Flight and Accommodation Arrangement for Guests

amwong22 · March 2012

Hi All,

Just wanting to know how much time and effort you put into trying to find the best flights and accommodation for your guests. I have been spending a bunch of time researching condos and hotels and flights for our guests. There will be about 80 joining us. Some are families who want condos, others are friends who are couples and want to stay in hotels. I am finding it very difficult to arrange and find the best deal/way to book for everyone. Some of my friends have told me that's not my responsibility but I feel like if people are coming such a long way for our wedding the least I could do is provide them with some options. But since everyone wants different types of accommodation and will be coming and staying for different times it is getting frustrating for me. I don't know how much time I should spend on this.

Any tips or experience with this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

h1jung · March 2012

My wedding is in August, so I'm not sure how it will turn out, but so far we already have guests saying that they will find another accommodation than the one we found for them due to a variety of reasons. But they know it's better to stay in the area. I agree finding one perfect place for that many people is hard. We just stressed how much easier it is to stay in the area right before and after the wedding. To help them out though, we got flight discounts for them on Alaskan and Hawaiian airlines.

noreenchiu · March 2012

I was feeling the same way! We also have about 80 people joining us. I felt like I needed to help everyone coordinate everything as well. But part of the reason we chose Hawaii as our destination, as opposed to somewhere like Mexico, is that we wanted our guests to be able to have their own vacations. We wanted them to be able to go for as long as they want and stay wherever they want. We ended up signing up for a few airline discounts (Alaska Air, WestJet, and Hawaiian) and booked group discounts at a couple hotels that didn't require a guaranteed minimum (Turtle Bay, where our wedding is, and one hotel in Waikiki). We posted all the information on our wedding website, along with some websites for condo options. Some guests have decided to go along with our travel plans and pretty much have the same itinerary as we do; others have decided to book their own thing.

dianalynm · March 2012

I did everything that Tanq pretty much did. I was able to get a room block at the Hyatt w/o signing a contract, though, so I don't feel pressured to fill up the rooms. I also provided 2 other hotel options that were more budget friendly and even mentioned VRBO since my FI and I use rentals often when we don't use his hotel points. I also utilized the group discounts with Hawaiian and Alaska. Alaska discount can be used on any departure city in the US and Canada I believe, but the travel window is +/- 3 days before and after the wedding date (Mine came out to Dec 9-16, wedding Dec 12). The only people we helped get accommodations for were our dads. We got them both vacation rentals on a golf course since they both play. HTH!

janeash · March 2012

Since we were looking for accommodation for ourselves, I just posted the options we liked best on our website and let guests choose. Most of them ended up picking the place we are staying at as well!

As for flights, since we have family coming from Australia and Canada, I mostly just researched Canada......the Aussies all went to a travel agent and figured it out themselves.....I did suggest a few flights, but they didn't listen to me anyways

motoLyn · March 2012

I just posted links to hotels ranging from budget to super high priced, as well as links to condos in various parts of the island listed on VRBO. I know that all the guests have ideas of where they want to stay. Some in hotels, some in condos and some in a private home, so booking a block of rooms wouldn't be ideal. As for flights, I would post up deals when I saw them. But most guests just looked for themselves, through AAA, their own travel agents. It just turns out that half the guest list is coming from Denmark so I wouldn't be of much help with the room and travel accommodations. No one has complained thus far. Miraculously 3 of my guests found flights out on a Saturday from the local airport for $700 which is unheard of since most tickets are $850 to $1000+.

kimmykupcakes · March 2012

I didn't do a ton. I set up the wedding wings program through Hawaiian Airlines and got the hotel and VRBO info in the area of the wedding. I posted everything on our wedding website and let guests know it was there. I let them take it from there. Too stressful trying to do it all.

amwong22 · March 2012

Thank you all for all your great advice. I think I am going to try to do a little bit more research and start posting things on my website. Our guests can make their own decisions with the options I give them, or they can choose their own way. I know most of them have travelled a lot, so they should be more than capable of organizing their own vacation.

I think personally, I want to have everyone in the same area so it will be easy to get together with our guests, and that way we won't feel the need to have to travel around the island to make sure we are paying attention to all our guests which leads me to another question.

I am quite a social person, and I feel like we should spend a significant time with all of our guests (friends & family). I don't want people to feel neglected by us when coming to our wedding. My fiance on the other hand is not keen on having 2 whole weeks of having to entertain and spend time with both sides of the family and all our friends. What are you guys doing in terms of spending time with your guests during your stay (before and after the wedding)?

I am thinking of just booking some excursions and letting people know when and where they will be. If they want to join us they can. But at the same time, I feel like if we don't spend enough time with our families they may be upset... but there will be so many people and only 2 of us, so I don't want the week to be stressful and running around pleasing people, although that is just the way I am...

Sorry, I think I am completely overanalyzing everything, but anyone else feeling the stress of spending time with all your guests?

Sp2012 · March 2012

I've gone to a big DW (100+) where there was literally a hosted event or activity for like 3-4 days in a row, sometimes 2 things in the same day since I was in the wedding party. I probably didn't do any touristy stuff until after the wedding, and I think I had like 1 "free" day before going home.

I've gone to a smaller DW, like 40 people where it was just next day brunch, and another one about 60 people with a bridal shower on island, welcome dinner and optional activities. My personal preference as a guest is to attend maybe 1 outside of wedding day activity, and then be able to spend some time doing my own fun stuff - I love travel & tend to research stuff I want to do before the trip.

For my wedding, I considered arranging more activities, but it turns out people are arriving at all different times and are choosing to stay in different locations in Oahu. Several guests are arriving the night before the wedding, and I think even one arriving on wedding day! And... some are leaving the day right after the wedding.

So just because of logistics we're really only having a welcome dinner the night before, then hosted brunch after the wedding. Everything else will be just activities we want to do and more spur of the moment we'll see who's around and interested in joining us.

I think your guests understand (especially with a larger wedding) that you will be busy. If you want to do something special for family, maybe arranging a family-only event? And then just having all the optional activities too, but give yourself some free days too!

lyssalou89 · March 2012

I just posted a link to VRBO condos in the area and travel websites that often post great deals such as travelzoo, travelocity, or Beat of Hawaii. I also put maps to show different areas and their distance from our wedding venue. Here is a link to our website so you can see what I'm referring to:

www.mywedding.com/andrewandalyssa2012

So far my family has been able to use them to make their reservations. We have planned a few wedding events and will be including them on our website once everyone has RSVP'd. I will post maps to these as well, that way guests have something to base their accomodation decisions on considering most of them have never been to Hawaii before.

I am veryyyyy nervous about visiting with everyone, however considering most of them are also considering this a vacation, I'm sure they will also be very distracted by all the attractions in the area as well.

So I'm sure our last minute wedding will get done in fair time and you shouldn't have to worry about your guests feeling neglected.

As far as wedding events, we planned a rehearsal dinner luau the night before and a brunch the day after. For activities that are not hosted and are only for bridal party, we are doing privately or are telling are guests that they are welcome but it is not hosted. On our RSVP date we are sending out a Wedding Week Itinerary packet to everyone who RSVP'd yes. That will include our hosted wedding week activities with addresses, dates, and times, another RSVP response card, and a map to all events.

No worries! I'm sure your guests will be kept very busy already with their own travel plans as Hawaii exploration as well!

dianalynm · March 2012

Alyssa, just looked around your wedding website (we are also using the same site! http://www.mywedding.com/dianalynandarmando) and saw he proposed at TFL! We are such big foodies, too! Just thought I'd mention it since we do kinda live close to each other! Hehe. We should plan a get-together when you're in the area...

lyssalou89 · March 2012

Oh geeze, Diana! Don't you just love it there? The food is awesome.

Have you been to Bouchon as well? Their macarons are aaaammmmaaazing! We do need to plan a gtg! I have to go pick up my veil soon in the area so maybe then? Also I love your website- absolutely adorable! I definitely need to add more detail to mine lol. Also while going through your website I realized you went to the same university as my FI!!!!! What are the odds!!! We really do need to meet! Lol

dianalynm · March 2012

Bouchon is good for macrons, but Paulette in SF is even better! My favorite is Pierre Hermé, but that's only in Paris.

2nd favorite is Ladurée, and up until recently, they were only in Paris, but they have a storefront in NYC, now! So if we meet up early next month, I'll have some with me! I'm taking a trip with my girlfriend at the end of April... If you haven't been to Ad Hoc, go! It's so yummy. We love it there... Yay, go Aggies! Hehe.

Let me know when you get your veil so we can meet up!

kaesha · March 2012

Here's what our wedding website looked like, if that'll help:
https://sites.google.com/site/alysonandphil/

In terms of spending time with people, I felt the same way. Half of our guest list flew from England to be with us, and then we had guests from across Canada, the US and Japan, so it was important for us to spend a lot of time with them.

The majority of our guests were there for a week (Sat-Sat), so here's what our activities looked like:

Sun: Welcome BBQ (hosted)
Mon: Rehearsal Dinner (just for wedding party and immediate family)
Tues: Wedding
Weds: We told everyone we were unavailable, and wanted time for just us.
Thurs: We did two no-host events (here's where we'll be, and you're welcome to join us) kayak & snorkelling in the morning, then luau in the evening.
Fri: We had nothing planned, but had an impromptu "let's use up all the leftover alcohol" party for the younger crowd at our condo that evening.

We were on the island for another week after that, so we had plenty of wind-down time too, but honestly, partying with our friends from all over the world for a week was AMAZING. We both felt SO lucky to have so many amazing people with us, and have no regrets about postponing our own downtime.

Having said that, people don't need to be entertained by you. Honestly, they're adults, if they can't find something fun to do in Maui (like, seriously, people, it's Maui), that's their fault. Most people don't want free time, KWIM?

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