out of town guests

sugarpop8

what is the responsibily of brides parents when it comes to out of town guests? Do we need to provide activites for them? if so who pays? Any suggestions would be helpful.  thank you

DancesaurusRex

Agreed. If you want to, however, just give them ideas of things to do while they're here. Some friends who are getting married this summer even made a cool interactive Google map of Boston with their recommendations of restaurants and tourist attractions. It's a nice touch.

Loopyseven

I had a page on my wedding website with restaurant recommendations, and things to do around the Greater Cleveland area.  Anything you want to do is lovely and nice, but people can make their own plans if they want to sightsee or just hang out at a hotel pool or whatever.  No obligation to do anything special beyond the wedding and reception.

bmoruzzi

You're not responsible for anything.  When dh and I went to a couple out of town weddings the b&g had put ideas of things to do and places to eat in little gift bags in the hotel room.  I thought that was nice.  

ginadog

If your parents would like to see these people while they are still in town, they could say by word of mouth, "We are having dinner Friday night at XYZ.  Join us if you'd like!"  That would indicate that it's going Dutch.

But no, you don't have to do much more.  If all the guests are out of towners (like a destination wedding) then is is nice for the couple to host other events like a welcome  dinner or activity.

mkrupar

You don't have to do anything. Sometimes people like to put welcome bags at their hotels (easily done if you have a room block held somewhere). These usually have some goodies, beverages, an itinerary of any wedding related activities, and information about things to do around town.

melntaitt

My parents ARE the out of town guests so I don't think it would be anybody's responsibility.

We are having a few activities for our guests the day before and the day after the wedding, but it was an offer from friends that know our families well and didn't mind entertaining. We woudln't dream of mandating this responsibility to anyone though, it's alot of work.

PP's are correct; give your guests a list of local attractions and activities and let them figure it out.

gananoque

Agree with all these. In fact, when OOT weddings become three day extravaganza carnivals, people sometimes tend to get annoyed. I've heard people complain about going to weddings where there was an expectation of participating in non-stop group activities that many people are simply not interested in.

I think it is gracious and courteous to host dinner for any out of towners who arrive the night before the big day but it's not required and it's not expected. However, it is always nice to spend more than five minutes with your loved ones with whom you don't get a lot of face time because of geographical distances...

chattychiqa

On this subject, are you supposed to invite OOT guests to the rehearsal dinner? I was an OOT guest and was invited, it was a nice gesture but I had never heard of it before.

rebarobert2012

You don't need to pay for out of town guests' accommodations or transportation.  You also don't need to plan activities.  Sometimes people will do a brunch the day after the wedding, but that just depends on your budget and what you want to do.

Maggie0829

You do not need to provide anything for OOTG.  They are adults (hopefully) and can take care of themselves.  For my wedding we had a block of rooms available at a hotel for OOTG to book if they wanted and we provided them with a list of attractions in the city where we got married.  From there they decided what they wanted to do and where they went...we didn't pay for anything.