Said It Here

Is it okay to ask wedding guests to pay for their lodging?

Asking guests to contribute toward accommodations when a venue requires a full property buyout can feel unreasonable or catch people off guard. Without explicit communication, guests often assume their stay is fully covered by the couple, leading to awkward misunderstandings and unexpected financial friction.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Having guests pick their own alternative accommodations nearby
  2. 2
    Treating the payment like a traditional room block rate
  3. 3
    Having family members with extra space in a rented property take the guest in for free

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/weddingplanning2 people · September 2026

““What do I do once I get to the hotel? Because you have it covered, right?””source ↗

“My heart nearly fell out of my chest because no, we did not have it covered.”source ↗

“she just didn’t read the website or our message and assumed we were paying for her week-long hotel stay for her without confirming it with us”source ↗

bangtanimosity · r/weddingplanning · 125 upvotes

“Would it be wrong for us to ask our guests if they choose to stay on property to contribute $500 for each room.”source ↗

“Not sure if this would seem unreasonable to guests or not thanks for any opinions!”source ↗

National_Exchange499 · r/weddingplanning

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised