Issue with hotel check in time & ceremony

This is why you book the night before! I made a PSA about this a couple of weeks ago. Just let them check in after the wedding, or they need to show up dressed. There really is no way around it, the hotel WILL try to get you in, but they cannot promise. This is not on the hotel. I would say if anyone asks you "hi! We are so happy you are coming to celebrate with us, unfortunately hotel check in is after the ceremony. So you will just have to check in later." This is actually pretty normal

Are you including an accommodations card on your invite? I would put something on the card about hotel check in time being 4:00 pm.

I'd share the info individually with the guests that are staying at the hotel and also ask them to call the morning of to request an early check in. I used to travel quite a bit for work and would always call day of to request an early check in. The hotel was almost always able to accommodate my requests. It's not a huge number of rooms so as long as the hotel isn't fully booked the day before, I'd think they should be able to accommodate everyone.

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Unfortunately due to the season and popularity of our venue (it is a popular tourist town) it will likely be fully booked the night before.

They are going to need to book for the night before as well if they want to get ready in the room. For our Vegas wedding we ran into the same thing since we are doing 2 different hotels. The first one will have twin beds and more kid stuff to do since my son will be with us but we wanted a more intimate room for the night of with a king bed since my parents will take my son. With the ceremony being at 4:30 for us an check in at 4 in a different location we opted to overlap the hotels so we aren't rushing things around or have nowhere for several hours to keep our stuff.

You could put it in your wedding website or on your details card. Though I do think that the vast majority of people know about hotel check-in times being later in the day and will figure out when the time is vs the wedding and either book the hotel for the night before or come to the hotel ready for the wedding and check-in later. Hopefully it works out that rooms are ready early but I wouldn't get too worried about it.

Is it a Saturday wedding? We usually fly in Friday evening for Saturday weddings anyway. So hopefully a lot of your guests do that? I do think a note on the invitation details card is nice too! I'd also ask the hotel if they can store luggage prior to check in so you can let guests know.

I mean most check in times are 4. They'll have to get ready at home i guess.

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I agree with this. I also think you can only do so much and guests can figure it out. I would know to check on that myself before I booked. I wouldn't be surprised if people decided to book the night before anyways.

I’ve always been aware of this issue for out of town weddings and have always stayed the night before at the hotel as well. I think it’s pretty common and your guests should be able to figure it out and be fine.

Always book the night before, that is like a cardinal rule. I always want to shower and get ready at the hotel, so I always book the night before and usually just do a late check in after dinner.

In this case, being later in date and the type of location...I would just make sure you get the word out to your guests regarding the check in time.

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Yes, I will definitely add that!

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Our wedding is on a Friday so most people who will book the night before will be booking because they are coming to the rehearsal dinner as well. The majority of our guests are local so most will only stay the night of the wedding.

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No, it's a Friday wedding and 95% of our guests are within an hour from the venue. The hotel will be storing luggage at reception until after the ceremony.

I would include a note in the invitations, along with an email or phone call. I work in a hotel in Las Vegas, and the number of people who expect an early check in because they are going to a wedding is amazing. They will either need to get ready at home (if local) or stay the night before. I have contacted all my out of town guests and advised them of this so there are no surprises. We are also having an early wedding (1130am) so most of mine are coming the night before.