Question regarding hotel block or lack thereof

wedgirl853 · May 2012

Not exactly sure if this is etiquette or not but here goes. Is it necessary to provide an insert with the wedding invitations, which lists a block of hotel rooms near the wedding venue? I am having an afternoon wedding (reception will be over by 5 p.m.) and most of our guests will be somewhat local (within an hour travel time). Is blocking off rooms necessary or optional? Is it tacky to simply have a number of nearby hotels listed with the invitations vs. blocking off rooms? I am not having a wedding website, I understand a lot of brides use that for information nowadays.

I already contacted the closest hotel to our venue and their policy is, if you block off rooms, and any of the rooms are unused by the wedding guests, you are responsible for paying for the rooms. Not sure if that is normal or not, but seems extreme!

Any help is appreciated

Thanks!

miranda1211 · May 2012

Blocking off rooms is nice, but completely optional.

The hotels in my hometown had the same policy for room blocks, which was completely different from any hotel I have stayed in for friends' weddings. There was no way we were going to be responsible for unfilled rooms, so we used our website and emailed friends to spread information about the hotels.

Maggie0829 · May 2012

Blocking off a number of rooms is completely optional. It would be perfectly fine to list a few near by accomodations in your invite for any guest wishing to spend the night.

We had a block of rooms at a hotel for our wedding because we had a number of OOT guests coming. But if we did not have OOT guests then we would not have blocked anything off.

And having to pay for the unused rooms if not booked by a certain date is completely normal. Typically the hotel will give you a cut-off date on when the rooms need to be booked. By that date you can either keep the rooms in case any other guests may want to book last minute or cancel the remaining rooms on your room block. If you decide to keep them or forget to cancel them you will be responsible for paying for them because the hotel will not have been able to have them available for public use, thus the chance of missing out on money.

ChristineNB · May 2012

We blocked off all rooms at a bed and breakfast that is a couple blocks from the wedding site. We also included information on our wedding site for those that would rather stay elsewhere, and included 2 area hotel's info for them. I did not block off rooms at the 2 hotels, only the bed and breakfast, because, since the b&b is small (12-15 rooms total) I figure we will fill that quicker than we will a block in a large hotel

LeiselEB · May 2012

We chose a hotel that did not hold us responsible for unbooked rooms. That seemed a bit crazy to me, though some hotels do it. But keep in mind that many places do not require that you pay for unbooked rooms.

It's not necessary to block hotels. I think suggestions would be fine if you think some guests will want to stay in town rather than drive home.

mica178 · May 2012

I used hotelplanner.com and only chose to work with hotels that didn't force me to pay anything if my guests didn't choose to book with them. But if you cannot find hotels that will work on your terms, it's fine not to block hotell rooms for your guests.

Meegles4 · May 2012

My hotels didn't require me to pay anything and I went with chains (a Westin and a HI Express), so I actually think that's weird. There was a deadline and whatever rooms weren't booked in the block by that deadline (2 weeks prior or something) went back into general circulation for the hotel.

Personally, I like that blocks are booked. We are going to a wedding in June and tried to book the hotel last night and found out the couple hadn't booked a block. Also, we had a really hard time finding hotels because the wedding is in a town that's popular for summer tourists. Blocks can help stave off any of that if you're getting married in a popular area. Also, it's nice to get somewhat of a deal for your guests so they're not paying full price.

All that being said, if I was responsible for paying for unused rooms, I probably wouldn't do it.

chrmun · May 2012

Don't worry about it. Chances are that anyone who will need a hotel will have used one before. I bet you $5 that they can figure out how to book a room. (You don't even need to put information about nearby hotels in with your invitations.)

biogal73 · May 2012

I made the mistake of not blocking any rooms, and though I live in a sleepy town with no events happening the weekend of my wedding, almost all of the hotels are totally booked. If I had it to do over again, I would block off some rooms.

bonge · May 2012

Your wedding is over at 5 so really how many guests would actually stay? What time does it start? I know personally i would go home. Is there going to be an after party?

Question regarding hotel block or lack thereof

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