Room Block Question for those having DW

NO2012 · February 2012

I am having a complete DW to NO (meaning every guest is coming from OOT). We have invited over 200 people and realistically expect about 100-125 people to come. We ultimately decided to just do one hotel for our room block because that one hotel really met all of our needs, while the other choices were less desireable for various reasons. Our initial block was for 20 rooms, with the understanding we would add additional blocks of 10 as they fill up. Well....all 20 were booked up with family and bridal party almost immediately. We added the next 10 and they were booked up by other guests within 24 hours. Now I am getting the run around from the hotel about what they can do. I have guests telling me they have tried to book the room and have been told the block is full. My question is: how many rooms am I reasonably expected to block for my guests? Should I keep up with the hassle of doing another hotel if it comes to that? Or at some point do I just let my guests fend for themselves in finding rooms? I am trying to be a good host, but this is also causing me a whole lot of stress!! TIA for your thoughts.

raven541 · February 2012

I would call other hotels as well and get more blocks. Its nice to have blocks for your guests to help them with the cost. They are spending the money to travel for the wedding so it seems like a nice guesture to help them get rooms at decent rates.

Good luck!

louisianablue · February 2012

I blocked around 90 rooms for my wedding of 350+ guests. Not everyone is out of town, but I realized a lot of my fiance's family do not like to stay in the same room together. Each family was booking 3-4 rooms!

I ended up filling out the New Orleans convention and visitor bureau form and contracting room blocks based on the prices I was sent. It was way more efficient.

All in all, I booked rooms at four different hotels at different price points.

MarcusandMelissa · February 2012

Like louisianablue said, the NOCVB is a great place to start. Also try www.hotelplanner.com. You put in a request for what location you are looking for, what quality level and what price you'd like the hotel to be at per night and you then get hotels bidding directly to you. We used that service and had great success with it.

We invited 155 guests, 80% from out of town. We have about 75 rooms spread out over 3 hotels, which we've found to be enough. Personally I've had no extra inconvenience working with 3 different hotels, plus our guests have enjoyed having a choice. Good luck!

NO2012 · February 2012

Thanks ladies. The hotel did just give me 10 more rooms, but it sounds like I need to go ahead and add more at another hotel. You all are right, I do need to make the extra effort.

nola2006 · February 2012

My daughter also had a complete DW with the exact same numbers - 200 invited, 100-125 expected to attend. She had blocks at 3 different hotels, 20 rooms in each block. Out of the 60 rooms she reserved, 52 ended up being booked. Those guests who didn't use the blocks stayed in hotels where they had points, or with friends in the area. So about 57 couples total needed a room of some sort.

Since you already have 30 rooms booked, if you block 30 more that would be a good number.

But if adding another hotel and another block is stressing you out, you can just put up suggestions on your website. Is your wedding in the Quarter? You can list hotels close by the hotel you've already chosen, or just say "book your hotel in the French Quarter and you'll be in walking distance to our events".

NO2012 · February 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_louisiana-new-orleans_room-block-question-for-those-having-dw?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:84Discussion:1773332f-9625-4a5e-bb01-df83c4dba90fPost:c81fbcd3-7192-4201-a0c5-ed34a605b46e">Re: Room Block Question for those having DW</a>:
[QUOTE] But if adding another hotel and another block is stressing you out, you can just put up suggestions on your website. Is your wedding in the Quarter? You can list hotels close by the hotel you've already chosen, or just say "book your hotel in the French Quarter and you'll be in walking distance to our events".
Posted by nola2006[/QUOTE]

Thanks- this is what I am going to do. I am going to keep adding rooms in the increments of 10 as the hotel will allow me and I am going to add to my website other hotels that we suggest. I would have offered the different price point hotels to begin with, but honestly for the end of Sept everything is pricey and the price difference was $20 in either direction and not worth the hassle of managing 3 different hotel blocks. I already have the NOVCB website link on my wedding website as a good resource too. I guess I should be excited that so many people are as excited about our wedding as I am. :)

louisianablue · February 2012

I would just advise that you go ahead and get the room blocks. Most of the hotels for my wedding weekend are $100-150 more expensive than the rooms that I blocked now that we are closer to the wedding. No one booked their hotels until I sent out my wedding invitations.

None of them required any monetary commitment for me. They will just be released after the cutoff date.

NO2012 · February 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_louisiana-new-orleans_room-block-question-for-those-having-dw?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:84Discussion:1773332f-9625-4a5e-bb01-df83c4dba90fPost:500f5ab7-4172-431e-a095-6fe8ea29f85d">Re: Room Block Question for those having DW</a>:
[QUOTE] No one booked their hotels until I sent out my wedding invitations. None of them required any monetary commitment for me. They will just be released after the cutoff date.
Posted by louisianablue[/QUOTE]

This is what I was anticipating, but I just sent out STD's two weeks ago with our wedding website which has the hotel room block info and everyone immediately booked their rooms. I couldn't believe it and obviously I was unprepared for such a mad rush. I imagined it would be a gradual process....haha.

Queen Jane · February 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_louisiana-new-orleans_room-block-question-for-those-having-dw?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:84Discussion:1773332f-9625-4a5e-bb01-df83c4dba90fPost:500f5ab7-4172-431e-a095-6fe8ea29f85d">Re: Room Block Question for those having DW</a>:
[QUOTE]I would just advise that you go ahead and get the room blocks. Most of the hotels for my wedding weekend are $100-150 more expensive than the rooms that I blocked now that we are closer to the wedding. No one booked their hotels until I sent out my wedding invitations. None of them required any monetary commitment for me. They will just be released after the cutoff date.
Posted by louisianablue[/QUOTE]

<div>This. We had a lot of people trying to make last minute arrangements and the hotel prices go up so much. It's a really simple process to block the rooms, I would do it.</div>

mnols · February 2012

I have the same thing, total DW, 200 invited, 100-125 expected. We've blocked 2 hotels that are very close to each other. They also offer different benefits, so it gives people a bit of choice depending on what they are looking for.

AlmostMrsStrong · February 2012

I'm not having a DW (I'm from here), but FI is from Mississippi and we'll be having guests from all parts of LA and MS, plus other parts of the country. We're probably going to block 15 rooms each at 3 different hotels, to give people a choice.

NO2012 · February 2012

Thanks again everyone. I have taken your advice and will not only continue to add rooms to my current block as they will allow me, but I'm also creating a second block at another hotel for those last minute planners so I can lock in good rates now.

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