How much is too much to ask your guests to pay?

[yamille]

So it seems like all the resorts that I am interested in are on the "luxury" end. This is really annoying because my initial DW idea was to do something simple which is still my intention but the accomodations are so high $400/per night that I'm scared to actually pick these places. Also, flights from NYC are skyrocketing. I know that FI and I should pick the place we love but we also DO want people to be able to afford to come. At this rate they will be paying $1300 and up for 4 nights. Is that rediculous? I am driving myself nuts because I have been going back and forth reading peoples reviews and I'm not really asking for an answer BUT..

How much are your guests paying for accomodations and where? Maybe I need some new options. Thanks!

[Alyssa]

well i think it all depends on your guests. we are doing HI so i can't give you info for Mexico but i do not think you should compromise if you want luxury - give your guests 2 other options in 2 lower price ranges that way people can spend what they want and not feel forced into a luxury vaca

[DanielleNDerek]

I think you have to focus on the people you really want there and know are definately coming like your families. What can they afford? Is it all-inclusive? If it is you have to keep in mind that your guests won't have to worry about food or drinks when they go away which can get pretty expensive. I don't think $1300 is totally insane for 4 nights including airfare, esp since airfare is high right now. i'm getting married in punta cana but my guest are paying close to $1400 for 4 nights, most are going for 7 nights. the airfare for my guests is about $600pp, i think that's what really hurts. which has gone up a lot over the past couple years.

[leigh miller]

your guests dont have to stay where you have the wedding. are you looking at AIs? $400 a night at an AI doesnt sound high. have you looked here? i love this place i think you only have one wedding. do what you want.

[lucy106]

One of the reasons we picked Cancun was because there are so many resort/hotel options. If people didnt want to spend the money to stay at our resort they could find one fairly close by that they felt they could afford. You will never please everyone especially when it comes to the price. You need to be happy about where you are getting married, the rest will fall into place.

[jajajaja]

It just depends on YOUR guests. My friends and family couldn't afford an extravagant resort (we wouldn't be able to either!) so we decided to find a nice resort that fit the price range most people were comfortable paying. Most paid $1500-1600 for airfare plus AI for 7 days. I think that was quite reasonable and our resort was GORGEOUS. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed the vacation so much we are now planning a group vacation for the following year.

 

Ultimately, you need to decide if you want more people to come or if you are content having the best resort but fewer people. You could easily run prices and costs by those that you absolutely want at your wedding. If they aren't biting, then you probably should look at different alternatives (that is, if you are willing to compromise for them to be there.)

[Copita]

Make sure one thing you look into at the resort you choose is how much they charge for the day/night pass for each individual not staying at the resort. Cause most charge for anyone just coming for the wedding. It sucks but ti's true. THat was a major deciding factor for us to axe certain resorts. One was charging $100 per person staying at diff hotel.

[Pazoop]

Oh, I so totally feel your pain! It took me three months to pick a location and a hotel for the exact same reason -- guilt over asking my guests to pay so much money because I kept falling in love with beautiful expensive resorts! I had to ask myself this -- Yes, it is my wedding and I have one chance to make this perfect for me and my FI, so what is most important to me? In the end I decided to split the difference b/w luxury and cost.

 

I tried to picture myself in my guests' position -- If I opened an invitation to their wedding and found out the price was $XXXX to attend, what would my reaction be? Because I wouldn't ask my guests to do something for me that I wouldn't do in return for them.

 

From there, I came up with a top end figure and narrowed down hotel options. There were still going to be a few people who were not going to be pleased with the costs no matter what but the majority of those were not the "closest family and friends". We wish they could come and they might still surprise us (as others have mentioned, they can also stay at other hotels nearby if they wish), but they won't make or break our wedding. And I knew that if I settled on a hotel I would spend the whole time yearning for something better -- and that would definitely be a long term regret.

[chonee]

This is one of the reasons why I picked the Barcelo Maya in the Mayan Riviera. The resort is big and it's broken out into 4 sections - ranging from low, moderate, high prices. The airfare will be the same regardless but at least my guests have a choice as to whether they want to high end section (Palace), the moderate section (Colonial and Tropical) or the lower end section (Beach).

[Maura]

our guests are paying an avg. of $1200/per person for airfare and hotel for 3-4 nights (thats if they dont share a room with anybody). we decided against an AI for many reasons, daypasses being one of them.