Out of Town Wedding Party

If you have the budget, paying for their travel and accommodations would be amazing. If you don't have the budget for that, a welcome bag for their hotel/AirBnb/VRBO with treats/itinerary card/what-to-do-in-the-area cards would be great. At the minimum, a really nice thank you note and a bottle of wine/gift card to their favorite local restaurant would show your appreciation.

View Quoted Comment Thank you those are all good ideas!

We had a semi-DW in upstate NY where my mom lives but I don't live there, so we (including my bridal party) traveled up. We did not pay for our bridal party accommodations but we did pay extra to our photographer who came up with us from DC. I also arranged cheap accommodations for everyone to lower their out of pocket costs. Our officiant was local to the area. I was a BM in a friend's wedding in the fall and last winter, and neither paid for our accommodations. I think its wonderful if you can pay for everyone but not expected. I also recommend talking to your BP to ensure that they can afford to travel and don't necessary expect everyone to show up for the "extra" events (wedding shower, bachelorette, etc).

Most of our guests, including the bridal party, are traveling. We are securing a room block so their accommodations are as affordable as possible. If the budget allowed it, we'd pay for their hotel stay (at least for the extra nights they're staying due to being here earlier than other guests). I wouldn't offer to pay for other travel expenses because that's a cost they'd incur even if they were a guest.

View Quoted Comment This makes a lot of sense. Thank you!

Out of my 9 bridesmaids, 8 are out of town and out of the 9 groomsmen, 5 are out of town. Most of my family and friends are out of town as well. We are not paying for anything for them, I've flown in for weddings and never had anything paid for for me. We are paying for hair and makeup for the bridesmaids, their flowers, transportation to and from the wedding, and getting them a nice gift. I'm doing as much as I can to help with travel, texting travel deals I see or sending links to cheaper rental cars. If you can afford it, I'm sure they would love it but it isn't tradition.