Accomodations for Wedding Participants

Q: I am planning to have a wedding about an hour from where I live. This means that most of the guests will probably rent rooms. I was wondering what to do about people such as the minister and other people who are travelling down to participate in the wedding. Should we pay for their room if they choose to stay overnight? What is the "proper" thing to do and whose rooms should we pay for - if any?

A: As a wedding consultant I see this situation come up all the time. To be honest, very few brides pay for guest accommodations. You're not obligated to provide any rooms at all. However, if you're planning to pay for any I would suggest that your bridesmaids and ushers are provided for. They're playing a large role in your wedding and chances are they're going through a bit of an expense to be there, so that would be a nice gesture. Don't feel obligated to do much more than that. As far as the minister goes, chances are he has booked several weddings that day...check with him to make sure he'd even be able to stay if he had a room provided for him.