Guest greetings

Chances are, many of your wedding guests will be coming from far and wide to see the grand event. It’s nice to help as much as you can with travel arrangements and to make their stay as comfortable as possible.

Here are a few ideas:

Research accommodations in your area

Find two with good reputations and different price ranges. If you know there will be many guests needing overnight accommodations, then reserve a block of rooms at each and send the hotel information with your invitations. By reserving the rooms in bulk, you might also get your guests a less expensive rate.

Send out a wedding newsletter or “save the date” letter early on

Create a newsletter letting them know the date of your wedding, as well as any other travel information that may be helpful. By informing them as early as possible, your guests can find cheaper airfare. You may also want to explain the city or town’s history while highlighting the various tourist spots and landmarks. Include rental car information and the numbers of taxi services. You may want to consider hiring a car, bus or limousine service to shuttle your guests to and from the wedding location. Or, organize in town guests to help with transportation needs.

Place gift baskets in their room before they arrive

A basket doesn’t have to be a basket; a glossy gift bag, or even a hand-decorated brown paper bag will do the job. Jazz up your container of choice with tissue paper, tulle and/or ribbon featuring your wedding colors to kickoff the celebration. Next, pack your bags with a mix of some of the following selections (or brainstorm your own ideas): fruit, candy, local “delicacies,” bottle of wine, mineral water, homemade cookies, herbal energy boosters and nutrition drinks to fortify your guests for the party to come, tourist information, map, T-shirts bearing the wedding city’s name, and/or a special thank you from the bride and groom.

It’s also a good idea to include another copy of the itinerary complete with the phone numbers of the bride, groom and other family members. You may also want to tell your visitors about any free time they’ll have, and provide suggestions for how to fill it.

Consider a “Sunday” brunch

Another popular idea is having an out-of-town brunch the day after your wedding, before you go on your honeymoon. A “day after” brunch is a great way to organize the troops for one last get-together. Extremely informal, the brunch can consist of sandwiches or barbecue with guests commenting about the previous day’s activities. The “day after” is, also, a great way to mix and mingle amongst the guests who you don’t get to see often and did not have time to chat with during the pre-wedding frenzy.