If you have out of town family and friends attending you’re wedding, you’re more than likely going to want a place for them to stay. This is where reserving hotel room blocks come into play!

Basic Information

Depending on where you’re having your wedding, you’re going to want to block off one to two hotels. Some hotels may only block a certain amount of rooms, which is why having a second hotel near by is also ideal. Although you’re not going to have a total in mind of how many room you’ll need, it’s good to estimate so you can have a starting point.

Guests that book these room blocks are typically given a discounted rate, however they have to book by the cut-off date (or until the rooms have all been taken).

Process

Once you have your venue, ask if they have any recommendations for guests to stay or where clients have stayed in the past. Depending on their answer, you can then look into their suggestions or begin the search on your own. Look around for rates and ask questions about what’s all included. Once you’ve found the one or two hotels that you’re interested in going with

Timeline

Reserving hotel room blocks typically occurs once you have an estimate of the number of guests which is around 8 months before the wedding day. However, the sooner you can get something on the books at the places you’d like the better and less stressed you’ll be!

Tips + Tricks

Make sure you clearly communicate all the hotel and booking information to guests on your invitation and/or your wedding website.

Ask your venue if they have recommendations for hotels. A lot of times they may have relationships with hotels and able to guide you in the right direction.

Look around for rates. Don’t just go with the first place you talk too…unless it’s the only hotel in the area.

Book as soon as you know. This will help you feel a little less stressed knowing there’s an option for your guests to stay!

Avoid booking too many rooms! This could cause extra fees that are totally avoidable. Usually hotels allow for 10 blocks to start so that you can’t over book then add on more as necessary.

Questions + Things to Consider

Doing a block of hotel rooms usually means there is a group rate discount. And who doesn’t love a discount?!

Having all your guests staying in the same place is much easier than having everyone all spread out.

Keep in the mind that guests that aren’t out of town may also want to stay at the hotel.

See if the hotel has a shuttle service to and from your venue. This could eliminate a portion of your transportation services if so!

Can they host a brunch the morning after?

Look out for penalty fees (aka an attrition clause). If you block 20 rooms and 10 of them aren’t taken you could get penalized with an extra fee.

Ask about cancellation policies and what is all included. (You can’t receive what you don’t ask for … right?!)

Can you add on more rooms if those rooms fill up? What is the max they’re able to hold for your group at the group rate?

Don’t let reserving hotel room blocks keep you up at night! However if you’re feeling a little exhausted and need some help, contact me!

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