Do You Send Hotel Information With Save The Dates
You certainly can. In fact, since by the time the wedding invitation is sent it may be too late to book hotels, most couples choose to include this information in their save-the-date cards. You can also put hotel information on your wedding web page, and just include the link on your save-the-dates.
How Should You Word Your Hotel Block Information To Guests
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 site so guests can reach out to them directly, should they have questions about directions or accommodations.
We’re exhausted just thinking about all the details, so we’re here to help. We’ve teamed up with Hotel Planner for all your reservation needs. Hotel Planner lets you search all the major hotels near your venue, recommends lodging, and helps you negotiate a great price and reserve all your rooms in one place. All it takes is a simple informational questionnaire and you’re matched with a local expert that can help you every step of the way.
Not sure where to begin with your wedding planning? Take our Style Quiz and we’ll pull together a custom wedding vision and vendors to match, just for you. After that, create a free, personalized wedding website to keep your guests informed about your plans, and a time-saving Guest List Manager to organize your attendees. Even better? You can sync your Guest List Manager and wedding website to update everything at once.
Decide On A Guaranteed Or Courtesy Block
The hotel will ask if you want to set up a guaranteed or a courtesy room block. Chances are, you want a courtesy block.
With a guaranteed room block, the hotel takes your requested number of rooms out of circulation, and you guarantee that they will be booked. If you block 20 rooms, but only 15 of them are booked by your guests, you pay for the extra 5 rooms.
With a courtesy room block, the hotel will only set aside a limited number of rooms for you , and then set a booking deadline. Any rooms not booked by your guests before the deadline will go back into regular circulation and can be booked by the general public.
If all 10 of your courtesy block rooms are booked before the deadline, you might be able to add additional rooms to your block, subject to availability and hotel policy. Inquire about this at the time you set up your room block.
For this reason, it can be a good idea to set up courtesy blocks at more than one hotel. This gives your guests options, but it also ensures that you will have enough rooms available for booking.
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What Should You Do If You Cant Get A Hotel Room Block For A Wedding
This is very unlikely to happen as most hotels offer room blocks. Unless you are planning the wedding with very little planning time or have a low budget during an extremely busy period, there is no reason not to get a room block. However, if for some unforeseen reason you find yourself stuck without one, there are still options. In a case like this, we suggest that you provide your guests with a list of hotels in the area near your venue which they can then book themselves. This is not ideal for a wedding but will still help ensure that your guests have accommodation nearby.
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Q: How do I figure out how many rooms to block for my guests the night of the wedding? Our guest list is set, but I havent sent out invitations yet.
A: Without a list of RSVPs to guide you, planning hotel accommodations can often prove to be a challenge. Luckily, Octavia Watson, who coordinates wedding blocks at Center Citys Hotel Palomar, has a strategy that doesnt require a fixed guest list. Start by tallying up all the out-of-town guests and divide the number by half, given that most attendees will share a room a a couple or family, she says. And you might even want to ask around to your in-town friends, to try and gauge who of them might opt to spend the night close to the party. While its too early to calculate an exact number, this estimate will allow you to get a jump on securing an allotment of rooms at the hotel.
Watson also recommends that couples arrange two separate wedding blocksone at a higher-end hotel and the other at a lower price point, says Watson. Giving your guests the option of different room rates makes your Big Day affordable for everyone attending.
Getting married? Start and end your wedding planning journey with Philadelphia Weddings’ guide to the best wedding vendors in the city.
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What Most Dont Realize Is That They Dont Have To Put Down A Deposit
Most couples can be able to block rooms at any hotel without a deposit. Rather than getting a regular room block, they need to ask for a courtesy room block.
This is the kind of room block where you dont have to put down a deposit and there is no fees for unused rooms. Having set up over 4000 wedding room blocks, we know that most hotels offer them .
Wedding Tips: Understanding Hotel Room Blocks
Making sure hotels in your area have rooms available is a crucial part of having the wedding weekend run smoothly. We want to break down the booking process and help you understand exactly what room blocks are!
What is a Room Block?
A room block is a group of ten or more hotel rooms that a hotel puts on hold at a negotiated rate.
There are two ways to secure a room block for your wedding guests:
Group Room Agreement Most hotels can block eleven or more rooms per night on your requested date on a definite basis. You will need to ensure that your guests will utilize a certain percentage of the rooms blocked. Otherwise, you will have to purchase the difference. We suggest that you look at your guest list and book the number of rooms that feels most comfortable to you. The group agreement is not meant to be a scary thing, it is meant for larger wedding groups!
What is attrition in a group agreement?
This number refers to the percentage of rooms that must be filled in order to avoid paying a penalty fee. Each hotel may have a different attrition number but it is typically 80-90%. If the entire room block is not used, then you owe the hotel for all unused rooms based on a minimum commitment of the percentage specified in the contract.
Payment and Deposits
When do I need to block rooms?
Insider Tip!
How many rooms will I need to block?
Featured image: Shalese Danielle Photography
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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.
Common Questions About Hotel Room Blocks
When the task of secure hotel room blocks pops up on your wedding planning checklist, it can feel like an incredibly daunting task. You want your guests to be able to comfortably celebrate with you, knowing that they have somewhere to get ready and somewhere to sleep after the party especially if your wedding requires travel.
If youre a DPNAK client, dont worry Im going to be able to take care of setting up your room blocks for you. Ill just need your help in answering a few questions.
But to help break it down a bit more, here Ill share what the heck a hotel room block is, what types of room blocks there are, and how to handle them.
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Whats The Difference Between Courtesy And Contracted Room Blocks
As youre researching hotels, you might hear the terms courtesy and contracted tossed aroundbut what do they mean? Well, it’s all about the amount of rooms you need to book. A courtesy room block is a group of rooms that are held for your guests for a set period of timeyou may or may not have to sign a contract and you don’t have to put down a deposit to reserve these rooms. After a predetermined cut-off date passes, the rooms will be released to the public. Courtesy blocks are often reserved for smaller groups of under 30 rooms.
If youre hoping to reserve more than 30 rooms at a single hotel for your wedding, youll probably end up with a contracted room block. This means that youll sign a contract and put down a deposit guaranteeing that your family members and friends will book a certain number of rooms for a certain number of nights. If you fall short, you can lose your deposit and/or be charged for unbooked roomsthat’s why we recommend starting with a small number of rooms, and adding more rooms if needed.
How Many Hotel Rooms Should You Block For A Wedding
This is one of the first things that our team at Wedaways determines when chatting with our couples or planners. There are a number of factors that help us to determine the right number of rooms to be blocked. These factors include the number of guests attending the wedding, whether the room block must be guaranteed or if it is complimentary, the number of rooms in the block that can be canceled, the book-by date of the hotel and the travel style of the guests. As you now realize, there is much to consider and it can be confusing if you dont have the experience. This is why we love taking over this task in order to simplify your wedding planning experience.
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Additional Concessions We Can Negotiate
Often there is more you can expect from the property that may not mentioned by a staff representative such as:
- Free upgrades or free rooms
- Special amenities for the wedding couple
- Complimentary Welcome Bag deliveries to guest rooms
- Discounted rates on rooms that are booked pre-or-post the blocked dates
- Discounted resort fees
- Discounted valet or self-parking
Wedaways offers personalized, concierge services to our couples either directly or through the referral of their wedding planner. We have buying power in the space and therefore we know when and to whom and how to ask for the above, and more.
How To Book A Block Of Rooms At The Warehouse Hotel
Let’s look at a more detailed example of reserving hotel room blocks. Warehouse Hotel hosts many wedding parties, their family and friends. Here’s a look at how you can get your rooms with us.
The first step involves contacting us so that we can put you in touch with our sales manager. We will contract up to 15 rooms for a wedding block. You will be given a unique code to pass on to your guests. When they book, they can mention the code to guarantee them a room at the group rate within the block you have reserved.
We give guests of the wedding up to 45 days before their event to reserve their rooms. At that point, we release the unused inventory back into our system. Your guests can still get rooms after the 45-day cutoff, but they will receive the best rack rate and can only book if we have the availability. You should remind your guests to make reservations as quickly as possible so as not to miss out on the special pricing you have reserved. If all 15 rooms get reserved before the cutoff date, then we can add more to your block according to your needs and our own availability, so be sure to always communicate any change of plans with us.
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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.
Start Your Search Early
The earlier you start looking and booking, the more options you’ll have. When narrowing down hotel choices, consider factors like meeting-room size, parking options, and transportation costs. Online sites such as Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz can usually provide these details.
If your event dates are flexible, check out trend graphs like the ones on HotelPlanner.com that forecast future rates so you can hone in on low-cost months.
The price of a hotel room hinges on whether your event is at a peak or off-peak time for the hotel,” says special-events manager Joyce Scardina Becker. In cities, weekends are usually off-peakhotels are busier during the week with business travelersso the rates can be relatively lower. But in resort areas and tourist destinations, weekend rates can be much higher, and popular destinations often require a two-night stay.”
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