Out of town guests

SunriseAmber · August 2013

The majority of our families are coming from out of town. I've heard about people making reservations at a hotel close to where the wedding will take place for their out of town guests. Is this something I should do? What questions should I ask the hotel? Should I pay for any of the hotel rooms for family? Should I ask family/friends if they would like us to put a "block" at the hotel for them? I'm not sure if block is the correct wording since I have very little information about this. Thank you for all your help

misssunshine17 · August 2013

A hotel block generally gives people a discount, also. You should NOT have to put money upfront or have them sell a minimum to get the discount. If those are their terms, find a different hotel.

Though it is not required, but since many of your guests are travelling, it would be nice. Mine took about 20 minutes worth of phone calls.

itzMS · August 2013

misssunshine17 said:

A hotel block generally gives people a discount, also. You should NOT have to put money upfront or have them sell a minimum to get the discount. If those are their terms, find a different hotel.

Though it is not required, but since many of your guests are travelling, it would be nice. Mine took about 20 minutes worth of phone calls.

Ditto all of this.

We had a block at one hotel (the closest one to the reception venue) and suggested 2-3 other hotels to our guests on our wedding website.

Blocks aren't required.

cruffino · August 2013

a room block is really considerate since so many of your guests are traveling. its easy to do with a few phone calls. i agree with all of the above, especially that you should NOT sign any contract with a room minimum obligation or anything that financially obligates you in any way. i set up a room block in an afternoon of phone calls and emails....at work (shhh).

edited: spelling

southernbelle0915 · August 2013

You are fine etiquette-wise not to pay for out of town guests. When people travel for a wedding, they're responsible for making their own arrangements. If you WANT to you absolutely can, but it's not necessary.

It's helpful for guests for you to set up a hotel block so they can get a group rate. Usually a hotel will set up a "courtesy block" where they set aside about 10 rooms at a special rate. The block increases if people book more rooms (so if your guests book 15 rooms, they'll still get the special rate as long as the rooms are available).

SunriseAmber · August 2013

So, what if i put a block on a hotel and then none of my guest decide to stay at that particular hotel? Would that be okay? And should i mention the block on ALL the invitations or just the out of town guests?

SunriseAmber · August 2013

By the way, thank you for the helpful responses!!

OjitosVerdes · August 2013

SunriseAmber said:

So, what if i put a block on a hotel and then none of my guest decide to stay at that particular hotel? Would that be okay? And should i mention the block on ALL the invitations or just the out of town guests?

This is dependent on the terms of your block that you'll discuss with the hotel. We have blocks at two different hotels - at the first one, even if no one reserves any rooms, we aren't financially responsible, as long as those rooms are "released" back to the general public by a certain date.

At our second hotel (our venue), we had to guarantee a certain number of rooms would be filled in our block - if they aren't reserved, then we're stuck with the bill. The hotel was willing to extend the block rate to additional rooms above and beyond the original block, so what we did was block a very low number so we were certain to fill them.

Good luck!

Edited for clarity.

davisse3 · August 2013

OjitosVerdes said:

SunriseAmber said:

So, what if i put a block on a hotel and then none of my guest decide to stay at that particular hotel? Would that be okay? And should i mention the block on ALL the invitations or just the out of town guests?

This is dependent on the terms of your block that you'll discuss with the hotel. We have blocks at two different hotels - at the first one, even if no one reserves any rooms, we aren't financially responsible, as long as those rooms are "released" back to the general public by a certain date.

At our second hotel (our venue), we had to guarantee a certain number of rooms would be filled in our block - if they aren't reserved, then we're stuck with the bill. The hotel was willing to extend the block rate to additional rooms above and beyond the original block, so what we did was block a very low number so we were certain to fill them.

Good luck!

Edited for clarity.

Our block is kind of in between that. The unused rooms can be released back to the public by a certain date, but if they aren't filled, we are liable for a percentage of the cost. So we also reserved a low number.

Your best best is to just start calling hotels in your area - it's really easy to set up. Just make sure you do find out if you are liable for the unused rooms and take that into account when reserving rooms.

muenginerd · August 2013

Blocks are good idea and sometimes offer other perks like shuttle transportation to the venue, suite for Bride and Groom, Breakfast in the morning... All things I've seen given in a block.

I would recommend doing a block, it's up to you how early you want to book out. You might want to call two or three hotels to see who can provide you the best offer.

I don't know if you need to include room blocks on an invite, maybe on a wedding website, spread by word of mouth, email... etc. If you include something like a directions card in your invite, I would maybe print it on there.

From a hotel background... Blocks are a good thing. They help us put wedding party guests in the same general area so your guests aren't walking across the hotel to visit each other, makes it really easy to pass out welcome bags if you choose to do something like that, generally gives a discount to your guests, and we try to have housekeeping clean blocks of rooms for events like wedding/parties early in the day so they are ready for early check-in before an afternoon cermoney. All in all it give the hotel a little more visibility to your group, not that we would want to treat one guest better than another.

southernbelle0915 · August 2013

SunriseAmber said:

So, what if i put a block on a hotel and then none of my guest decide to stay at that particular hotel? Would that be okay? And should i mention the block on ALL the invitations or just the out of town guests?

As long as you just do a courtesy block, there's no financial obligation (confirm this with them) and it's fine if no one uses the block. If you do more than a courtesy block, they'll usually make you sign a contract that guarantees you'll fill about 80% of the rooms - makes sense since they're setting them aside for you, they don't want to get screwed.

We posted block information on our wedding website so all our guests could use it. We also included a link to our website ("including hotel accommodation information") in our info insert in our invitations. The hotel will usually give you a link, special phone number, or code guests will need to get the block rate.

emmyg65 · August 2013

We don't have a wedding website, so I included information about the hotel with the invitations. I put it in every invitation, and actually most of the people who booked rooms are not who I would consider "out-of-towners." They just didn't want to drive home after partying!

Another good reason to reserve a block of rooms: We're having our after-party in the hotel bar! Everyone can just walk to bed.

WonderRed · August 2013

We reserved a block of 10 rooms and did not have to put any money down at all. We are not liable for any money at all if they aren't used. If guests reserve up to 2 weeks before the wedding they are guaranteed to get a room and will also get a $30 per night discount. After that date, the rooms released back to the public and are no longer guaranteed, but our hotel said they will still honor the discount. Our ceremony/reception venue is in a foothills area with no hotels near it and the closest ones, which are still 5-6 miles away, are in areas where there is nothing to do, no restaurants, and are hard to find. Since guests will have to make a drive either way, we opted for a hotel that is a little further away but is an easy, straight shot to the venue and right in the heart of everything to do.

We included an accommodations card in the invites and it is also on our website.

KickAssMOH · August 2013

I agree with everything that's been said. Also, I recently attended a wedding out of state where there was no room block set up. While we were told "most people will stay in the downtown area", the park where the ceremony/reception took place seemed to be about a 20 minute drive away from the downtown. As guests, we spent a good deal of time researching and comparing costs/location, and eventually we found a fine place to stay for that weekend. I would've LOVED more direction, and would've greatly appreciated a room block. That being said, I took it more as a "lesson learned" for planning my own wedding, rather than a "tsk tsk" to the bride.

It's great to get a room block for your guests but if you find that it's too difficult, or that places are trying to make you contract, then people have internet and they'll figure it out.

LizM61409 · August 2013

I always like a block as a guest. Especially because people coming to weddings will generally know some of the other guests, and it's always nice to be in the same hotel as your friends. And like others have mentioned, it makes it easier on the guests to not have to do research into where to stay.

melbelleup · August 2013

My block works like this: 30 rooms (you can pick the amount, but all of my FI guests are OOT) discounted about $50. I have up until a month before the wedding before the blocks which are not sold are open to the public. Because they release them, I am not financially held to having to pay for the unused rooms. People don't have to use your blocks, but it's nice to have a suggestion.

Also, you usually pick a hotel right next to the reception place as long as it's a nice one.

If you have to put ANY money into the block, move on to a different hotel. My blocks are at a Marriott and I don't have to, so I can't imagine other hotels making you, but just a FYI

Bubblegum5586 · August 2013

I have my block (of 30 rooms) held until the month before the wedding, any remaining rooms get released back to the public. The great thing about this is a lot of our OOT guests would also like to visit with each other, now its easy to all stay at the hotel and catch up with everyone.

I also set up a shuttle from the hotel to the wedding. Knowing everyone is at that hotel made it easier to set up the shuttle.

Lastly, ask about any perks for using that hotel for the block. You are funneling business right to the hotel. Ours gave us (Bride and Groom) a free suite the night of the wedding with 25 rooms booked. We don't live far, but its so nice to stay somewhere special on our wedding night... for free!!

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