There is a moment at a lot of weddings, somewhere around ten o'clock, when the room begins to thin out. Not because people are tired. Because they are counting the drive home and deciding who is still fit to do it.
Getting accommodation right is what stops that happening.
Who is actually travelling
Work it out honestly and early, because it changes several decisions.
At a Richards Bay or Empangeni wedding the guest list usually breaks into three groups. There are the people who live here and are fifteen minutes from their own beds. There are the people driving up from Durban, about 155 kilometres, or in from further north. And there are the ones flying: Richards Bay Airport is about fifteen kilometres from our gate, King Shaka International about 127.
The middle group is the one that matters. They are too far to drive home after a wedding and too close to assume they will book something.
On the property
There are four en-suite rooms at Thembela, plus the Thembela Villa.
Two of the rooms have two king-size extra-length beds each, which suits a family or a group travelling together. The other two have a queen, which suits couples. The Villa is self-contained and is most often used by a bridal party, or by a family who want their own space.
Every room has an en-suite bathroom, air conditioning, Wi-Fi, coffee and tea, and daily housekeeping.
That is four rooms and a villa. It does not house three hundred people and it is not meant to. It houses the people who should not be driving: usually the couple, the parents, and whoever travelled furthest.
Who to give them to
Couples often start by claiming the rooms for their friends. It is worth thinking again.
The people who benefit most are the elders, who have been on their feet since early morning; the parents, who will be the last to leave; and the bridal party on the morning of the wedding, because getting ready on site removes an entire category of stress.
Your university friends will happily share a lodge in town. Your grandmother should not be in a car at midnight.
Beyond the property
Richards Bay and Empangeni are both a short drive away and both have hotels, guesthouses and self-catering options. Because the venue is between the two, your guests are not committed to one town.
Two pieces of advice that cost nothing.
Tell guests early. The moment your date is fixed, put accommodation suggestions on your invitation or your wedding website. People book late and then complain about the options.
Say something about getting back. Whether that is lift clubs, a shuttle you have arranged, or simply telling people plainly that it is a fifteen-minute drive to town, it lets guests plan. Guests who know how they are getting home stay for the last dance.
The morning after
The underrated part of having rooms on site is breakfast. There is something quiet and good about the handful of people who stayed sitting down together the next morning, still in yesterday's happiness, before everyone scatters.
You will not plan for it. You will remember it.
For room rates and availability, ask us when you enquire. There is more on getting here in a wedding venue near Richards Bay, and the spaces are on the spaces page.