Where are you staying night before?

I've booked an apartment in the city centre about 5mins walk from our ceremony venue. We currently live with my future in laws so OH will stay there. My mum's house is about 20miles from the city centre so not really convenient to stay there (awful traffic coming into the city and an early ceremony) so I started looking at hotels for the night before and the night of the wedding. The apartment worked out cheaper and is way more spacious so staying there the night before with one of my bridesmaids and then the wedding night with OH.

i would say go with whatever is most convenience and will cause the least stress the morning of!

Lexi

I stayed at my parents' house. It was a full house, as they had family staying for the wedding, and there was only room for me because my brother stayed at my house, with the groom. It was noisy and a bit chaotic, but it was great.

My tuppence is that it actually doesn't matter where you are, but who you're with - as long as the caravans are clean and comfortable, and there is space for you to get ready, it will be great.

Ah thanks both, your plans sound great!

Your comments have reassured me - I'll probably go ahead and book the caravans! Just had a little wobble when one of my BMs reacted with 'a caravan? On your night before your wedding?!, and sounded horrified, but I think you're right - it's who you're with that matters! And it will be much easier than traipsing miles to the venue that morning! Excited now

We haven't quite worked out what to do yet. Our wedding is half an hour from home. My parents are staying in a holiday cottage 20 minutes from the venue, and I will be getting ready there in the morning with my BMs, but there's no space for me to spend the night. H2B wants to have drinks with his brothers the night before, and they will probably be staying near the venue, so it makes sense for him to stay in the same place as them to avoid paying a £30 taxi back home. Logic tells me that H2B should stay in a hotel nearer the venue and I should stay at home.

However, I don't know if I like the idea of being by myself the night before the wedding! Maybe H2B should stay at home and I should stay in the same hotel as one of my BMs!

Then again, H2B doesn't sleep well when I'm not there, so maybe we will just spend the night together at home and say goodbye in the morning. We're not going in for lots of tradition, so it wouldn't bother me if we woke up together on the morning of the wedding.

And with regard to the caravans, I'd go for it. My FBIL and his wife had a static caravan near Aberdovey for a few years which was ace. They've just bought a touring caravan, we saw them and the van yesterday and it was really impressive!

I'd have a think about trying one out on their site before your wedding though... I have a lot of thick hair and if the water pressure isn't very strong, washing it is a nightmare, so I'd want to make sure that was doable first! Can you fit your wedding dress through the door?! Are they nice and clean? Are you having hair/make-up/photography in the morning and will there be space for all those extra people?

Im staying at my parents house the night before and its only a mile from the church.

I'm staying at my venue with my family and bridesmaids. I was mainly motivated by how much easier it made the morning already being there. My OH is staying at a different hotel with his groomsmen but since they don't have hair and makeup they'll have an easier morning!

I'd go for the caravan if it looks nice and you'll have the space to get ready.

We stayed together the night before the wedding in a glass igloo watching the northern lights then back to our hotel together. He got ready then I kicked him out before my friend got me into my dress. Not much tradition for us except i didn't want him to see me till he got the full effect.

As long as there is adequate water pressure for showers and enough sockets the caravan sounds fun!

I'm staying in a cabin the night before my wedding, but so are all the other wedding guests. They are rustic, but they still have electricity and modern conveniences. We've definitely encountered some skepticism from a few of OH's guests who just haven't been to a venue like this before, but I'm sure they will change their mind once they actually see it. Our cabin for the bridal party is large though (sleeps 8 with four sinks/toilets and 2 showers) with a big living room where our makeup artist and hair stylist will set up. As someone else mentioned, if you are getting your hair and makeup done and having a photographer capture it, make sure there is enough room for everyone to maneuver around.

I'm afraid I can't help much as I'm staying at my parents house where I grew up, it's just up the road from the church.

Personally I don't think the caravans sound like a stupid idea at all

My friend works on holiday parks, so I've stayed in loads of caravans. Some of them are really nice! The last one I had was incredibly comfortable and had a terrace and everything. Maybe see if you can have a look around them beforehand to check numbers of plug sockets, space etc?

We've actually changed the venue of our ceremony because of the logistics of the night before! We were going to get married at a registry office in my home town, which is about 20 miles from the reception venue, but there's a general lack of accommodation in the town so unless I wanted to sleep above a nightclub the night before the wedding, it was proving very difficult to find somewhere within a good distance of the ceremony. We had another look round & have now found somewhere we can get married which is 5 miles from the reception venue, & it's the next village along from where my sister lives, so the plan is to stay at hers the night before & have everyone get ready there. I'm not sure where I'll end up sleeping as they haven't got a spare room, so I could end up bedding down on a pile of Sylvanian Families in my niece's room - but hopefully not!

I would consider a caravan if it's a nice one - maybe take a look at a few there before you decide. I was worried about having too long a drive from where I was getting ready to the ceremony, in case of traffic or something causing issues & me arriving late, so for peace of mind I'd go for it if it's in the vicinity of your actual wedding.

I'm staying with my Mom and her partner, with a few of my bridesmaids and auntie.

I agree with SunnyPinkConfetti310 though, if the caravans are clean and comfortable then I don't see a problem with them, it's the people you;re with more than anything.

I'm staying in the hotel we are having the reception in the night before and my H2B will be at our house (not too far away from the venue tbh) with his best man.

I wanted to stay somewhere the night before so we have the night apart and also so I have somewhere to get ready in the morning. We then have the same room the night of the wedding so we don't have to go far!

We're quite lucky. There is a B&B at the wedding venue and the 5 rooms are held for the wedding party so the bride to be and her party will be staying there from the Thursday evening.

I'm taking the grooms party off to a local (10 mins away) B&B for the Thursday and Friday night then joining my bride at the B&B on the Saturday night.

Another thought - what time are you getting married? Our venue has told us that if there is a wedding the day before us, then they'll do a quick-turnaround on the bridal suite and I will be able to have it from 11am on the day of my wedding. If you're really worried about getting ready in the caravan, maybe your venue could do something similar, so you could stay in the caravans overnight, have breakfast and shower there in the morning, but then decamp to the hotel to do hair, makeup, get dressed etc?

Hi

I'm staying at a hotel with our little girl the night before and also staying there the night of wedding.

We stay in a caravan every year for holidays and they are wonderful and very comfortable. I wouldn't hesitate in staying in one for my wedding.

Jx

I'm staying at my mum & dad's with my bridesmaids (sharing a bed with my chief bridesmaid, just like sleepovers when we were younger), so it should be quite chilled out but fun. My fiance is at the hotel where our reception will be, as are his parents and our family that are getting there the night before.

The more I think about the idea of a caravan, the more I love it, so I reckon you should go with that! However, you could contact your venue and ask if you can have first dibs on any rooms that are left over from the wedding there the night before. I doubt they'll all get booked up, and I'm sure the hotel will try and help you however possible.

I think the caravan sounds quite fun. Space wise you should be fine as a lot of those caravans are really big.

Im staying at our reception venue as we are not getting married locally but I'm wondering how me, my mum, 3 BMs, a hairdresser, an MUA and the photographer will all fit in one room! I think it will be chaos!

I would say see the caravans but I also think that may be a wiser decision as they're owned by your reception venue, so less chance of miscommunication. However I would also be wary without seeing it how they are laid out and what your dress and shoes are like! If it's more field type, then maybe put your proper shoes in the car and buy some fun wellies.

For us this has been a logistical nightmare, easy for me, I'm staying alone in a hotel next to the venue, OH will join me wedding night, that's also where we will be getting ready. Our parents are in a different hotel. However as we have to use the M25 and it's 45 mins in good traffic to get from our house to the church OH is worried he'll be stuck in traffic and turn up late if he stays at our house, coupled with my best mate will be staying at ours. So OH and my Bridesman will get a b&b friday night, Bridesman will stay there on Sat night also, and help with the clean up

I'm in a very nice Hilton with some of the bridesmaids, we're getting ready there purely for the space! Getting ready at my mam's isn't really an option as there are five bridesmaids and it's a 2 bedroom house, 15 miles away from the venue. My fiance is staying at our house overnight probably with the best man.

Thanks all for your advice! Your plans for your own pre-wedding nights sound lovely!

I've decided to go with the caravans! I had a word with the venue and they said I can book now, pay 50% deposit, and cancel for a full refund up to 2 months before the wedding! Ideal!! ALSO they said (as one of you suggested!) that if there are any hotel/cottage rooms but booked up 2-months before, they'll transfer my deposit over to one of those! Absolutely brilliant - am really pleased with the arrangement! I'll take a look at the caravans this summer when I go visit, but I expect it'll be fine.

So it'll be me, my fiancé, my bridesmaids and siblings, his groomsmen, and all their partners, taking over a caravan site! It will be hilarious I think!

Thanks again everyone

Glad to hear that you got it sorted. It sounds like fun!

We have hired luxury barns that are across the lane from our venue for the weekend. There will be 30 of us staying there the night before (me, OH, bridesmaids, BM, ushers, parents, friends of parents etc) for a BBQ or hog roast. OH and I will be sleeping in separate barns on the Friday night. The bridesmaids and I will be staying in the biggest barn which sleeps 8-10 people and has a big main room with high ceilings so it is perfect for fitting us, the MUA, hairdresser, videographer, photographer in etc). Then OH and I are staying in the bridal cottage at our venue the night of the wedding.

We have also booked a B&B that is half a mile away and has 10 rooms and a large restaurant. Any other guests that want to stay the night of the wedding can do and then we will all meet there the next morning to have breakfast together x

WOW FutureMrsSmith... I have I say, that sounds AMAZING! That's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for! Hopefully the caravans will be a decent enough substitute though!

I'm really excited about it and glad that we booked it. I was worried about it being too expensive for everyone but everyone loved the idea and no one will have to pay for taxis etc. I have heard that they are building a hot tub there too this year so that should be fun :-)

Where we are getting married is kind of remote so we are lucky that there is this place over the lane! X

I'm staying at the hotel we're getting married in so I can relax and get ready at my leisure the next morning. I cannot imagine anything worse than staying at home, with family or in somewhere self-catering on the night before our wedding, I want to feel pampered and relaxed as I know I will be stressed enough as it is. I don't want to be fussed about housework, cooking and the like.