Gift Bags for Out of Town Guests and Hotel Shuttle?

cherbein

The vast majority of my family and friends are local and will be coming to my wedding and then driving back home that night.

For the few people coming from out of town, I did set up a block of hotel rooms for them so they could get a discounted rate at a hotel near the wedding.  I have maybe 7 rooms of guests staying at that hotel and then maybe 3 friends that are staying at other hotels due to having some type of points thing there.

My questions are:
1. I have seen that some people do gift bags at the hotels for out of town guests.  Are these required by ettiquette or are they just a nicety?
2. If I do gift bags, do I just need to do them for the hotel where I set up the block of rooms or am I supposed to drop them off at the other hotels as well?
3. Would it be considered poor ettiquette not to have a shuttle back to the hotel for after the reception?  My feelings on this one is that 90+% of the guests are going to be driving themselves home and it doesn't seem worth the hassle to set up a shuttle for the few people staying at the hotel.  If I'm out of line, just let me know on this one.

marissa_claire

Gift bags are a nicety, not required by etiquette.  If you do choose to do them, ask the hotel before you block rooms if they will deliver them to the room.  Some places charge a fee per bag to do so. 

A shuttle is nice, but not required.  We did one and everyone loved it - but our wedding was out in the country, and when it's dark and people have had a few... well we weren't taking our chances. 

danieliza1127

1.  It's just a nicety.  Totally not required or necessary.

2.  If you do them, I think you should do them for all the hotel guests, even the ones at different hotels.

3.  Shuttle is also just a nicety and not required at all.

kcscejal

1. Definitely not required
2. It would be nice to do them all, but just doing it where you have a room block is fine also.
3, Shuttles are not required, but are convenient if guests will be drinking.  Personally I think adults should be able to manage to arrange for somebody to be DD, but I realize not all adults actually do this

mkrupar

TK says this post has 18 responses. Hrmm?

Ditto PPs. None of those are a requirement.

marissa_claire

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_gift-bags-out-of-town-guests-hotel-shuttle?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:4e19e6eb-04a4-4e19-a681-ec3cfda9290aPost:8b7e0d90-e3b0-4e19-9d93-5503410d0464">Re: Gift Bags for Out of Town Guests and Hotel Shuttle?</a>:
[QUOTE]TK says this post has 18 responses. Hrmm? Ditto PPs. None of those are a requirement.
Posted by mkrupar[/QUOTE]

<div>I've been seeing this a lot lately!  There was one this morning that said it had 362 posts when it only had 7.  </div>

waitingformay

I looked into the shuttle and planning for it was a nightmare. I am inviting almost 300 people but so many are out of town that I don't know 1. how many will come and 2. who is driving and wouldn't need a shuttle. I had no idea how many people to plan for. 30? 100? 

If I had a small one that looped people could be waiting like 40 minutes with city traffic. 

I might look into it again after I get response cards but that is months away so I am holding off.

MrsMLRB

I'd be a little pissed if I got a room in the hotel and didn't get a shuttle ride. FI and I tend to get hotel rooms in the hotel block even if the wedding is local because then we don't have to pick who is DDing and its nice to stay in a hotel every once in awhile. How is it a hassle to set up the shuttle? Our hotel has a shuttle that they use and you just tell them the times for pick up and then they show up.

LuluP82

Gift bags are nice. We had a lot of fun putting ours together and everyone loved them. However, I just did them for the hotels where I had a block. I had intended to do them for every OOT guest, but, logistically it became a nightmare the week of the wedding. I had the list of guests staying at the hotel where we held the wedding and its sister property where we had more rooms, but honestly, we also had OOT guests staying with friends we didn't know, every other hotel in town, etc. They didn't end up getting a bag.

Our hotel shuttled people around with their airport shuttle, so you might want to check. But we also had taken up a HUGE chunk of their hotel rooms. You could always make cabs available for people.

Beachy730

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_gift-bags-out-of-town-guests-hotel-shuttle?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:4e19e6eb-04a4-4e19-a681-ec3cfda9290aPost:e7162a3d-d266-4aa6-bf43-29f57c7c260a">Re: Gift Bags for Out of Town Guests and Hotel Shuttle?</a>:
[QUOTE]I'd be a little pissed if I got a room in the hotel and didn't get a shuttle ride. FI and I tend to get hotel rooms in the hotel block even if the wedding is local because then we don't have to pick who is DDing and its nice to stay in a hotel every once in awhile. How is it a hassle to set up the shuttle? Our hotel has a shuttle that they use and you just tell them the times for pick up and then they show up.
Posted by MrsMLRB[/QUOTE]

It can be a hassle if there are multiple hotels first of all.  That's great that your hotel has a shuttle but not all of them do.  Second, people leave weddings at all different times, so arranging transportation is difficult.  Plus, you could spend $500 getting 2 shuttles and only end up with 30 people taking it.  It's not as easy for everyone as just calling the hotel to pick them up.  And what happens for you if the hotel shuttle is busy driving other hotel guests to the airport or something when you call?  Your guests have to wait an hour for it to come?

hlq2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_gift-bags-out-of-town-guests-hotel-shuttle?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:4e19e6eb-04a4-4e19-a681-ec3cfda9290aPost:e7162a3d-d266-4aa6-bf43-29f57c7c260a">Re: Gift Bags for Out of Town Guests and Hotel Shuttle?</a>:
[QUOTE]I'd be a little pissed if I got a room in the hotel and didn't get a shuttle ride. FI and I tend to get hotel rooms in the hotel block even if the wedding is local because then we don't have to pick who is DDing and its nice to stay in a hotel every once in awhile. How is it a hassle to set up the shuttle? Our hotel has a shuttle that they use and you just tell them the times for pick up and then they show up.
Posted by MrsMLRB[/QUOTE]

What dnbeach said.  The hotel we're most likely using doesn't have any kind of shuttle available, and setting up a shuttle is a hassle.  We're having about 150 guests, with the hotel a mile from the reception venue.  To have a single small shuttle for a minimum of two hours before and after the reception is over $700 (and that's the bare minimum around here, most are much more, and most require a minimum of three hours).  It's a lot of trouble to sort out.

A shuttle is a nice thing to do for your guests, but it's not bad etiquette to expect your guests to designate a driver and behave like responsible adults.

cherbein

Our wedding is on a Friday night and the reception runs until 12:30AM.  Our hotel does have a free shuttle that would come to my venue, BUT it stops running at 10:00PM which doesn't really work for my reception or I would definitely make use of it.  The hotel is almost directly across the street from my church and about a ten minute drive if that from the reception venue.

It would be nice to set up a shuttle, but it seems like a lot of hassle with the timing and everything and a lot of money if it's up around $700 for just 10-20 people max.  I would hope that my guests who are staying at the hotel would be able to handle having a DD without being really upset.  It seems that most of the PP's are in agree with that thought.