How Many Rooms To Block For A Wedding
In order to calculate how many rooms you’ll need to reserve, answer these questions.
1) How many out-of-town guests are you expecting will need a room?Estimate the number of households that will need accommodations by dividing the number of attending guests by two. Then make an estimate of what % of your out-of-town guestswill book a room .
E.g. 50 out-of-town guests divided by 2 equals 25 households.80% of 25 households = 20 potential hotel rooms
2) How many nights are they likely to stay?Depending on how far your guests are traveling and your wedding itinerary, determine the number of nights your guests will be staying.
3) Will your wedding party or immediate family members need a room?Even if they live in town, sometimes wedding party and family members want to stay at the hotel for an enhanced wedding experience. Reach out to them early for a room commitment to ensure they’re booked in.
4) Local wedding guestsThe same holds true for local wedding guests that may not want to drive home after the festivities. This is certainly trickier to estimate, so we suggest that you hold off on reserving on their behalf and offering up any leftover rooms closer to the date in order to help meet your booking commitment.
How Many Rooms Should I Reserve For My Hotel Room Block
Once your guest list is set, you will want to run through your list and check off those who are traveling for your wedding. From there, you should be able to see how many rooms you will need to include in a hotel room block. Keep in mind, hotel room blocks are booked by the room rather than by the individual, so take note of which guests will be staying together. Calculate the number of rooms you will likely need before contacting the hotel.
What Is Wedding Hotel Block Etiquette
The idea is to make the experience as easy as possible for guests who are traveling far distances to attend the wedding. This means making sure they are well informed of the accommodation arrangements. So we suggest letting guests know about the destination and hotel room blocks well in advance of the wedding date. Preferably even before sending out the invitations, at the time Save-the-Dates are sent out. The information can also be added to the wedding website so that it can easily be accessed by guests. To ensure that no guests miss the cut off date, make the deadline to book rooms 10 days earlier than it actually is.
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How Wedaways Can Help With Hotel Room Blocks
Make your life easier by engaging the services of a travel company such as Wedaways to handle the logistics of room blocks. Arranging these blocks can be complicated as hotels often provide information written in convoluted travel terms. The Wedaways travel professionals are familiar with these terms and can streamline the process. This saves you hours of precious planning time. Even better, Wedaways has the contacts and expertise to negotiate the best room block rates and concessions just for you.
After engaging our services, we will find the closest and best hotel options to suit guests. Based on the information you provide about the guest list, well assess the number of rooms needed and the type of accommodation that would be best suited to your requirements. Some hotels require a guarantor to ensure that the number of rooms negotiated in the block is filled. If not filled, the guarantor is responsible for the unblocked rooms. However, other hotels allow complimentary blocks on rooms, up to a certain number per night. Whereas, most hotels offer larger groups other concessions such as complimentary rooms.
When Should You Block Hotel Rooms For A Wedding
We recommend blocking hotel rooms for your wedding shortly after booking your venue, at least six months before your wedding. If youre getting married during a busy time of year in your wedding location and are particularly concerned about hotels filling up, its not uncommon for couples to reserve room blocks nine months before the big day.
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Determine How Many Blocks Youll Need
Once you know your room number, you can figure out how many blocks to book. Block sizes vary from hotel to hotel, but theyre usually between 10 and 30 rooms, with larger hotels offering larger blocks. Per Ayers, blocks at corporate chains such as Marriott and Hilton typically dont go above 25, and she rarely sees anything above 30 unless its a privately owned property.
Now You Know All About Wedding Room Blocks
It takes some great research and negotiation skills to navigate hotel room blocks for weddings. But with this helpful advice straight from the minds of experts who have been there and done that, youll get rates and rooms everyone will love.
Up next, boost your wedding planning knowledge even further by learning how to plan a rehearsal dinner.
Let us help you book your room blocks!
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How Do You Negotiate A Hotel Room Block
You get help from the professionals! As a luxury travel company with a specialty in the wedding space, we are privy to preferred pre-negotiated room block rates at hotels all around the world. Once we identify the properties suitable for a room block, we reach out to our direct contacts and start to communicate about rates, length of stay, concessions and more. By engaging our services, you dont have to worry about asking hotels for room block prices or negotiating the terms. Weve got you covered.
How Many Hotels Should We Set Up Room Blocks At
The first thought is often to setup blocks in as many spots as possible. In most cases, I do NOT recommend this .
In my experience, its best to setup your room blocks in the least amount of hotels as possible. Ideally, one or two and no more than three. This makes it easier for your guests to make their decision having too many options can be overwhelming.
When setting up a block at two different hotels, consider a higher and lower price point to accommodate most guests budgets. Some guests will be happy to splurge on the nicer room and others will feel better going with the more economical option.
There are a few other important reasons that having one or two hotel room blocks is better than having a whole bunch:
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The more blocks you have, the more spread out your guests will be. On the whole, your guests want to spend more time together and will meet up outside of your main events. Having many hotels means itll be harder to coordinate get togethers.
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The more blocks you have, the more transportation youll need. And the more transportation you need, the more it adds to your budget.
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The more blocks you have, the more places youll need to drop off welcome bags, weekend itineraries, and anything else youre doing for your guests.
Having blocks at one or two spots keeps things simple, easy to manage, and makes for a great guest experience.
Photo by EIN Photography of Vivian and Joshs Harold Pratt House Wedding
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Arranging Hotels For Your Wedding
As a key bit of advice, reserve a block of rooms for your guests at special rates at one or two select hotels with plenty of time before the big event. At most hotels, and as a general rule, the minimum number of guests rooms required to make a block is 10 rooms per night. If, however, you are holding the reception at the hotel or using any banquet space that number can be flexed. If you are looking for over 30 rooms per night, another good idea is to split the group blocks among two to three hotels. This way your guests can have a choice between different locations and prices. . Whatever you do to set up these hotel blocks, do not start blindly calling hotels in your area. You will not be doing your guests any favors by reserving blocks at the first rates the hotel quotes to you. The first step is to see what rates are out there on the internet. The best source for accomplishing this is HotelPlanner.com.
Tips For Negotiating Hotel Room Blocks For A Wedding
Tip 1: Read the contract carefully.
Every. Single. Word. Because although contracts are full of strange words and about as exciting as a bran flake breakfast, if you skim through one, youre likely to fall into a pothole thats impossible to get out of.
Tip 2: Understand the language.
Understand these commonly used legal terms found in hotel contracts and youll be one more step ahead.
Allowable Shrinkage Clause: The percentage of rooms allowed to go unfilled, typically between 10-20%. For example, if you book 20 rooms, but 2-4 go unbooked, you will be charged a penalty fee. This clause will most likely be seen in a contract for Closed/Guaranteed Blocks.
Attrition Rate: This refers to the percentage of rooms that must be filled to avoid a penalty fee, typically between 80-90%. For example, if you book a block of rooms, but the minimum amount of rooms filled falls short of the number agreed to, youll owe the hotel up to 80% of the room block fee.
Mitigation/Resell Clause: The hotel must try and book unfilled rooms in your block after the cut-off date. You are not responsible for these rooms after theyve been sold to other customers. This clause will most likely be seen in a contract for Open/Courtesy Blocks.
Tip 3: Dont answer the budget question too soon.
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When Should I Make My Hotel Room Block Reservation
Its a good idea to secure a hotel room block contract in advance of your wedding date, well before your wedding invitations are mailed. To be on the safe side, no closer than 3 months prior to the wedding day, but ideally youd have the details listed on your wedding websites by the time youve sent save the dates.
Reserve As Early As Possible
Once you have your venue nailed down and an idea of how many guests will need accommodations, youll want to get working on booking your hotel room blocks as soon as possible. It is particularly important to reserve early if youre getting married in a town without a lot of accommodation options, on a holiday weekend, or on the weekend of a popular local event .
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What Are The Benefits Of Hotel Weddings
The most obvious benefit of a hotel wedding venue is that they can provide accommodation. Logistically, this arrangement makes things much simpler. Since everything takes place at the same venue, guests dont have to worry about transport which can be expensive . Wedding guests will also get much better rates on rooms as well as food and beverage if the entire wedding is taking place at the hotel. Best of all, it is convenient for everyone involved as guests can now relax and enjoy themselves. There is no worry about getting back to their accommodation and everyone can be together again the next morning.
Am I Charged If One Of My Guests Cancels Their Room
This question is something you should discuss with the hotel. Different hotels have different cancellation clauses. It also depends on whether the reservation the guest makes is nonrefundable, in which case they are still on the hook for the money. Make sure you read the contract for hotel blocks for weddings very carefully, so you are not taken by surprise by details like this.
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Considerations For Your Wedding Hotel Room Blocks In Raleigh Durham Cary Chapel Hill And Nc
As you peruse the fantastic selection of Heart of NC Weddings preferred hotel room blocks and NC wedding accommodations below, think about the guests who will be utilizing the room. Some of your guests may enjoy a young vibe in a downtown location where they can walk to various restaurants and bars. Others might prefer luxurious amenities and the convenience of on-site fine dining. Perhaps you want to showcase a piece of your town by offering a historic hotel with a Southern feel, or one of the hotels that have incredible modern art for your guests to enjoy. If being together is a priority, check out the boutique hotels and B& Bs.
Its always a great idea to offer a couple of price points for your guests. Youll find big brand properties such as Hilton and Marriott near downtown Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. We also have several boutique hotels, and Bed & Breakfast properties.
Most hotels offer a special discount for a group rate. However, they may have a minimum amount of rooms to which you must commit by a certain date. This means staying on top of your RSVPs as the wedding date arrive. Fortunately, you need those final numbers to arrange your tables and finalize your meal plans as well!
Luxury Hotel and Wedding Venue in Chapel Hill
- Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Chapel Hills most famous historic hotel and venue, located on UNC Campus
- Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Be Strategic About Location
While your hotel blocks should be convenient to your venue , its actually more important that they be close to each other. That way, if youre hosting a brunch or an after-party its easy for people to get to the location, says Ayers. Or, if youre offering transportation to the wedding, the only has to make one stop that people can meet at. It saves time in the long run.
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How Many Rooms Will We Need
This question is a little more difficult for me to answer for you, because it depends a LOT on YOUR guest list.
As a starting point, I recommend looking at your guest list and seeing which guests are a) likely to attend and b) traveling more than 30-45 minutes to your wedding destination.
If your guests are more local, some people still prefer to get a room to have a nice night out and keep the party going. But not as many rooms will be needed compared to when a majority of guests are doing a lot of traveling.
When counting, youll want to count couples and families as one room as they typically stay together. So two guests who are partners = one room. Dont forget to count yourselves and any parents, immediate family, wedding party, and VIPs who will need a room for getting ready.
While you can set up an open block for more rooms than you think youll need, I dont recommend asking for a block of 40 rooms if you know youll only need 10. If youre choosing a guaranteed block, Id opt for as close of a number needed as you can estimate to keep your budget for other priorities.
Photo by Asya Photography of Ali and Matts Logan Hotel Wedding
Who Pays For A Hotel Room Block
You, as the couple are only setting up a pre-negotiated rate for a block of rooms. Typically, each guest books and pays for their own room.
Setting up the pre-negotiated rate helps your guests organize their travel plans by gathering some options close to your reception, and it helps the hotel be prepared for a larger group for your dates.
In most cases, it is not expected for the couple or host to pay for their guests accommodations, even with destination weddings.
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When And How Should You Tell Your Guests About Your Room Blocks
A wedding room block isnt useful unless your guests are aware of it. Therefore, you should definitely include room block details on your wedding website before your save-the-date goes out. That way, when guests check out your wedding website after receiving your save-the-date, theyll see all of the details on the room blocks. You might also want to email your out-of-town guests directly to provide room block information, if youre concerned they wont look at your wedding website. If your room block has a cut-off date, dont be afraid to send out email reminders as that date nears. Your guests wont want to lose out on that discounted group rate if they can help it!
What Does 20% Attrition Mean
If you dont make your room block, then youre in attrition, which is when your actual room block pickup is less than what you contracted. If you dont pick up your block, a hotel will give you more wiggle room. In attrition, the hotel will offer you a room that is more than the number of blocks youve contracted for, and youll have to make up the difference with your own money.
If you cant do this, you wont be allowed to stay in the room. This can be a real problem for people who are new to the industry, as they may not know how much money theyll need to pay for their room, or how long it will take them to get it.
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How To Let Guests Know Your Hotel Block Information
The best way to communicate your hotel block information is to include it on your wedding website. That way, all your guests will be well informed and can easily click to learn more about the accommodation options available. If you have guests coming from out of town, it’s also a nice gesture to include additional information on how to get to the venue or if transportation from the hotel will be provided. Also, consider including contact information for either your wedding planner or a family member on your website so guests can reach out to them directly, should they have questions about directions or accommodations.
