Is blocking off rooms at a hotel necessary?

ginabean82 · August 2011

Hey girls

Do you think it's necessary to block off rooms for a wedding? I am inviting around 130 people to my wedding and everyone is local. I am getting married at The Manor and when I called the Residence Inn Marriot (next to The Manor) they not only seemed expensive to me, but also they said we were responsible to pay for 80% of the rooms if they didn't fill up. I wanted to block off rooms in case anyone wanted to drink and not drive home after, but I can't be 100% sure anyone is going to do that, and I dont want to be responsible to pay for all those rooms in case no one ends up getting a room.

Me and my FI aren't even going to be staying at a hotel, as we will be getting ready at our parents hosue before, and then after just going back to our house, since we are most comfortable in our own bed.

I'm strongly leaning towards not blocking any rooms, but does that seem tacky?

Any advice is appreciated!

Chobot · August 2011

Hey Gina ~

I am getting married at the Highlawn around the corner~ The Inn, courtyard Marriot, and wilshire grand have wonderful grounds but $$$$!! and that scary agreement. Don't even talk to me about paying for the shuttle too.

Can I suggest the hotels on rt. 10. They are from $80-109. FREE shuttle, no fulfillment agreement, nice grounds, 15-20 minutes away the most, easy way to attain the free bridal suite, and no pushy salesmen. I am going to the Westminster hotel that has a great lobby in case of heat or rain, a little garden with archways and landscape architecture for pics. It is way more affordable for guests/bridal groom party

Westminster hotel 973 533 0600 ask for Loretta

http://www.westminsterhotel.net/

Natalie MandzySales ManagerRamada Hotel & Conference Center130 Route 10 WestEast Hanover, NJ 07936PH: 973.386.5622 x1632
I'm doing both hotels and I booked about 20 nights (10 Sat 10 Sun-Wedding Day) and the same for the Ramada.
Hope this helps~
Christine.
PS. 180 for a room.. R they crazy? I'm sorry, but that was too much for me~

LissyM83 · August 2011

If you are inviting a lot of OOT guests, then the right thing to do is reserve a block of rooms. I'd look around the area for other hotels though b/c when we reserved our room block we weren't required to put a deposit down to hold the block and the rooms are being held at no charge to us until August 2012. In August 2012, they'll call us to see how many rooms we want to release.

peaches178 · August 2011

I was in the exact same situation as you except I did get ready at the Res Inn and my husband and I both stayed there the night after our wedding. We decided not to do room blocks. It wasn't tacky, nobody complained, and anyone who did want a room got one on their own. Several guests booked at the Residence Inn the week before our wedding and they got a nice discount because of the short notice (prior to that, the Residence Inn said they were all booked up - likely because of room blocks that wound up going unfilled). The only people who did block rooms, though, were the very few out of state guests we had. With the economy the way it is, anyone who was from Jersey just went home afterwards instead of spending more money to spend the night in a hotel.

ETA: We did put information on our wedding website about several area hotels in a variety of price ranges in case anyone did want to book a room, but that was it.

cindyn9178 · August 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_blocking-off-rooms-hotel-necessary?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:a0986b58-2f3b-4306-ae3b-342c6decc6d0Post:578b1038-2670-46d1-8730-59da1d1cd90a">Re: Is blocking off rooms at a hotel necessary?</a>:
[QUOTE]Hey Gina ~ I am getting married at the Highlawn around the corner~ The Inn, courtyard Marriot, and wilshire grand have wonderful grounds but $$$$!! and that scary agreement. Don't even talk to me about paying for the shuttle too. Can I suggest the hotels on rt. 10. They are from $80-109. FREE shuttle, no fulfillment agreement, nice grounds, 15-20 minutes away the most, easy way to attain the free bridal suite, and no pushy salesmen. I am going to the Westminster hotel that has a great lobby in case of heat or rain, a little garden with archways and landscape architecture for pics. It is way more affordable for guests/bridal groom party Westminster hotel 973 533 0600 ask for Loretta <a href="http://www.westminsterhotel.net/" rel='nofollow'>http://www.westminsterhotel.net/</a> Natalie Mandzy Sales Manager Ramada Hotel & Conference Center 130 Route 10 West East Hanover , NJ 07936 PH: 973.386.5622 x1632 I'm doing both hotels and I booked about 20 nights (10 Sat 10 Sun-Wedding Day) and the same for the Ramada. Hope this helps~ Christine. PS. 180 for a room.. R they crazy? I'm sorry, but that was too much for me~
Posted by Chobot[/QUOTE]
I agree, also check out the Hampton Inn and Suites. They give you the same deal as above.

ginabean82 · August 2011

Thanks for the suggestions! I will check out those hotels you mentioned in East Hanover and Livingston. If I can get the room blocks with out an obligation to pay for rooms that don't get filled up, I will block them! thanks again!

alykat216 · August 2011

I'm getting married at The Manor too, I know my family likes to drink and wouldn't want to drive and we have many OOT guests so I wanted to make sure we had a hotel and shuttle available. I thought it was perfect that the hotel was right there in walking distance, but it was just too much money and I couldn't be worried with having to possibly pay for rooms that weren't booked. I checked out all the hotels in the area and ending up using the Best Western Fairfield Executive Inn. Its $99 a night including a buffet with omlete station and free shuttle to and from The Manor. You can block off as many rooms as you want and if they aren't booked within a certain date before your wedding they go back into circulation. The bride and groom get a free room too! http://bwfei.com/

MCRM22011 · August 2011

I do not think it is tacky to not block off rooms. People are adults and can certainly do this on their own if need be. But as pp suggested, you are not always responsible for unbooked rooms at certain hotels. My wedding is almost all local, like yours, and I did not do a room block. I did put two or three hotel options on my wedding website just to be polite.

schrutebeets · August 2011

I'm getting married at the Manor too and we blocked rooms off at The Hampton Inn & Suites in Fairfield. There is no minimum,they will not hold you to rooms not booked, they provide shuttles and hot breakfast for $105++. Also they upgrades us to a ton of suites for regular room price!! Nayysid the sales manager has been AMAZING.

TripleJTobe · August 2011

We are getting married in Livingston and using the Wilshire Grand. They included the shuttle for free as well as our suite and a hot and cold breakfast for guests the following morning. They do hold you accountable to pay for 1/2 the rooms blocked if you fall below that count, but for us we blocked rooms Thurs and Friday night and they count the total between those 2 nights towards the final count. The agreement we signed seemed pretty standard. One thing I also liked was that they allowed small pets and the fee was only $30 more regardless of how many nights they were there- which was important for me bc my fami,y and I will be there for 2 nights and my little fur baby travels with us

The Wilshire is pricey- but dont be affraid to negotiate!!! We worked with Nelsey and the rate we ended with was much lower then the starting price point. Feel free to message me for more info. if you have any questions!! Best of luck!!!

schrutebeets · August 2011

The one negative that kept us from booking Westminster Hotel is they don't include breakfast

mfarl007 · August 2011

I'm getting married at the Manor and I was thinking about using the Residence Inn. I hate the garenteeing 80% thing, but I was thinking of asking people before hand who would be interested in getting a room and then blocking. But It IS expensive..does anyone know what exactly the discount they give for blocking rooms? And if they give the bride and groom a discount? I feel like most hotels give them the room for free, which is a bummer Residense Inn doesn't. It's just right there, which is so convenient and easy!

LiLgEe · August 2011

im getting married at the manor too!!....... i was thinking the same thing!! because its SO local every1 will probably just go home....80% if no1 books it CRAZY... maybe in the invite just suggest near by hotels and not block rooms?... i dunno?

Is blocking off rooms at a hotel necessary?

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