Living There
Are you traveling for your wedding and wondering what you can do for your wedding guests to ease them into your get away wedding? Perhaps you are looking for a special gift or destination wedding favor for your guests. When going to a destination for your wedding it is a vacation for you and your guest as well as a celebration all in one. However, you may be familiar with the vacation destination of your wedding after months of planning and possibly previous visits, but your guests may not be. Some of your wedding guests may have traveled very little and others may be very travel savvy. As the host, it is your responsibility that all your guests are comfortable with traveling to your destination wedding. Here are some tips on how to make your guests at ease for the big trip to your wedding and while at the travel destination itself.
Start with the invitations. This way your guests will start to feel comfortable and appreciative from the very start of making their travel plans. When you send out your invitations also provide all travel information for your wedding location. This includes flight options, hotel options, any special requirements for travel to the country or island, etc. You may even get your guests started on the travel needs and packing by including a luggage tag with the invitation. What I mean by a luggage tag is not a flimsy paper tag, but something nice like a chrome luggage tag. You can get special wedding favor luggage tags from websites, like Chic Wedding Favors.com. They come in pretty themes like airplane or ships for if you are going on a cruise.
Next, make sure to welcome your guests once they have arrived. Hold a Welcome Reception, so all your guests can get together in one place prior to the wedding and feel comfortable that they are all there together. This will give them a chance to feel that you are there for them during this trip and also plan activities with other guests during their stay. Just like your wedding, your resort or hotel can help you arrange this event. You may also look into local restaurants and make reservations for your party.
Give your guests a welcome basket. You can either make arrangements for all your guests to receive a welcome basket at their hotel upon arrival or you may also give each guest a welcome basket at the welcome reception, if you have planned one. Your welcome baskets can include essentials that your guest may need during this vacation. There are plenty of items you can put in the basket that can be personalized for your wedding. For example if you are at a beach destination or tropical island, give your guests personalized bottles of sunscreen and hand sanitizer favors. You can also put in pretty personalized lip balm, and small mani-pedi kits. Personalized individual cocktail and lemonade is also fun for guests to be able to mix in their hotel room. For winter wedding destinations, you can include personalized packs of coffee and tea, as well as hot chocolate.
Plan out activities for your guests to do during their stay. Plan some before the wedding and maybe one after the wedding. It would be really nice if you book and prepay for all your guests to do these activities, such as group tours or a sailing excursion. Make sure to include a schedule of all the activities you have planned for the guests with the invitations as well as in the welcome baskets or hand it out at the welcome reception. You could also ask the hotels to give it to your guests when they check in.
Another nice thing to do is hold a rehearsal dinner with all your guests in attendance the night before the wedding. This could also be the place where you give out welcome baskets if you don’t have time for any other events prior to your big day.
All this can be done with the help of your hotel or resort management. Most vacation places will help you book and coordinate everything for big events remotely. You just have to arrive and find everything done. You can create a truly unique wedding while traveling to a vacation destination. One final tip is to have a pre-wedding party prior to your departure to make sure all your guests are onboard and prepared. You can also hand out all itineraries and details at this event as well.
