Our venue only works for us if we charge for overnights.

Okay a lot is going on here


First, I really would strongly reconsider a BYOB event
Second, it can't go on your invitations. I disagree with asking guests to cover venue costs, but it seems like you've already done it. Have you covered the costs yet?
The best thing to do is put accommodations info on your website. It doesnt go in invites. Just give the options like a normal wedding website would.
What you cannot do is require your guests to stay somewhere to cover costs that you as the hosts should be paying for the venue. Please please do not do this. It puts the guests in a terrible position and makes you seem entitled.

Do not charge your guests to stay there

If someone told me I had to pay to attend their wedding (beyond providing a gift) I would decline attending.


If you ask people to contribute like that I wouldn’t expect a gift.
Are you going to charge everyone? Even the people who can’t camp?
Also guests should not have to provide their own alcohol.
Good luck.

Is 12 what it would cost normally, half of the cost that it would cost normally?

I would offer the cabins on your homepage for guests to book not on invites. They surely book up as it will be convenient and cabin sounds romantic(assuming they are nice).

However tents..... unlikely. I don't think I would go to a wedding and end up camping outside. Seems a bit odd tbh. Do you need people to camp or just to take cabin?
Also most people don't own an rv.... so is that a mandatory booking or optional?I would list the options on your website but I do think there is no way you can force/ expect people to camp or stay in an rv for a wedding.
We have accommodation at our venue and just offered it through our homepage and most of it booked quite quickly tbh. Only got a few left... we paid the deposit to hold them and took the risk. So even if we don't book them all we only loose a small deposit(I think we got 80% booked so far). But thats all cottages and pottingsheds with private bathroom.... so nice to stay in. I think you might struggle with anything but the cabins tbh.
Also I would be a bit worried on byob....can you maybe hire a cash bar? So people are not logging around bottles to your wedding? That way they can pay themselves but there is also some level of drunkenness control and not a huge amount of empty bottles lying everywhere?
All the best

View Quoted Comment Agree with this 100%!

So as someone who definitely knows her way around campground bookings, I am confused. Is there one large cabin that fits a big group, or are there many smaller cabins and you have to rent all of them? Where do the tent and RV sites come in - do you have to rent out the entire park? Is this a state park, national forest, KOA?


Knowing that info will help me offer advice.

Maybe I’m reading this wrong. But what happens if none of your guests want to camp? Does that mean you wouldn’t be able to afford your wedding? I’m just a little confused. As far as the wording goes I would suggest putting it on a wedding website and I would list it under the Accomodations tab. If you’re not doing a wedding website then in addition to your invitations you would want to add in an RSVP card or an accomodations rsvp card for reserving the tent space or cabin space etc.

Also in addition to what I said, seeing as how there are only two cabins left, You definitely don’t want to offer the cabins on your RSVP cards or in the invites because you may have guests that want more cabins that are available. For all you know those two cabins might be taken by the time your guests RSVP back to you Unless you plan on purchasing the cabins out right yourself ahead of time.

Am I missing something? You're going to charge people to stay on site in order to attend your wedding, AND you're making them bring their own alcohol? Am I reading this right?

Also, sorry for hogging your post here, but I just keep thinking of other things that just don’t make sense. If it’s only $15 to rent tenting space in order for them to host your wedding, even if you had to spend 200 bucks on renting tent space, I understand times might be tough and money might be tight, but you can’t manage to save or put aside $200 so your guests don’t have to worry about covering the cost even if they don’t want to camp? At least you’ll be able to pick out the spots that way your guests aren’t all over different parts of the campground. For all you know some random person may reserve a spot right on the side of where you’re getting married. Are you OK with strangers surrounding your wedding ceremony area?

View Quoted Comment Yes, amazingly I think you are.

I'd pay the venue $15 per guest/household for them to tent there. Whether they actually tent there or not, you should eat the cost.


Otherwise expect a huge decline rate. You'll find that many people will be put off by the idea of dressing up for a wedding and essentially being forced to spend the night there AND BYOB and presumably bring a gift.
This might be SLIGHTLY less rude and entitled if you host a brunch the next day, and this were a faraway destination wedding.

It seems like you are expecting a lot from your guests. Not only are you expecting them to attend your wedding, but you are expecting them to bring their own alcohol and to pay to stay overnight because that's the only way you can afford your wedding. I would expect a lot of people to decline. It isn't right that you are expecting people to pay for your wedding. You should've picked a venue that you could afford without forcing your guests to pitch in.

I am really curious to see how this turns out since both me and my SO love camping. Our family is also pretty campy, do they offer you a ceremony space or anything? I am confused about the costs. I know some places will open separate loops for events if you have a certain number of people. (like a couple of boy scout troops) If it only works by charging others I would honestly eat the deposit cost and back away. Do you know how many guests you plan to invite?

If you need to meet a minimum I think ya'll are responsible to pay it. If not I think it would be cool to offer it on the website like people do with hotel blocks.

I would keep in mind attire and travel time because not everyone has camping gear and the bathrooms may be lack luster. If you get your own loop you could dress the bathrooms up a little or put in a space heater or glow light if not lighted. (maybe even sneak in the good stuff Toilet paper wise)

Do you plan to do much decorating or are you going for the natural vibes? I think you could have some fun campfire dessert foods. I would be careful of food safety and hangovers the day after.

I think offering a small day after brunch would be amazing for those who stay over especially if they paid for venue space. I dunno what your budget or constraints are but I hope it goes well!

Sorry to be so inquisitive I just think it's possible to pull off this kind of wedding just tricky! I think it is a lot like a backyard wedding and would often be assumed as cheaper then it is.

View Quoted Comment I am afraid to read some of the reply. But for your questions. Our venue is a private campground that has 6 Airbandb cabins on the property. It also has RVAnd camp spaces. But the venue that we will use for the wedding is a pavilion in the middle of the property. It is bordered by a beautiful creek. We could have just rented the Pavilion for the event. Instead so that guests would be able to enjoy themselves and not need to drive. Guests are not far from home so if they don’t want to stay that is not a worry.
We will do the ceremony in a grassy area around the creek. And we will have the reception on the pavilion. We will provide food for dinner night one,and breakfast and dinner for night 2. And with the bathrooms because of the air B and B it has two full bathrooms. And perhaps we will need a port a potty.

View Quoted Comment

That sounds really fun! Wedding wire can come off a little intense or scary sometimes when we are worried for the guests comfort. The comments almost always come from a good place . Usually for bathrooms it's said 1 per 50 people. However if you have a lot of elderly or ladies touching up that can cause lines.

Pavilion ceremonies are so pretty. (totally biased)

BYOB, I would recommend bring extra coolers of ice if you have any for people who did not think ahead to ice the lovely beverages. Perhaps have an assigned table with water or something already on it so people have a nearby place to leave it. Or an ice bucket near each table if people don't want to share that you also keep the water in.

Liability may be an issue with the camp ground so check about that? A lot of people would say to buy cheaper stuff so you are still providing alcohol rather then none at all. Whether it is rude or not is not something I know a lot about. Just leave a line stating byob is welcome and maybe comment the style of food provided to make it seem more natural. ex.) We are providing brick buster bbq buffet at this bring your own beverage event. We want every one to be able to cheers with something you love.

I would say maybe have a bridal shower but ask everyone to gift a drink they want to share with you and save it for the wedding? That can be fun or rude.

COSTS for brunch/ after bash:

Perhaps just mention reserved accommodations offered at a fee.

I think leaving it on a website if your going to have one would be best. With a tab for nearby accommodation details.

You could try and label it as an extra rsvp section for two days vs one at a fee. Kind of like plated meal options but they get to know and pay for the cost difference. Then have them reference the website for fees.

That may be nicer then having prices on a guest card which would turn many a lady away on here.

I think that is more acceptable to pay for extra time with everyone. It beats being designated driver to home. The day of the week the wedding is will probably impact the interest of your crowd a lot on a wedding day vs wedding weekend.

I also like the idea having an extra card detailing x for overnight with added benefit of breakfast dinner provided by y'all. Basically an informational card usually reserved for something like the website if you have a hotel block. If rsvped for please email ect... as well for cost management. So you can process the payment or send them payment info.(strongly recommend you have them contact the establishment to handle money)

A general rule of thumb is never have the guests open the wallet. However I feel like your just providing a bonus option kinda like a rehearsal dinner but a day after lounge around instead.

Perhaps a line on the website could be about how having them around is the best gift and you hope to spend quality time with everyone the day after. Many say that is corny, but usually that shows you would be ok with them paying to stay longer (a tent / cabin space) then a present. (which you may or may not be cool with)

tldr; Sounds fun. Having people pay for anything with the word wedding and guest around it is a hot topic. Add it to wedding website or invites. Save pricing for secondary insert or website / or contact for fee info or starting at x$. with an emphasis on not required for original event attendance. Unless you can't have the event without a minimum met. If a minimum is needed pay it and take losses if not everyone books out (just like with some hotel block deposits) Sorry if this doesn't quite answer your questions on how to word the costs on invites and for being long winded! (so long winded I ramble)

Well, I won't say this isn't a good idea, because you specifically said don't say that. But I will say that this sounds like a really difficult way to plan a wedding and it will likely cause a lot of confusion and annoyance for your guests, no matter what wording you settle on for the invitations and/or website.

It's far better, logistically, in consideration of your guests' budgets and travel plans, and relationship-wise, to choose a location that doesn't require you taking payments from guests in order to afford it. Lots of guests are willing to travel to, and pay for accommodation at, destination weddings. But the money should go from guest to venue without the happy couple working as "middle men".

Find a new plan, but ONLY if you want to save yourself a lot of stress, hassle, and hurt feelings.