and
 |
||||
More Than a Wedding Treat your wedding guests to a fun-filled weekend with these helpful tips 
Out-of-town wedding guests not only anticipate a lovely ceremony, but look forward to a mini-vacation as well. Although you don’t have to baby-sit your cousins or your college buddy, your guests will appreciate advice on entertaining themselves while you’re taking care of last-minute details. By acting as the social director and sending people elsewhere, you gain two advantages: you won’t be distracted, and your guests will have an enriched wedding weekend. “I really like seeing what happens at these weddings that include long weekends together,” says Ann Saavedra of Dreamcatcher, a wedding planning company in the San Francisco Bay area. “When people only get together for the three- to six-hour wedding event, they talk to five or six people at their table, and that’s it. But if the guests participate in activities together, bonding takes place.” If you’re in charge of the weekend entertainment you have two basic choices: set up structured activities, or provide suggestions. What you choose depends on your time and budget and the inclinations of the majority of your wedding party. Either way, it’s a good idea to make “welcome to the wedding” gift baskets for your out-of-town guests. Include a city map, a magazine that lists local events and some goodies that are unique to your city. In addition to time on their own, you’ll want one meal, usually the rehearsal dinner, to include all the out-of-towners and the immediate wedding party. Here are some ideas for either option: Self-directed guests • Provide a list of special exhibits at local museums. • Offer free coupons (that you’ve already paid for) to a favorite ice cream parlor or café. • Give out schedules for public transportation along with tokens or transit cards. • Put together a walking tour of your city’s finest sites. Group get-togethers • Reserve a day at a spa for all the female guests and a day at the golf course for the men. Or, take a gender-neutral approach and let people sign up for either. • Get tickets to a sports game – football, baseball or basketball – for everyone. They’ll love cheering on your home team. • Rent a double-decker bus, bicycles, or motorized cable car (if you’re in San Francisco.) Provide catered box lunches and send guests off to a park or nature preserve. • Arrange a scavenger hunt recommends Lynn Lewis-Bjostad of Premier Meeting and Event Management, Dallas. Ask guests to sign up when they RSVP for the wedding. Mix up the participants so they’re not with people they know and send them around the city looking for clues. |
||||
|
||||
