BE AWARE: An instant BUDGET BLOWER....any ideas?

[Hartyt509]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajanders21 Just my 2 cents, but wow... I'm really suprised by almost everyone's response. We have 9 guests staying off property (out of 60) and there is NO way I would ever ask them to pay for a "guest pass". These people are paying 500 dollars per person to fly down, taking time off work, and are giving us a wedding gift to boot. I haven't even accounted for their hotel (on-or off property) expenses. Am I really going to get rude about 100 dollars when they might end up giving me more as a wedding gift?? Yes, it sucks to pay a guest fee in addition to their bar/food fees, but if they were close enough for you to invite them to your wedding, don't you feel that you should just suck it up and pay?? I was even generous enough to offer up alternative hotels at various price points in the area of our hotel (on our website and on the invitations) so that people weren't forced into paying our higher end hotel rate. I really can't imagine how this would affect our relationships if we did say that to them.... I say you should try to find a way to make it work without destroying your budget, your relationships, and your wedding day.

I see your point however, I'm not asking for a wedding present from people and nor have I put their arms up their back and forced them to come lol I've said it would be nice for them to be there but It's not mandatory and i'm certainly not paying for them to have a day pass into the hotel and a meal for them. Everyone we have told has said thats fine its our choice to stay somewhere else.

As for relationships if they are the relationships that fall over $100 they aren't worthing having in the first place lol

[bumbles]

I wish I could provide guests $75 resort passes, but it would be just financially unfeasible with a hard budget (esp paying for a lot of it ourselves). When we were looking at resorts, I felt like we really took into consideration the costs for the guest (and everyone is in a different financial situation) to the best of our ability. Flying and staying in Mexico for guests is expensive, but hosting a wedding is very expensive too. Guest passes can easily be a budget blower. That said, we are spending the majority of our budget on providing great food which is something that *everyone* can enjoy, kwim?

 

Personally, I would not expect the bride/groom to purchase day passes if I was staying at another place b/c it was less expensive/free. If they could afford it and offered, great. If not, I wouldn't feel right putting that financial burden on them.

[hollym]

Tough situation. I understand both sides, I know that most resorts require about 80% of the group to stay in the hotel and I know you can inform your guests about this, but what if you don't have enough people at the resort and there's nothing you can do? Do you automatically lose your package rate or how does that work?

[MsSmithtobe]

Yes, if they choose to stay off the property they will miss out on all the pre-wedding day festivities and they will have to pay the $100 fee for the day of. That will be thier decision.

[Mallory57]

I wrote the following on our website under the FAQ section:

 

Must we stay at Moon Dance Cliffs?

It is highly encouraged. All wedding-related celebrations will be taking place here. You may stay at other locations, but please be aware there is a hefty fee for a "day pass" to come on to the Moon Dance Cliff's property if you are not staying here.

 

In all honesty, if people decide to stay elsewhere, we will probably pay for their day pass unless there are a LOT of people and we can't afford it...I just decided to write this on the website to "highly encourage/pressure" people to stay at our resort lol...Also, we are hosting an event each of the 4 days, so we would only pay for people who chose to stay elsewhere for the night of the wedding...they would either have to miss out on the other 3 days or fork out a lot of extra money...I think and hope everyone will just plan to stay at MDC!!

[MsSmithtobe]

I love the idea of a FAQ page I didn't think of that!

[Boo]

Its tough. For us we made the decision to stay at a 'family friendly' resort to accommodate the couples who have kids, but love the set up at an 'adults only resort' better. As a result we have split up the ceremony is at one resort and the ceremony is at the other. We are picking up the USD 100 per guest for their day pass for the ceremony resort as that was our decision, tough decision to make as it will end up costing us USD 5K+ I don’t think I would have paid for a guest pass if it was all in one resort and some guests simply chose to stay else where, then its their decision. Good luck.

[Oryx]

I have this on my website: "It is also possible to stay at a different hotel and purchase a day pass to the Majestic Colonial for the wedding day."

 

That's it.

 

It will be up to them to book their own travel and they can ask me about this option, if they choose to do this. But I don't think we will pay for their day pass -- we are already paying a lot for a private reception in the Presidential Suite, and we have told everyone that we are not expecting gifts. If people choose to stay somewhere else, then they are on their own.

[smtc0245]

I have had a few emails regarding this subject and I simply told my guests that they are welcome to stay at another resort but they are required to buy a day pass to come on to the resort for the day of the wedding. I picked a very budget friendly resort and have found some very good deals for people so they should have no problem staying at the resort we have chosen.

[lsjhik]

If you can afford it or squeeze it in, do. Otherwise I think maybe it would have been important to mention to guests if they had to cover this cost. They aren't being malicious I am sure