You are getting married and some of your guests will be out of town. Some of them may never have been to your city before, but irrespective of whether they have or not, you want to make sure that their stay is not just comfortable, but also fun and welcoming.
What are some considerations you should have when planning their stay?
First and foremost, find suitable accommodation, near the wedding venue. Car rentals, navigation, or public transportation is not an experience you want for guests, so the closer you can get their accommodation to the venue, the more comfortable their stay will be. Chances are, if you are having your wedding banquet at a hotel that you can reserve a block of rooms for your guests.
If you do have to use transportation, because the distance between the location of your ceremony and banquet is not a walkable distance, plan ahead for various options. Consider, amongst other things, the dress code / attire in which they will attend your wedding, weather conditions, age of your guests. You want them to feel taken care of and content.
Between flying in, rehearsal dinner, wedding and any post-wedding events, chances are your guests will be coming in for at least an extended weekend. And not all of their time will be spent with you.
Consider providing them with a list of places to eat and things to do while they are not with you or at your wedding.
While you can’t personally welcome each person at the airport or hotel, consider a pre- and post-wedding soiree. This way you will be able to greet them all in one place, spend some informal time with them and thank them for coming to your wedding.
Devil is in the details.
Nothing can be so tiring as having to answer millions of questions or calls re. logistical details for your wedding, so consider putting all pertinent information on your wedding website. This way you can direct them for all information to the site and the more detail you include, the better.
While having friends and family out of town can be lots of preparation work, the more work you do in advance, the better the experience will be for them and less worry for the bride and groom.