Communication

• Establish good communication with your out-of-state wedding guests from the moment you become engaged. Though the traditional way of informing guests of an engagement is to send formal announcements, many couples forgo tradition by sending a mass email. Follow-up by sending "save the date" cards once you have set a solid date for the nuptials. The card should include the date of your wedding, along with you and your fiancé's name and an engagement picture if you please. This allows out of state guests to plan for travel and accommodations.
  
  

Accommodations

• Reserve a block of rooms at a hotel near the site of the wedding. This makes it easier for guests to socialize and may solve transportation issues. Most hotels offer a discounted rate for a block of rooms. When negotiating the rate, check the online rate for the same rooms and insist the hotel match or beat the rate for your guests. Provide the hotel check-in desk with a welcome bag for each of your guests stuffed with an itinerary of wedding-related activities, contact names and phone numbers for other guests, maps and tourist information, coupons to attractions and shops, snacks and a welcome note from you and your fiancé.
  
  

Transportation

• Though etiquette does not obligate a bride and groom to arrange transportation for out-of-state guests, it is a gracious gesture. Send out a wedding newsletter with information about transportation from the airport to the hotel where guests are staying, how to catch a cab and how much it will cost. Make your guests aware of an airport shuttle service, if the hotel offers it. For special guests, you may want to arrange their transportation. If you have multiple activities planned for guests, consider arranging a bus service to them.
  
  

Activities

• Since most out-of-state guests arrive a day or two before the wedding, consider planning a picnic at a local park or a brunch at a restaurant so that guest can make acquaintances and spend time together. If the majority of your guests live out of state, you could plan a wedding weekend. Turn the rehearsal dinner into a pre-wedding party. Invite immediate family, members of the wedding party along with their significant others, parents of child attendants and out of town guests. If your wedding will be held late in the afternoon, arrange playtime for male guests such as a short round of golf or a touch-football game. At the same time, the female members of the bridal party and out of town guests may meet for a luncheon or a spa day.