RT from now till May for anyone coming from that area!

nyhollyday

@hmgiffor you wedding is when again..April? If so Frontier has flights $254RT from Chicago.

$393 on American from Champaign with a stop.

wrigleyville

I wish I still had our wedding website up so I could show you our page.

We had a list of hotels broken down by price range, with links to each hotel. We also had links to things like Groupon and other flight/hotel deal websites.

Whenever someone contacted me, I'd just send them the link to that page, both in email and text. It took a few seconds, but it was much easier than walking them through things over the phone.

For older relatives who weren't internet-savvy, I'd say something like, "Well, I know [close relatives she likes] are staying at The Flamingo. Rooms are about X per night."

hmgiffor

Oh I will check out the Frontier flights! 

Futuremrshauger

@hmgiffor our wedding is not until October and just sent STD and we are already getting the same questions! We have not even booked yet, and I feel like I will pull my eyes and hair out trying to figure out the best time. I have heard sooooo many tips that I don't know what to believe.

wrigleyville

In my experience, Spirit has always been the cheapest, then Frontier. They're usually reaaaaalllyyy close, depending on your travel dates. Southwest runs some pretty good last minute deals too.

[Deleted User]

Unfortunately common sense is not that common!

I did view your website & it is very easy to digest for me anyways so leads me to believe people are being lazy...

Southwest & kayak are ones i use generally (also i see adverts for trivago)

Hope that helps & best of luck

hmgiffor

Thanks everyone I also posted the info to our wedding FB page...hopefully that helps everyone! No calls so far.

KikiMira

We posted it all on our website. http://zimonsawinwedding.weebly.com/where-to-stay.html 

Feel free to copy some stuff over - links and what not. On average I told people to budget $1000 for their trips. If they will eat moderately, if they want to eat well and drink a lot, expect more. 

nyhollyday

Frontier is having a sale RT flights to Vegas from different cities $76 and $94 RT from what I saw

Futuremrshauger

We had about 10 people book over last weekend for our Oct 16th wedding. They booked a package deal through Orbitz Oct 13th (am flight)-Oct 17th(evening flight) upgraded to Flamingo High Roller Rooms for $484 (including resort fees). We also booked the same flight out, but have a suite and leave Sunday instead. Flying through Sun Country non stop from MN. Based on double occupancy. Maybe prices will go down, but I am happy to have it over with.

I was so worried it was too soon to book, but I was soo worried with the "what if" with prices go higher. With everyone doing their taxes, people were very happy with the price. I am a happy we will have a big group to fly out with; should be fun! My FI and I will be arranging transportation to hotel and for them to be taken back to airport for their departure.

 

Checked Frontier but too soon for Oct dates.

nyhollyday

Yea Oct. is a little ways out, but it will be here before you know it! Glad everyone is excited. Trying to help folks out with the flight ordeal...even if its honeymoons. I just posted some deals. A lot to type here facebook.com/hollydayztravel  Anyone coming from philly they have flights to vegas for $151 RT

xoeden

Okay, are these questions really that common? My side of the family are all Vegas veterans, but my fiancee is going to be a lot of first timers. Is this the warning to be prepared to spoon feed everyone?