Where to after reception?

Re: Where to after reception?

• Megalega14 member

  

  January 2014

  i would get a block of hotel rooms (30-50) and send it out with your invites. most hotels will offer a free shuttle from venue to hotel and then you can party at the hotel bar after! you shouldn't have to pay, guests know when they go to a wedding, you usually pay a hotel to stay over.  it's a pretty standard fee now on the guests, not on the hosts unless you REALLY want someone there and know they cannot afford the hotel.
  

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• monkeysip member

  

  January 2014

  How many guests do you have, and how many are out of town?

  
  

  We only had like 5 of our room blocks used, so depending on the size of your wedding, 30-50 room blocks may be overkill.

  
  

  But ditto pp in that guests don't expect for you to pay for their rooms.  It's just a nice convenience for you to have already set aside some rooms at nearby hotels, and often block-rates are discounted rates.

  
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• Alh728 member

  

  January 2014

  monkeysip said:

  How many guests do you have, and how many are out of town?

  
  

  We only had like 5 of our room blocks used, so depending on the size of your wedding, 30-50 room blocks may be overkill.

  
  

  But ditto pp in that guests don't expect for you to pay for their rooms.  It's just a nice convenience for you to have already set aside some rooms at nearby hotels, and often block-rates are discounted rates.

  
  That makes perfect sense... We're in NY so 6 from FLA, 2 from PA and5 from Jersey...

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• emmyg65 member

  

  January 2014

  Then you probably only need to reserve 10-15 rooms. We called a hotel near our location and they set aside a bunch of rooms for us at a discounted rate. Guests just had to book them by a certain date, or else they went back into the general reservation pool. We didn't need to pay any money for this service.

  
  

  Also, for our wedding, we didn't do a limo. My friend drove me from the hotel to the wedding location; the groom drove himself. And then another friend drove us back to the hotel that night.

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• mysticl member

  

  January 2014

  The bridal party goes wherever they are spending the night.  So back to their homes or the hotel room they booked and paid for.  As for the bride and groom you can go home or book a hotel.  We opted for a hotel.  We showed up still dressed for our wedding.  As soon as we walked in the front door one of the desk clerks ran to a phone.  As we were checking in the hospitality manager appeared next to us (I swear he just rose out of the floor) and asked if we were staying with them.  When we said we were he asked if he could send a gift up to the room.  Of course we said yes.  We went upstairs to change and then headed out to the hotel that DH's family was staying at (they turn everything into a family reunion).  When we got back to our room there was a bottle of champagne chilling on the dresser and fruit and cheese plate in the mini fridge.  

  
  

  As for the block of rooms make sure you find out what day they need to be booked by and if there is any penalty to you for unbooked rooms.  

  
  

  We didn't do a limo either.  

  

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• Alh728 member

  

  January 2014

  emmyg65 said:

  Then you probably only need to reserve 10-15 rooms. We called a hotel near our location and they set aside a bunch of rooms for us at a discounted rate. Guests just had to book them by a certain date, or else they went back into the general reservation pool. We didn't need to pay any money for this service.

  
  

  Also, for our wedding, we didn't do a limo. My friend drove me from the hotel to the wedding location; the groom drove himself. And then another friend drove us back to the hotel that night.

  perfect good to know! Might vary depending on hotel though-I think you got lucky! My friend had to put a certain deposit to hold the rooms!
  

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• Alh728 member

  

  January 2014

  mysticl said:

  The bridal party goes wherever they are spending the night.  So back to their homes or the hotel room they booked and paid for.  As for the bride and groom you can go home or book a hotel.  We opted for a hotel.  We showed up still dressed for our wedding.  As soon as we walked in the front door one of the desk clerks ran to a phone.  As we were checking in the hospitality manager appeared next to us (I swear he just rose out of the floor) and asked if we were staying with them.  When we said we were he asked if he could send a gift up to the room.  Of course we said yes.  We went upstairs to change and then headed out to the hotel that DH's family was staying at (they turn everything into a family reunion).  When we got back to our room there was a bottle of champagne chilling on the dresser and fruit and cheese plate in the mini fridge.  

  
  

  As for the block of rooms make sure you find out what day they need to be booked by and if there is any penalty to you for unbooked rooms.  

  
  

  We didn't do a limo either.  

  Thats awesome!!! How exciting-cant wait for that VIP treatment! LOL!!! I know we will book a hotel room for that night so i guess that makes sense we would ready there! Were you close enough you didn't think it was worth it for the limo? Or what were your thoughts in that regard?
  

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• MandyMost member

  

  January 2014

  This type of logistics is something I really value, so we're spending more money here. Wedding is on a Saturday night. We're getting a suite at a hotel for Friday and Saturday nights, and a regular room for Saturday night as well. I'll sleep in the suite Friday (and FI will sleep at home), and then we'll use the suite to get ready in on Saturday pre-wedding with all the bridesmaids. We're hopefully going to have a limo take us individually (with family and/or bridal party) to the venue, or maybe to pictures first and then the venue. And we'll hopefully have a shuttle for the guests staying at the hotel and/or the bridal party if they're not in the limo. At the end of the night, we'll have the shuttle take all of us (including bride and groom) back to the hotel. We'll be staying in a regular room on Saturday night, and my mom and a couple of her friends will be sharing the suite for that night. 

  
  

  However, we're getting married in the city and only about half the guests have cars...the ones that live in the surrounding suburbs. Our friends from the city itself and from out of town will either need to take public transportation, a taxi, or us transportation we provide. For the bridal party and immediate family, I'm really going to try to provide transportation so they don't have to get a taxi. And I know that I have no plans to take a taxi in my wedding dress!
  

  
  

  We spoke to probably 20 hotels in the past couple weeks, and only 1-2 of them DIDN'T do the courtesy room block of 10 rooms. The rest all did it with no charge. But only 10 rooms, so if you need more you may need to pay a fee, or get multiple hotels. 

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• mysticl member

  

  January 2014

  Alh728 said:

  mysticl said:

  The bridal party goes wherever they are spending the night.  So back to their homes or the hotel room they booked and paid for.  As for the bride and groom you can go home or book a hotel.  We opted for a hotel.  We showed up still dressed for our wedding.  As soon as we walked in the front door one of the desk clerks ran to a phone.  As we were checking in the hospitality manager appeared next to us (I swear he just rose out of the floor) and asked if we were staying with them.  When we said we were he asked if he could send a gift up to the room.  Of course we said yes.  We went upstairs to change and then headed out to the hotel that DH's family was staying at (they turn everything into a family reunion).  When we got back to our room there was a bottle of champagne chilling on the dresser and fruit and cheese plate in the mini fridge.  

  
  

  As for the block of rooms make sure you find out what day they need to be booked by and if there is any penalty to you for unbooked rooms.  

  
  

  We didn't do a limo either.  

  Thats awesome!!! How exciting-cant wait for that VIP treatment! LOL!!! I know we will book a hotel room for that night so i guess that makes sense we would ready there! Were you close enough you didn't think it was worth it for the limo? Or what were your thoughts in that regard?
  

  I didn't consider a limo because of the expense.  DH did consider getting one for us but opted not to because of logistics.  If we had taken a limo to the hotel then someone would have had to drive DH's car from the chapel to the hotel or back to his house.  Either way we would have been imposing on someone to drive his car and someone else to follow that person so he/she could get home (no one who attended our wedding stayed at the same hotel as us).  Also, our wedding and reception were held on a military base so we would have had to get access for the limo, which was possible since we had do that for the majority of our guests and the person delivering our wedding cake but it was just one more thing to deal with.  

  

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