The first place to look for accommodations is the venue for your wedding. If you are being married in a large resort, a hotel ballroom or one of Washington's larger cities, talk with the management about reserving a block of rooms for your guests. Most hotels offer discounts for rooms reserved for a wedding -- a great option if the reception will be held right downstairs. Find out cancellation policies and hold restrictions so you can inform your guests.
Many couples are now hosting a website for all their wedding information. If you are planning such a site, you could easily add the name and phone number for your selected hotel. It would be helpful to list other area hotels and their approximate costs for guests to look into while they are perusing your gift registries. Providing hotels in several price ranges will help guests find a room which is affordable and includes all the amenities they desire. Parents with children will surely want a pool, but your grandparents might want something close to the ceremony site. You could also include links for the larger chain hotels to make getting a reservation a snap. In Seattle, hotels such as The Hilton have easy online room registration as well as listings of area attractions.
If you are having a smaller wedding or getting married in a more rural area of Washington, accommodations might get a little trickier. While it is not strictly your responsibility to find lodging for everyone, a wedding held where people have to drive an hour to attend will surely decrease the number of guests who will join you. If your perfect chapel is located miles out of the nearest town, consider renting vehicles to transport your guests. For a park or seaside ceremony along the Pacific Coast, give guests a listing of hotels in nearby communities and include a map and directions to the ceremony site. Many couples include the name of a hotel and its phone number in the wedding invitation on a separate insert.
If you are planning a destination wedding, it is customary for the couple to provide the lodging for their invited guests. You will need to plan for any special needs of your guests, such as ground floors for more mature guests and enough beds for families with children. As these types of wedding tend to be smaller, you should be able to easily assess any special accommodation requirements.
Look for wedding accommodations on the web, in lodging flyers and consult your other vendors. Your ceremony site might have great advice if they habitually host weddings.
While planning for your accommodations, remember these guests are your friends and family. Some may be traveling a great distance to see you get married. Be thoughtful of their sacrifice to share in your special day.
