Please Help! Advice about charging our guests to stay at our destination-ish wedding?!

There are group cabins. The camp can sleep up to 200. Most cabins sleep 10-14, some about 20. I would obviously do my best at grouping people together in cabins that know each other, families with kids separate from others, etc.

People who want to actually camp also have the option of bringing a tent if they really want to.

I think that sounds super fun! I'd want to go.

I think if you tell people it is a destination wedding at "insert location" and the price is "$X" for two nights stay and includes "Food/activities/etc". I think people would be fine paying this, since if someone was going to a destination wedding they would have to pay for hotel and everything. And this is much cheaper than most destinatin weddings.

I think it is fine to have them pay, just make it clear what it is for and what they are getting. Phrase it like a destination wedding so that there is no confusion.

I think what you could do is sell is like a Hotel Option. Tell you guest they have the option to stay at the camps for 50 bucks for two nights and their meals are included. Still block off some hotel rooms for those who do not want to stay at the camps so if they just want to attend the Ceremony and Reception, then they can. I personally would want a hotel room no matter the drive because camp life and bunk beds just aren't my thing.

If your guest HAVE to pay money just to attend the Ceremony and Reception for that day, then that is where alot of people will have a problem with.

If they don't have to pay to attend the ceremony if they arnt staying at the camps the. I think it is fine! Definitely include an item weary of activities and call it a destination wedding!

This sounds so fun! What campground is this?

This is what I wanted to do, but the one near me is booked out until fall 2015. Sounds awesome and I don't think it's out of order for people to pay to stay there. My FH's cousin got married in Boston Harbor on an island and guests could stay at the lodge there, but they had to pay. IT was the only place on island to stay, so if they didn't want to, they didn't have to, they could leave and stay in a hotel in the city, or just go home. I think that what everyone is suggesting about giving them the option (detailed in the "where to stay" in your invitation) of the camp or some nearby hotel will work out. Most will probably want to stay there since it is pretty cheap, and that's where the B & G and bridal party will be. Hope it works out! Sounds like a blast!

Ok. I didn't understand this is a destination wedding. Psh. I'd pay 40 bucks, and gladly. But I would maybe block a few rooms at a nearby hotel for someone who doesn't like their lodgings as...rustic...as a camp can be.

Honestly, I would be a guest not big on staying at a camp in a cabin with 10+ people. As long as I was able to get my own hotel too somewhere, I wouldn't be offended by you providing the price and information for staying at the camp.

But not everyone will be able to take off more than one day for the wedding anyways.

Hi Liz! The campground is called Wasewagan in Angelus Oaks, CA! We have also looked at a camp called Round Meadow, which is A LOT cheaper, but the terrain is spread out on a hill so I figure drunken guests and older relatives would have a hard time getting around haha

I do not think it is out of line to ask anyone to pay for lodging. It is not the same thing as paying for your wedding. As long as this is an actual destination wedding, as in more than 2 hours from your home town.

I think this idea is cool even though I'm more of an indoor girl, but it's on my bucket list to go zip lining

Anywho, I feel like all you really need to do is let guests know their options of lodging both at the camp and elsewhere, just in case.

What your really saying is should you pay for people to stay at the campground for your wedding, and the answer is no. That's an implied cost that comes with accepting a wedding invitation where the person would need to be going out of town to reach the venue.

O, Jamie. I read what you posted in the comment sections. That makes sense since the guest would have to pay regardless since it seems that no one would be local to the venue. I assumed that everyone would be local to the camp site. It seem like your option would be cheaper than paying to stay in a hotel. And it's good that there are activities for them to do and guest have an option as to whether or not they want to do it.

You could tell people that you'll put a deposit down to reserve their spot and they can pay you back. With this in mind, you should send out invites early because you do not want to overbook and then you end up at a lost.

It sounds fun and sounds like something that could workout with the right group.

We are doing something similar to what you are planning. Our wedding is on the Outer Banks in North Carolina and we live in Pennsylvania. We are renting two beach front houses for the week of our wedding and having the reception on the deck of one of them. We gave our guests the option of spending the week with us and paying for their room or just coming down one night for the wedding and staying in the closest hotel. We did have some close friends and family members who for one reason or another are unable to make the trip at all. About 70 people will be attending the wedding and 63 of them will be staying with us for the week. They are paying $1200 per room for the week. We are supplying meals and some activities. We also made it clear that we consider their presence to be gift enough as far as we are concerned. We felt funny asking for money from our guests, but they are all people who are close to us, and most of them have said that they are considering it to be a vacation. It seems to be working out the way we hoped it would. Good luck with your planning!

Awesome! Thanks for all the help/suggestions!

The internet is funny. I am getting a COMPLETELY different response here than on theknot! On that forum pretty much everyone thinks that it's rude of me to ask anyone to even come to my wedding because it's camping and horrible. They also think it's rude for me to ask anyone to pay for their bunk.

I agree with most of you- that no one should pay me directly for their lodging. It's just strange. The campground should allow guests to pay them directly. I just wrote to them and am really hoping that they allow that! Otherwise this won't work out.

Again, thanks! I really appreciate the feedback!

I think it's totally acceptable to ask that they book through the lodge for their own reservations. That way they can choose where they stay and with whom. They also have the option of staying somewhere else and just coming in for the wedding and reception so they aren't forced to stay in a lodge if they don't feel comfortable with that.

Don't listen to the Knot people - it's a fabulous idea and sounds like great fun, especially for people traveling to Cali for it. As long as they have a different option if they don't like the location or the sleeping in large cabins piece then I think it rocks! Oh and I think each person/family can pay for their own activities - you don't need to pay for that as well. But that's just me

$50 is cheap - I'm paying more than that for my friend's destination wedding in Vegas.

Are you sure your guests are going to want to stay in large cabins on crappy beds? I can't imagine elderly guests being ok with this. If I was attending your wedding I would find my own cabin rental nearby so that could sleep in an actual bed / have my own bedroom and privacy.

Some of my friends and family are paying $4k to come to my wedding (Mexico). $50 isn't much and it sounds like fun.

To me it is very similar to a hotel block, but from your OP it sounds that you need a min of 75 staying at least 2 nights. What happens if you only have 20 people staying two nights?

Personally, I don't like anything camp related, so I wouldn't stay the night, or stay somewhere else.

I am not a camper either. Especially not in a dorm like facility. With 80 other people I might or might not know. For three days.

I'd be nervous that I wouldn't get the critical mass necessary and then have to cover everything (or a lot of it) myself.