Hi guys! I have a big question and could use some advice.
We've rented out an entire lakeside campground resort for our wedding. It's an amazing place! And venue was our biggest expense for this reason.
There is space for 50 guests to lodge on-site, and all of this is rolled into the venue cost. There's different levels of accommodations; there's a dorm-style bunkhouse, private cabins of different sizes, teepees and other whimsical custom-build structures (which are cool as heck but are pretty rustic ie no bathrooms or ac), and a luxury 3-br house all on-site and available. We are providing special cabins for the wedding party, and giving the luxury house accommodations to our parents.
My question is, how should we charge our other guests for accommodations? We let them know that we are offering limited amount of lodging on a first come, first serve basis, and are offering it at a discount rate from what the resort would normally charge. My guests are starting to show interest in lodging with us and I need to make these decisions. How should I break it down?
By room? By head? Should I charge more for the fancier rooms (I'm guessing yes)? Should I just come up with a number I want to reach (specifically, there's something I forgot to budget for--the porta-potty trailers!), and divy it up? Or should I do a percentage of what they normally charge for a la carte lodging?
The venue is quite expensive, but they don't break down the expenses to show lodging as a line item or anything, so I'm not sure where to begin. I want to be fair and reasonable, and am not trying to bleed my guests for as much as possible or anything like that. However I think is reasonable to ask for some contribution in exchange for lodging, especially since it is so limited (we could certainly use it). Any advice on how to start thinking about this would be appreciated!
