Wedding Guest Travel & Accommodation Planner — Every Guest, Sorted

Who needs the bus? Where is everyone staying? — yet another spreadsheet that gets lost

Out-of-town and destination weddings add a layer of logistics that local weddings don't have. When guests are travelling from other cities, other countries, or just need a night somewhere close to the venue, you suddenly have to manage hotel allocations, room bookings, check-in times, shuttle bus capacity, and individual transport arrangements — all simultaneously, for dozens of different people.

The classic approach is another spreadsheet. You paste your guest list into a new tab, add columns for hotel name, room number, check-in date, check-out date, and transport method. Then you spend the next several weeks chasing guests to fill it in, manually updating cells as information trickles in through messages and calls, and keeping a running total of how many seats the shuttle bus needs. At some point, you lose track of which version is current.

The week before the wedding, your transport coordinator asks for a final headcount. Your hotel contact needs a confirmed room list. Both need information that's scattered across your spreadsheet, your messages, and your memory. This is fixable — but only if you set it up properly in the first place.

Accommodation and transport tracking built into your guest list

Seatly's guest travel planner is integrated directly into your guest records. Every guest has an accommodation section — hotel name, room type or number, check-in date, check-out date — and a transport section where you record how they're getting to the venue. The system tracks everything in a structured format that generates clean summaries and exports on demand.

The accommodation dashboard shows you at a glance which hotel each group of guests is staying at, total occupancy per hotel, and who still hasn't confirmed their accommodation plan. The transport summary gives you an instant headcount of how many guests need the shuttle bus versus driving themselves. Both views are exportable in one click when you need to share logistics with coordinators, hotels, or transport providers.

• ✓ Per-guest accommodation tracking — hotel name, room, check-in and check-out dates per guest
• ✓ Transport tracking per guest — needs bus, driving, own arrangement, or custom tags
• ✓ Accommodation summary view — total guests per hotel, who's staying where, instant overview
• ✓ Transport headcount — total needing bus, driving, etc. for shuttle coordination
• ✓ Location and hotel notes — add address, booking reference, check-in time, and any special notes
• ✓ Linked to guest list — all travel data lives in the guest record, no separate system needed

How to coordinate wedding guest travel in Seatly

1. 1. Define your accommodation options. Start by creating the accommodation choices you're offering guests — Hotel A, Hotel B, the venue's guesthouse, or simply "own arrangement." Each option can include the hotel name, address, group booking reference, and check-in/check-out times.
2. 2. Collect guest preferences through RSVP. If you're using Seatly's RSVP form, add accommodation preference and transport need as RSVP questions. Guests select their preferences when they confirm attendance, saving you the follow-up work of chasing each person individually.
3. 3. Assign accommodation and transport per guest. For guests who communicate through other channels, update their travel details directly in the guest record. For each guest, select their accommodation option and transport method. Add a room number or booking reference in the notes field as details come through.
4. 4. Review the travel summary dashboards. The accommodation dashboard shows you a live breakdown of guests per hotel — how many confirmed, how many unassigned. The transport summary shows the shuttle bus headcount, the number driving themselves, and any guests still without a confirmed transport plan.
5. 5. Export and share with coordinators. When your hotel or transport provider needs the final lists, export the accommodation or transport summary with one click. The PDF includes a full breakdown per hotel or transport type, along with guest names and any relevant notes. Forward it directly to your coordinator.

Your guest travel dashboard at a glance

Seatly vs Excel for guest travel and accommodation tracking

For destination weddings and any event where guests need accommodation, the logistics layer adds real complexity. Spreadsheets require you to manually build every summary. Seatly tracks everything against guest records and generates summaries instantly.