Hotel for the officiant?

awineki

My sister is getting married in May by one of our state supreme court justices.  He lives about 1 1/2 hours from where the wedding and rehearsal dinner is.  We are planning on inviting him to the rehearsal dinner (provided he probably won't come) but my question is, do we also offer to put him in a hotel for that night so he won't have to drive back home and then back to the site the next day?

Mrs.B6302007

I would

squirrly

I would not, personally.  But, that's up to you.  If that's disposable income in the budget, you certainly can make the offer.  If I were the officiant, I would decline unless your wedding is at 9 am the following day.

ggmae

I would offer as well.

LP11509

I would offer. Your officiant may insist that you don't have to, but will probably appreciate the offer nonetheless.

Our priest is flying from Washington DC to South Bend, IN to officiate our wedding.  I already offered to pay for his flight and hotel and he has insisted that we do not need to.  But personally, I would feel awful if I hadn't made the gesture.

squirrly

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_hotel-officiant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:02a84fa2-83ce-4113-b0cc-47ed129465d3Post:74ee2509-d7f9-4ded-ab79-cf1cf4426cad">Re: Hotel for the officiant?</a>:
[QUOTE]I would offer. Your officiant may insist that you don't have to, but will probably appreciate the offer nonetheless. Our priest is flying from Washington DC to South Bend, IN to officiate our wedding.  I already offered to pay for his flight and hotel and he has insisted that we do not need to.  But personally, I would feel awful if I hadn't made the gesture.
Posted by LP11509[/QUOTE]

Agreed.  But 1.5 hours in KY is likely a pretty easy interstate drive with limited traffic.  And, it's something he probably took into consideration when agreeing to do the wedding.  I mean, I think it's fine to offer - but I think the general expectation here might be different.  I know most vendors that I looked at didn't care about travel unless it exceeded 200 miles. 

skippylouwho

After reading this I just sent DD a text message suggesting she and FI need to plan for this expense for both Fri & Sat hotel for pastor. The wedding is about 5 hours from his home.  I'm glad I saw this thread or we might not have thought about it.

lyndausvi

If we wanted our officiant at the rehersal we had to pay for his room.   We did, so we paid for his room for friday night (his wife was there also).  He went home right after the ceremony, so a room on Saturday was not necessary.