<p>O.K. - the person who does my graphic design work is having surgery next week, so, I am not going to have any formal invitations to send out for another month, as she will be out of commission for three weeks. </p>
<p>There are people who are going to be invited to graduation, and they will have to travel from out of town, and six of them are in their 70’s ( three couples). They are not going to know the city, etc., and, I want to pay for their hotel accomodations at a very nice hotel (five star) that is also a historic site, that has everything they could possibly want, and that is also five minutes away from campus, so, no traffic issues or travel snafus getting to graduation. Plus it’s very beautiful, elegant, safe, etc. </p>
<p>I am making a lot of arrangements by phone because I won’t be able to send formal invitations out for a while, and all of these people tend to have crowded schedules, AND the hotel will run out of space quickly, so, my question is, considering I’m setting things up by telephone this week, how do I phrase the statement to make it clear that I will pay for their accomodations, but in a way that is classy and that doesn’t make it a big issue? I don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but I also don’t want them to have to pay for their hotels, either, and I especially don’t want any confusion about - or for that matter any focus on - who is paying. </p>
<p>Any ideas how to get the point across with as little fuss as possible? </p>
<p>Should I just say “please allow me to make your accomodation arrangements - I’ll have confirmation send to you via mail” or something like that?</p>
<p>That sounds like the right idea. Just to make sure there’s no confusion, you could say “we’d like you to be our guests, so please allow me…” (And what a nice thing to do!)</p>
<p>At least you can find hotel reservations. Our local HS schedules graduation on the weekend of a NASCAR race in a city with 50,000 people. There are no rooms – ever – within a 25 mile radius. Outside of that radius, there usually are rooms in Rehoboth Beach, but in-season rates are $200/nt. for what amounts to a Motel 8. The school board revisits the issue every year, but never changes it. </p>
<p>Anyway, I think you have the right idea – and it will be greatly appreciated that you got the issue out of the way right up front.</p>
<p>For casual, not overstated (and so there’s NO confusion about your intentions to pay ) - I might put it like this " Oh, and the hotel room is our treat. Let me make all the arrangements and I’ll have the confirmation sent to you via email etc. etc. "</p>
<p>Thanks everyone, I appreciate it, now I don’t feel so lame. LOL. </p>
<p>Roshke, very good point, I answered your PM. I already managed to confuse one person today by not being clear, so your point is very well taken. The whole purpose is to quickly be very clear and move on so there’s no discomfort. </p>
<p>Iderochi, that’s sort of my concern - the better hotels close to campus will fill quickly, and I don’t want to leave 70-ish couples to their own devices in a city where the traffic congestion is going to be unbearable, and where no one will speak any english in the budget priced hotels that they would tend to chose if left on their own. Besides, there’s one specific hotel that is going to be perfect and that everyone will love, and also they will be safe, and close to campus.</p>
<p>lts, I’m not sure if your D’s school has this problem, but I know that at NYU (where D2 is graduating this year) there is a limit of two tickets for graduation, which poses problems for many families who want siblings and/or grandparents to attend. Just thought I’d mention that in case you want to check out the situation at your D’s school. And I agree with the advice to make your hotel reservations ASAP. Ours are already made! </p>
<p>As to your original question, I think roshke’s suggestion about saying “it’s our treat” is excellent. That leaves no room for misunderstanding.</p>
<p>Alwaysamom, I think I caught a break there - she’s graduating with her team, and because they’re flying out the next morning for a competition, their graduation is with the graduate school and not with the regular undergrad program. D promises me I’m getting plenty of tickets and that there will be plenty of room. She sometimes delivers one of those “often in error, never in doubt” scenarios though, I sincerely hope this isn’t one of those occassions. </p>
<p>One of the invited persons is a dear, dear mentor, a gentleman in his 70’s; he spent so much of his free time evenings and weekends with her working out and training in her sport during her four years in high school (he is a five time national champion) and she insists she would not have achieved at the D-1 level were it not for all the time he invested. She tells me there is a part of the graduation ceremony where the graduate gives something (their cords? the stole they wear???) to the person who most greatly influenced them, and she intends for this gentleman to be the recipient. I am guessing that cannot happen if he’s sitting, say, 25 rows away…anyway, hopefully this works out…</p>
<p>Perhaps it’s my teaching experience, but the wording you have been given isn’t clear as to who will pay. It sounds like you will make the arrangements only. Perhaps something like: “We really want you and everyone we love to be here for this special day, so we have blocked and paid for rooms for all our family and friends. Since we have so many coming, I will have the hotel send the confirmation directly to you, so you can check in more easily.”</p>
<p>We would love to have you attend DD’s graduation ceremony on … at…
We are reserving accommodations at… for the nights of… We will have confirmation sent to you directly by the hotel."</p>