Hotel Room Block Announcement?

chloe97

We are getting married in August at a hotel which has about 350 rooms and have given us a VERY reasonable room rate, but the hotel will have 2 other wedding receptions going on the same day. We are having a large wedding 225+ guests and the majority of the guests are from out of town or will likely need a room because they live an hour away and there are no cabs/public transportation. We are thinking that we will need about 80-100 rooms just to hold our guests. Here is the problem- we were only given a room block of 30 rooms with the option to add as many room as are available until the hotel books up. We asked about negotiating more rooms into the contract, but that would have come with attrition and I know many of my friends/family could end up booking on Hotwire or another travel site if they found something at the same hotel for cheaper. We didn't want to be put in a situation where we needed to ask friends and family to not to use a better rate if it became available just to save us money and we didn't want to be in a situation where we were spending an extra $4000 because of room attrition because a better rate became available.

There are 2 other hotels within a mile that I may try to get room blocks in, but then guests would have to drive and we know most would rather not drive because they will be drinking.

Our Save the Dates are (if all goes according to plan) going out in February, but I really would like our guests to reserve their rooms as soon as possible because the other 2 weddings have been on their books much longer than ours and we have no way of knowing how large these weddings are. Are there any etiquette rules for this? Should I have my parents and FI's parents send a link to our wedding website announcement to our extended families? Is it rude to send the wedding website out via email before the STDs go out? Also, should I go ahead and try to get back up hotel blocks in nearby hotels just in case? Does anyone have experience with a similar situation.   

photokitty

I would send the STD with hotel info before Feb or just let it go. I don't think a 4 - 6 weeks is going to make a huge difference in the availability of hotel rooms. Many people will still not reserve right away. If people ask, tell them of the limited availability and then let them make their own decisions. 

STARMOON44

From an hour away there's no way I would get a room. I would just drink less and drive home. I dong think this is going to be a big deal. Just send the save the date, mention that there are a couple other weddings on so things might fill up to one or two chatty people and move on.

chloe97

Should I reserve more rooms nearby just in case? Are there any rules saying that a couple should block enough rooms for their out of town guests? Right now we have 75 STDs going to couples/families who live out of town and only 30 guaranteed rooms for them.

My friends who live in town and my FI's parents friends who also live in town are heavy drinkers. Most people we've mentioned our wedding's location to have stated that they will be getting room, so we also know that there will also be in town people needing rooms as well.  

mlg78

I would say more than half of our 160 person wedding came from an hour away and at least 25 or so came from 3+ hours a way.  How many got hotel rooms? 3.  Just explain on your website that the room block may fill up quickly so you encourage guests to get their reservations done if they'd like to reserve a room.  But as starmoon said, there's no way I'd get a hotel for only an hour away.  It's not your job to make travel accommodations.  Also, most hotels will extend the room block if it fills up.  I wouldn't worry about it.  Just list your website on your STD and be done with it.

Cookie Pusher

Most of our guests lived about an hour or more away from our venue, and we just barely filled our room block. The only people who booked a room were in the bridal party or came from out of state. I honestly wouldn't stress the room block. Your guests are presumably adults who can figure out where to sleep for the night.

chloe97

Ok this is good to know. Both FILs and my own parents were stressing about the room block not being enough after we signed the contract. FI and I did not want to take on the financial responsibility if the room block did not fill up. I think a lot of people do what I do and that is find a better deal a week or 2 before the wedding online. We did get a small room block at the hotel a mile or so away - just in case. They offered us a shuttle if we get 10 rooms to fill up. Hopefully, this will appease the parents.   

jacques27

Just to chime in - I may potentially get a hotel for a wedding an hour a way - I've done it before.  But one time was because my friend gave me a certificate that was about to expire for a free hotel room that she wasn't going to use and the other time was because I was using it as an excuse to get away after a hard couple months at work and I planned to drink a lot.  But I've also done the "just stop drinking and go home" thing, too. 

But either way, I've never expected the bride and groom to figure out my accommodations for me.  In my part of the globe, hotel blocks are just a courtesy that's not required for them to do and where the rooms are just on hold (not for a special rate) and if they aren't sold by a certain date they get released to the general public (no one is on the hook for the cost).  If the hotel block is full, I'm a pretty resourceful gal - I know how to find other area hotels and book myself a room (which I've done) or I'll just make the decision to stop drinking and go home.

charcoalandblush

DF and I always get a hotel room for weddings, we've done it for weddings less than 30 minutes away. The last wedding we went to was about 20 mins away (but in the suburbs, so no cabs) and all of his friends got rooms so we didn't have to worry about driving home.

Hopefully between the two room blocks you'll be just fine! If there are people you know will absolutely want a room, I would just email or call them soon and give them the information. But most people can fend for themselves.