Pampering the Travelers

Planning Tips

Pampering the Travelers

A wedding day may be all about the bride, but a good hostess has taken care to ensure that guests have an exquisite experience as well—especially those from out of town who have likely paid a tidy sum to spend your special day with you. The graciousness with which you treat guests will make as lasting an impression as the ceremony and vows themselves.

Plan Early
    Travel needs for guests should be considered at the earliest planning stages, says wedding planner Dorothy Owsley of Blush event planning. Schedule your wedding in the afternoon or early evening, allowing guests time to drive, fly and return home without missing work or school. Or, make a weekend of it, advises wedding planner Angella Day of Wishes and Dreams in Platteville. The day before the wedding, plan a spa day for the women while the men golf. After your rehearsal, go to a vineyard for a pre-dinner wine tasting. The day following the ceremony, rent a trolley for sightseeing, shopping and brunch.
    Angela Dupont of Top Shelf Weddings & Events in Madison recently helped a bride set up a series of events for out-of-town guests. “The bride held an open house at a bed and breakfast after the rehearsal, and then invited everyone to walk to the Orpheum Theatre where she had arranged a private ‘special feature’—a slideshow of the couple’s photos set to music. The special feature was followed with a classic black and white film (a love story, of course!).”
    Once you’ve selected a date, reserve a block of rooms at a local hotel. If you’re accommodating a large number of guests, select multiple hotels from moderate to expensive to please varying tastes and budgets. “One bride I recently worked with put all of her college friends up in a bed and breakfast because she knew they would have more fun together in the guest house,” says La Crosse wedding planner Nancy Flottmeyer of Weddings by Nancy. Most hotels will reserve a block of 10 rooms at no charge to the wedding couple up until 30 days before the wedding.