Hotel room release date before invitations typically would be sent

Xanax4breakfast

Hi all!  First post here and planning a mid-November wedding of this year. 

I have a question about invite/save the date info & timing.  We are having a semi-destination wedding at a venue that is approximately an hour outside the city we live in, and about half of our guest list is from out of town.  

We are reserving a block of rooms at the venue and are guessing that many of our guests will stay due to the out-of-town factor. However our contract states that the rooms and block rate will release 60 days before the wedding, which is before invites (I believe) would traditionally be sent (6 weeks, or 42 days in advance). 

So my question is how to best deal with letting people know early on that they'll have to book their rooms pretty far in advance.  Should we include that info in the save-the-dates? (Which we're sending out 9 months in advance). Or should we send the invites pretty early - maybe 3 months out (which we had considered doing anyway b/c of so many out of towners), and include the info there? 

Lastly - the release date does seem abnormally early - is that something we should try to negotiate with the venue? 

Thanks for all your help! 

ROBINRENE5

Do you have a wedding website? If so, you can put the info on there and put the link on your STD. My website hasn't had many visitors, but I've had quite a few calls and emails about details and booking rooms. Your block of rooms does release early! Mine releases 15 days before, I'm not sure if this is normal either but it worked out!

AdeleDazeem

I'd personally send the hotel information with the Save the Dates. 

I actually get a bit annoyed when all it says is "Please check our wedding website!"  I'll never remember to go there.  But, if it's on a card in front of me, I'll take care of it quickly.

EDIT: I think ours released 30-45 days before our event.  It varies by location and hotel!

J&K10910

Honestly?  I would try to negotiate the release date.  60 days is a LONG time before the event.  I was able to negotiate one of ours from 30 days before to 10 days before.  They might not budge, but I would at least try.

AddieCake

I agree with J&K. At least ask if it can be changed. I would also put the info on both the STD and the wedding website. 

bopple321

I also vote for including the hotel infor in the Save the Dates.  You could even add that the deadline for booking, per the hotel, is 60 days prior to the event.  THat way, everyone has the info and they know how quickly they need to book.

emeejeeayen

My hotel release date is literally 2 weeks before the wedding. So 60 days seems like a really long time.

I put on my save the dates something like this, "Discounted rates have been negotiated for guests staying at XYZ hotel, please visit our wedding website for more information." 

Xanax4breakfast

Thanks for the advice, everyone!  So it seems that it shouldn't be necessary to send the invites early, as long as we've included the information abou the release date in our STD & website.  I agree that the release date is really far out - we love our venue - it's a gorgeous, Spanish colonial style golf resort, but the MAJOR drawback is that there is a lot of inflexibility - it's the hotel's way, or no way. So I'm not optimistic about getting that date changed, but it definitely warrants a conversation with the events coordinator. Thanks again! 

[Deleted User]

That is definitely an early cut off date.  The block for our wedding dropped 30 days prior to arrival and I work in the industry and we do the same 30 days.  I would definitely speak with the hotel about adjusting it. 

I am all for putting this information with your save the date cards and wedding website.  

JVManning86

I'm getting married in Sept. 2013 and because of out of the 34 parties we've narrowed our guest list down to and 28 of them coming from out of town we are sending our invites out a little earlier so they can plan ahead. Our release date is 60 days out as well. We were informed that there's 5 weddings the weekend of our wedding that have asked about the blocks of rooms so they really need to know in advance. It sucks however gotta do what we gotta do.

Sspencer89

i sent out my invitations about two weeks ago along with my hotel booking slips because 85% of my guest are oot and its the friday of Canada Day long weekend i figured that people would have to book off work soon before someone else does. my rsvp date is the same day that the rooms are being released which is only a month before our june 28th wedding. 

[Deleted User]

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_hotel-room-release-date-before-invitations-typically-would-be-sent?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:3b67423c-76d7-4985-96bd-0391c9ab32edPost:9d919b52-33f5-42b2-b3f6-b98416d8392d">Re: Hotel room release date before invitations typically would be sent</a>:
[QUOTE]i sent out my invitations about two weeks ago along with my hotel booking slips because 85% of my guest are oot and its the friday of Canada Day long weekend i figured that people would have to book off work soon before someone else does. my rsvp date is the same day that the rooms are being released which is only a month before our june 28th wedding. 
Posted by Sspencer89[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>OP, don't do what this poster did. If I received a wedding invitation more than 4 MONTHS before the wedding, I'd be a little confused. The RSVP date being a month before the wedding is also a bad idea, because I can tell you I'm coming a month ahead of time, but that's a long time to forget, have something come up, etc. So. You risk a lot of people not coming at all or saying they will and not coming.

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Xanax4breakfast

Thanks again, everyone! I think I'll stick to the traditioal timeline for sending the invites (mailing them 6, maybe 8 weeks out) but will definitey make sure I let everyone kow about the release date with plenty of advance notice via our STDs and website.  I emailed the events coordinator last night to find out if the date is negotiable at all and am waiting to hear back from her.