New Royalton Bride

Hi girls! Now that I have booked my RH, I am a little overwhelmed by all the things I need to start thinking about! Two quick questions... how early do people send out STD's? We will be getting married Labor Day '09 so I am thinking sooner may be better... Also, what hotels have other Royalton brides booked for OOT guests? How early can I reserve blocks? Thanks!!

Hi there - I just booked at the Royalton about a month ago so I'm also in the beginnings of plannings. One thing I can say is that things really do book fast in NY so it probably does pay to get started early on things, especially things that there's only one of like a band, dj, photographer.

As for your questions, I think STDs can go out whenever. People seem to do them between 6-9 months before the wedding but I agree that if your wedding is over a holiday weekend where people might be planning to go away, the earlier the better. A good friend of mine is getting married Memorial Day weekend and she sent her STDs out in mid July - almost a year in advance.

As for hotels for OOT guests, I think that the Roslyn Claremont is very popular with Royalton girls. My FH and I actually booked rooms at the Inn at Great Neck instead. We thought it seemed like a warmer, hipper hotel and we liked the customer service much more. The price is $190/night which is on the high end but when we called around to other hotels, their prices were only $20-40 less per night. Not a huge difference. Also, our OOT guests are coming from Manhattan, Chicago and Miami where hotels regularly go for $200+ What we also like about it is that it's in the heart of downtown Great Neck so will allow our guests to have a really nice area to walk around during the day. Check it out at www.innatgreatneck.com. As for when to book, if you book under 15 rooms theres no $ obligation so it doesn't cost you anything to book early.

Please let me know if I can help in any other ways!! Good luck planning!