Hotel for your OOT guests?

kellya01

Hey ladies -- Quick question: 

1 - Are you reserving a block of rooms for OOT guests?

2 - If you are doing the block, are you going to provide any paid-for rooms for the first couple of guests, or are you paying for all of the rooms, or are you not paying for any of the rooms? 

Just wanted to get a general idea.  I have to confirm my hotel block, and I am planning to provide a room for 2 nights since I have a BM and a GM who will be married at that point and they already have to buy their attire, so we are trying to help them out.  BUT, I have OOT family and I don't know if I can afford rooms for them too.  

sarah42nd

 I did not. Actually I dont think I had anyone stay in any hotels.  What I did is put a list of local hotels on my website and let everyone chose what they wanted to do. I have heard from alot of ladies who had/are having issue with room blocking . So we decided tp have one less stressful thing and not do it.

AshNoel8

I did set aside a block. I am paying for the 2 rooms that my bridesmaids, my mom and possibly FI's mom and myself are staying in the night before the wedding, but that's it. The OOT guests are paying for their own rooms. I don't think I have ever heard of the bride and groom paying for rooms for OOT guests. I can see if they are BM's and GM's, they have already put a lot of money into the wedding, so that's a nice thing for you to do. I wouldn't pay for ALL of the OOT guests though, unless you have a really high budget for your wedding. I don't think people would expect you to. 

iamjoesgurl

My ILs worked with a hotel in their town to block rooms and I arranged for a deal at the place where we were getting married (they had an Inn) but I didn't pay for anyone.  My parents wanted to contribute to our wedding so I asked if they could use the money toward paying for rooms for my sisters and my cousin (who were all in the wedding).  Those were the only rooms "paid for".  Everyone else paid for their own.

I think if you have OOT guests, they will expect to pay for their own place but might appreciate if you are able to negotiate a special price with a local hotel.  All of our guests were OOT but some were within a 1 1/2 hour drive so many did not end up staying over.

GJones27

I am doing a block of rooms, but only at a discount.  I'm not paying for anyone's hotel rooms.  I will put welcome bags for the guests.

amongthelilies25

I havnt decided what we will be doing....but i did put a list of different hotels in the area on our wedding website. we will not be paying for OOT guest's room though. I am thinking about maybe doing a welcome basket though. 

I read about it in one of my bridal books about giving OOT guests a welcome basket. Goody baskets are a great way to welcome your guests and theank them right up-front for coming. They can include: water bottles, bags of gourment coffee, sleep masks with cooling gel, little snacks, packets of info listing your favorite area shopping and dining. 

i thought it was a super cute idea. You can go to the hotel they are staying at ask the Front Desk to put it in the room before they check in...so its there when they arrive. (: I am sure if you work with the hotel...and tell them that you listed them as a possible hotel for your wedding guests...that they will work with you. (i work front desk at a hotel...and ppl do stuff like this. )

DramaGeek

Our OOTers were all close family - my grandmothers, aunts/uncles/cousins, Ricky's cousin, etc.  The majority stayed with family (most with my parents) or friends they had in town.  There were only two who stayed in a hotel and my mom helped them find someplace that was nice and closeby.  We didn't pay for anything but did invite them all to the RD.

sessionswedding

Of the OOT invites that will be going out, I'd say 90% of them fall into one of these 3 categories:

1. They live close enough to drive over, attend the wedding, and drive back.
2. They will be staying with family.
3. They will be RSVPing no.

For anyone else, I'll just give info about local hotels on my wedding website.

fpaemp2011

We have a discounted block available at the hotel where the reception is, but we are not financially obligated to fill any of the rooms, and I don't think mom & dad are planning on paying for anyone's room at this point.  I do know that FI is paying for the videographers' room because they are majorly discounting their services since they went to HS with FI.

joyfulbride424

We have a discounted block, and we paid for a few very close family members, but that's it.

iamjoesgurl

We had about 15 families/couples who actually stayed over.  We did bags for them and included water bottles, snacks and information about the area including scenic drives and short hikes.  I also included a note in each one thanking them for attending our wedding and for their friendship to us over the years.  We got married in upstate NY during peak fall foliage and I knew that some of our guests would want to take in the beauty of the season.  I left them at the desk at the Inn and there was another motel down the road that a lot of our guests stayed in and the lady that ran the desk put them in each of the guests' rooms before they arrived so that they would get them when they got to their rooms.

amongthelilies25

joesgirl - yes! i am TOTALLY gonna do this too! i love it! 

kellya01

Alrighty, some great ideas here!  Thanks so much!!

I think I'll continue with the block, only pay for the BM/GM couple, and let everyone else do what they want (either book on the discounted block or find their own hotel).  

I LOVE the idea of welcome bags - I'll have to look into that for sure.  Trying to keep costs on the NWR items down (non-ceremony, non-reception items).  

Oh, and on a lighter note, I found the GREEN sand I need today at Hobby Lobby!  And I decided on my guest book pen - just have to wait for Hobby Lobby's 50% off sale on wedding stuff!  AND... I went to Ulta and got my special make-up brushes that are the same as what the department store lady did so hopefully I can replicate it at home (DIYing my make-up!).  

Thanks for ALL of the answers, ladies!  I'll be glad to read more if you haven't commented yet.  :-)

joyfulbride424

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_christian-weddings_hotel-oot-guests?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:464687ae-7bc1-4360-9aea-999e11f1e1adDiscussion:4fd334c9-5d71-47d8-a121-8bc5825041e4Post:a5f91bce-644f-4b00-9e24-e3b54b8afe43">Re: Hotel for your OOT guests?</a>:
[QUOTE]Alrighty, some great ideas here!  Thanks so much!! I think I'll continue with the block, only pay for the BM/GM couple, and let everyone else do what they want (either book on the discounted block or find their own hotel).   I LOVE the idea of welcome bags - I'll have to look into that for sure.  Trying to keep costs on the NWR items down (non-ceremony, non-reception items).   <strong>Oh, and on a lighter note, I found the GREEN sand I need today at Hobby Lobby!  And I decided on my guest book pen - just have to wait for Hobby Lobby's 50% off sale on wedding stuff!  AND... I went to Ulta and got my special make-up brushes that are the same as what the department store lady did so hopefully I can replicate it at home (DIYing my make-up!).  </strong> Thanks for ALL of the answers, ladies!  I'll be glad to read more if you haven't commented yet.  :-)
Posted by kellya01[/QUOTE]

Nice! What brushes did you get :) We could make a new thread, if you want... hehe :) I use the eco-tools from Ulta. I'm DIYing my makeup as well :) :) what makeup are you using? I'm an Urban Decay junkie so I'll be using that!

kellya01

Well, I think I'm going to use Clinique foundation / powder / eye shadows, but with my L'oreal Infallible lip stain combo, and  with my L'oreal studio secrets anti-redness primer (it's cheaper than Clinique)... The brushes I got today are the foundation brush and the eye liner brush - I ended up getting the pink/black package (Studio Tools) because I only needed 2 brushes and they looked EXACTLY like the tools that the Clinique lady used on me a few weeks ago.  

I haven't bought my clinique make up yet, I think I'll buy it closer to June so my face shows my summer color (I'm REALLY pale so in the winter I basically have white and red skin, and in the summer it mellows out a bit).... can't see myself buying it now just to discover that my foundation is too light!! :-) 

BrideToBeBecauseHeLovesMe

I blocked off some rooms, but I need to call tomorrow and see how many are blocked and if we need more or if there are a lot left or what.  I'm not sure the guy understood when I asked if within two weeks of the wedding, if there were rooms left could he cut them to the public...

Why didn't I think of just telling guests a couple hotels and letting THEM decide?  GRRR lol.

twixinthemix

We have a block of rooms reserved at a hotel because of the number of OOT guests and because hotels get very busy in the summers with the number of Notre Dame Basilia weddings (5 every weekend) and other events in town.