How to Make Out-of-Towners Feel at Home

Weddings are one of the few events in life that draw families together. Out of town guests will travel to your city expecting to have a fun time celebrating your special day with you. Since these out of town guests have traveled great distances to support you on your wedding day, it is important that you take a few extra steps to make them feel welcome in your town. Here are a few simple ways to make out-of-towners feel welcome at home.

One of the best ways to welcome out of town guests to your city is to provide them with a small gift in their hotel room. This can be done inexpensively by providing a simple gift that signifies the area the wedding is being held in. For example, if you are having a Florida beach wedding, you could provide out of town guests with a small basket of Florida oranges or key lime pie cookies. Weddings in Vermont could provide guests with a bottle of local maple syrup. If you would like to provide your guests with something more elaborate you could arrange for a gift basket filled with goodies to be placed in their hotel room upon arrival.

Out of town guests can arrive as early as a few days before the wedding, so they will most likely need ideas of what to do in your town. A great way to make them feel more at home is to provide them with a list of fun or must-see nearby activities and sites. You can easily and affordably produce the list on your computer, be sure to include directions and any phone numbers. If your town has a tourist information center you can go a step further and collect brochures to distribute to your guests that highlight interesting nearby places.

Another excellent way to make out of town guests feel welcome is to plan a few pre-wedding activities. Not only will pre-wedding activities make your out of town guests feel more welcome, they will also make your wedding feel more like an extended celebration. Some great ideas include a welcome reception backyard bar-b-que, a guys' golfing day, or a ladies' spa day. You can also make your pre-wedding activities a bit competitive by planning friendly games of flag football, volleyball, or croquet. Games are an excellent way to bring the different families together since you can combine the members of your two families on each team.

You can also make your out of town guests feel more welcome after your wedding. The morning after your wedding you can host a post wedding brunch whether you are present of not. Family members will love the opportunity to intermingle and talk about the wedding before heading home. This will also allow out of town guests to say goodbye to you and their other loved ones.