Diary of a Boho Bride – Laura and Chris, Entry 7: The Guests

Today we are talking guests with Laura, our Boho Bride. We last caught up with Laura  a few weeks ago when she was telling us about getting back to basics with the Wedding Ceremony. It was great to hear about Laura’s plans, so I was really interested to read about what she has planned for her guests when she sent me this weeks submission.

I’ll pass the Blog over to Laura………..

Hello everyone! I’m very excited to be back and today I’ll be telling you about what I have planned for my guests.

It’s got to the point where I have stopped planning. Not ignoring the wedding or putting off, but we’ve chosen the things we want. There is nothing left to plan or debate. We have a caterer, some entertainment and clothing. It has got to the point now where we KNOW it will be amazing because we have all the ingredients for a wedding.

I don’t care about table runners or matching bridesmaids shoes, which speech goes where or when the cake gets cut. We don’t mind what suits the ushers wear, or the colour of their socks. My pants are unlikely to be matching my bra, and I have no idea what shoes I’ll be wearing. But these things just aren’t important to us.

Our guests are the important ones. It is very clear to us that the wedding is for them, to thank them for getting us this far and for supporting us along the way. The marriage is for us to enjoy being together, but in essence our wedding is a great big ‘thank you’ to everyone that comes.
Now is about pulling it all together, inviting our loved ones and making sure they are happy. We are happy because we get to say ‘I do’, and now it is time to accommodate our guests. I want them to be comfortable, well fed and happy to be there.

So I thought about what I’ve organised recently for my guests, and thought I’d share them with you today:

Accommodation

I think that every single one of our guests (bar some university friends) will be travelling for the wedding. 120 miles north from my home town, and about 100 miles south from Chris’, so that means they’ll be needing somewhere to stay.
I was all for letting everyone sort themselves out, but I would actually really like to wish my beloved grandparents ‘good night’ the night before, and wake up knowing my mum was down the hall if I needed her, so we’ve booked a substantial amount of rooms at a local hotel.

The Rutland in Sheffield is a modern hotel just outside of the city centre, and not part of a chain. Chris and I have had the pleasure of attending most of our sports Christmas socials there, and my parents like to stay when they visit us. The food is excellent (keeping 80 hungry rowers happy is no easy task!) and the bathrooms are spectacular. I was sold.
They were incredibly helpful and have also booked all our family into the restaurant the night before for a wee ‘rehearsal dinner’, to steal the Americanism. Four course dinner two nights in a row? Like I needed persuading!
I am so happy that I know our parents and grandparents will be able to come the night before and stay with us all, and greet us the morning after. No travel, no cooking, no stress.

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Transport

This still needs to be formally sorted (Dad has been designated this task – motors are a man’s job!), but we’ve decided to put on a bus/mini-bus for our guests staying at the hotel. This way they don’t have to worry about taxis or directions, just get on the bus and enjoy themselves. They can leave the cars at the hotel, pile on and crack open the bubbly. No designated drivers, no worries. So far, my only idea includes…

A vintage bus! Not quite sure if I’m in love with the ‘vintage’ part, but I can just imagine my two granddad’s faces getting on board one of these! They would be like kids in a candy shop, so it would be totally worth it.

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Comfort

So having fallen in love with our venue, it has become increasingly clear that it isn’t especially accommodating for our elderly or less mobile guests. Now, my grandparents recently had their diamond wedding anniversary (they got married the same year as queenie got crowned – always easy to remember that one!) and they HAVE to be comfortable. I will not have them unhappy.  I am their only grandchild and to be getting married in front of the pair of them is quite an honour.

You already know we’ve booked a tipi from Papakata, but we’ve also ordered comfortable seating , a fire and massive heater from them too. We cannot be expected to predict the weather in April, but I want to be prepared for the worst. I can imagine all the grandmas sitting around the fire having a gossip in the evening whilst us loons are upstairs dancing, and if the weather is nice hopefully we can set some of the furniture up outside for the afternoon too.

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Wedsite

Wedsite? Is that the right word? Hmmm… well. I have created a wedding website anyway. I understand not all our guests will go on it, but most of them do have internet access and will use it. If they misplace the address of the hotel, forget what the options are for the menu or want to know if there’s a dress code (absolutely not) – it is all under one roof. There are suggestions for things to do in Sheffield if they want to make a small holiday out of the trip, directions from the South and the North, and a list of recommended hotels and taxi companies if they aren’t  family staying with us.

I think if there is this resource available to our guests they will be happier planning the trip to Sheffield and allow them to feel happy knowing they aren’t bothering us with questions.
I used a template on theknot.com as it was most customisable and really easy to use. Ignoring all the American applications and assumptions it makes, it actually works really well.

What do you think?

Yes you are reading that date right – less than 200 sleeps to go! :D

That’s a good round up I think. Aside from food is there anything else I have missed off for my guests? Food is so important it deserves a whole post of its own I think…

Laura xx

Thanks so much Laura, all your plans sound fantastic, I’m sure your guests will appreciate all the effort you have put in!
So do you have any plans for your guests? Have you thought that far? I’d love to hear your plans.

♥ You can read more Diary of  Boho Bride articles HERE ♥