Hotel for Afternoon Wedding?

nerdwife

I assumed that part of putting together a wedding included providing a hotel block, but my mom (who isn't paying - which of course is fine - but is offering plentyyyy of advice) said that it's not necessary since we are planning an afternoon wedding. Is this true? The only guests who are OOT are grandparents and an aunt and uncle, all who will be staying with immediate family anyway. 

We're still not sure if it'll be a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, if that matters.

Thanks!

julieanne912

I think since you only have pretty much nobody that would need a hotel room, a block isn't necessary, but you could maybe research what hotels are close by and their pricing to let those that might need a room know if you felt so inclined.  It has nothing to do with what time of day your wedding is, as people would travel just as much/far for an afternoon wedding than they would for an evening wedding.

monkeysip

^ Agree with the above.

I think blocks are necessary when you have a large group of people who will need a room, or when it's hard to find hotel rooms in your area.  

vmj23

I'd take into account time of year and availability of hotels as well.  The only people that utilized my hotel block  I reserved were some immediate family members who didn't want to drive home, but I had I not reserved it, there may not have been rooms available for them.   There weren't many rooms available at the place I held the wedding and not many nearby hotels. It was a huge college graduation going on the same week, so rooms were hard to get.   It was no lose to me to block rooms though - they were released to public a certain amt of time before the wedding

SP29

A hotel block is never a requirement for the B&G to arrange, but it is a nice gesture. It also has nothing to do with when the wedding actually is, as said, the travel is the same whether it's an afternoon or evening wedding (well, I suppose some may more likely to drive straight home if the wedding is early enough).

But anyway, it doesn't sound like your guests would make much use out of a hotel block, though you could still do one. Make sure you are clear about what the hotel requires. Some hotels want you to place a deposit for the block, some hotels require that you block a minimum number of rooms. 

We did blocks at 2 hotels in the area, with the hotels being at different price points. No deposit was required, and I think I booked 10ish rooms at each hotel. The rooms would be released back to the original pool by X date if not used. I don't know about the second hotel, because we didn't stay there and we didn't ask our guests, but at the first hotel where we also stayed, only one other guest took advantage of the room block. 

I agree that knowing some local hotels and pricing information would be enough, should anyone ask. Otherwise, adults can be responsible for their own travel and lodging, if they choose to stay at a hotel.