Destination Wedding - Pay for bridal party?

Nope, everyone pays for their own accommodations! While its nice, its definitely not a requirement

No, you're not required/expected to pay for travel costs (airfare, hotel, etc) for your bridal party or guests. The only thing I've seen as a precaution is that you give them as much notice as possible (preferably a year) and consider the cost of them being there when choosing a dress for them.

I'm not sure what the etiquette is exactly for a destination wedding, but anyone who accepts your offer to be in the wedding party should know what costs would be involved so they can determine whether it's the best decision for them. If they can only be an attendant if you're paying for their accommodations and FH isn't comfortable with this then maybe it's not the best decision for them.

Agree with everyone above! However, I will be staying with my bridesmaids the night before the wedding (they are from out of town), and will be paying for that hotel room. But for the night of, etc, they will be paying their own room.

I've never had my hotel room paid for as a bridesmaid, I've always budgeted for that expense.

They should pay their own way and for their accommodations. If you have an unlimited budget and wanted to cover it, that would be on you.

Just understand that some may not make the trip for money reasons or time off.

Thanks everyone! This has been a good sanity-check for me.

I'm also having a destination wedding in Cancun and I'm not paying for the bridal party's rooms. It would be nice too but so much for us.

I was a bridesmaid when one of my friends got married in northern Maine. Her wedding was Friday morning at 8 am, so we all pretty much needed to be there the night before, plus they had a rehearsal and dinner then. She and her husband rented out cabins for us (one for the girls, one for the guys, and then for their families). I guess it wasn't necessary, but I really appreciated it because going to/being in her wedding required that I take Thursday and Friday off work, which wasn't paid, plus a 5 hour drive each way. I'm good friends with the other girls who were in her BP as well, so we probably could have figured something out, but I really appreciated that they paid for the cabins.

Depends on what you mean by "etiquette." In real terms, "etiquette" means what is proper and polite, but these days, people seem to equate it with what is standard and expected. I believe those are very different things, so my answer is going to be different than 99% of the other people on this site.

Proper wedding etiquette is that the bride and groom (or their families) cover lodging for the attendants, destination wedding or not. Transportation expenses are traditionally the responsibility of the attendants themselves, so you're not on the hook for anyone's airfare or gas, but if your attendants will need housing, you should provide it.

Now, this is not what most brides and grooms do these days, so you will see a lot of people insisting that bridesmaids and groomsmen should pay for their own hotel rooms. You even see it in "authoritative" articles on The Knot or in bridal magazines. But etiquette experts will tell you that if the location of your wedding and your choice of attendants means that some of them will have to stay away from home during your wedding festivities, you should cover those costs or provide them with adequate accommodations in your home, a willing friend's home, a rented home they're sharing with you, etc.

I'm mulling this over as well. 2 of my BMs have kids so I may pay for their hotel rooms because they'll be traveling with their kids.

I'm doing a DW in Jamaica in April. We aren't paying for our best man and maid of honors rooms (we aren't doing a big bridal party just one on each side). What I am doing is paying for my MOH hair and makeup- not because I am requiring it but because she's spending money to travel and stay In Jamaica, so it was the least I could do for her (she said she wanted to get it done anyways). I am also getting her a massage at the resort during her stay as part of her gift as a thank you for standing next to me on our big day.