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Philly Wedding and the Pope is in town!!

jackibenoistjackibenoist member
First Anniversary
in Wedding 911
What do I do? Every hotel within a 50 mile radius is already booked solid and apparently has been since November and now I am unable to block rooms for my out-of-town guests the weekend of September 25-27. I'm beside myself. Everything has been going great and now I have no idea what to do. Most places that even have rooms left are charging $300/night with a 3-night minimum!

Any advice would be helpful. I'm freaking out =(

(Not that I'm bashing the fact that the Pope is in town for the first time in 30 years, I've just had this date picked for over a year and in one minute everything is changing.)
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Re: Philly Wedding and the Pope is in town!!

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    southernbelle0915southernbelle0915 mod
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    Move your date? 

    Seriously, that's what I'd do. If you use all the same vendors, you shouldn't have that much of a problem losing deposits and such. 

    It's super early, so I'm assuming you haven't even sent out STDs yet. If you have, you can always send a note that lets people know about the date change and to save a new date. 
    *********************************************************************************

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    jacques27jacques27 member
    First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    How many out of town guests are you expecting? 

    If it's the majority of your guests, then I would probably advise one of the following:
    1) Change your date - if you book with the same vendors, they likely will forgive some of the deposit cost.  Depending on the breakdown of your guests and the distance traveled (driving distance vs. flying), would a Sunday brunch or luncheon wedding be feasible to switch to so the people driving still have time to get home Sunday night.  Or just change to another weekend altogether.
    2) Change your venue to somewhere else just outside your metro area that might have places available (you'll probably end up eating all of your deposits though)

    If it's a small percentage of your guest list:
    Blocking hotel rooms is a very nice thing to do, but in no way required.  These are adults who should be able to figure out how to arrange accommodations.  It would behoove you though to give them fair warning of the situation.  It's very likely that one of the following will occur:
    1) They end up scattered in not great hotels (looks like Motel 6's around the area still have rooms),
    2) They end up renting a car and staying a significant distance away, meaning they may leave the reception earlier than originally intended, or
    3) They end up declining the invitation due to inability to obtain lodging or at least anything in their budget - and you kind of just have to make peace with that.

    If you haven't sent out Save the Dates yet, I would personally contact those who would have to travel and give them this information verbally.  To be nice, scour every source you can (local B&Bs, less fancy hotels/motels, contact smaller locally owned hotels/motels that maybe don't get coverage on sites like Travelocity or Hotels.com and could still have vacancies and compile a list of as many places/prices you can.  If you have a wedding website, this is the time to utilize it and and start posting as much information as you can about hotel availability. 


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    lyndausvilyndausvi mod
    First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    I read yesterday that another couple moved their date for the same reason. I heard the vendor were more than accommodating. 

    Personally I would move the date.  






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
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    Jen4948Jen4948 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    I'd move the date, but if you can't do that, I'd warn your guests about the shortage of rooms, let them know that moving the date wasn't possible, and look into booking other hotel rooms as close to your venues as possible, but bearing in mind that of necessity the hotels are farther away and allow for extra travel time in scheduling the ceremony, reception, and any other events around that time.
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    rcher912rcher912 member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    I'm in a similar boat. Thank God we're slightly beforehand, but even with our date a week earlier, getting a priest (we're Catholic) is proving to be more difficult than anticipated. Honestly, I suggest moving your date if at all possible.

    If your out of towners are close family/friends and you have other close family/friends, there may be people willing to share their homes or a spare room or something. Really depends on your situation and how many people we're talking. It could be easy for a few people or a complete logistical impossibility (not to mention imposition), but, a possibility nonetheless.

    Good luck!
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    mikenbergermikenberger member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Agree with the PPs. Move the date. Even if you could get rooms in town, it'll be a nightmare for out of towners to navigate, I'm sure. I know I would think twice about coming into town that weekend.

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    ShesSoColdShesSoCold mod
    First Answer First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its
    I'd move the date, Sorry. 
    Image result for someecard betting someone half your shit youll love them forever
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    Maggie0829Maggie0829 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    I would rather change the date and eliminate the stress and headache that this will cause you and your guests.

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    climbingsingleclimbingsingle member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    That sucks! I'd try moving the date too. 
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    dcbride86dcbride86 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment First Answer

    I'm so sorry!!

     

    At least you aren't the only one dealing with this stress?  http://itheedread.jezebel.com/pope-s-philly-visit-creates-ultimate-wedding-hell-1680411079

    <a href="Wedding Countdown Ticker'>http://www.theknot.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Free Wedding Vows">

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    speakeasy14speakeasy14 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    Definitely talk with your venue and see if you can move the date.  Accommodation issues aside, traffic will be a nightmare for getting in and out of the city that entire week. 


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    rcher912rcher912 member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    Are you inside the city or in the suburbs? You might be able to find something if you're further from the city...
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    larrygagalarrygaga member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    apromise22 said:
    Maybe the pope could officiate?
    I thought this thread was going to be her asking how to go about getting the Pope to marry them.

    Which would probably be pretty cool.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
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    Katek819Katek819 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    I was having a similar problem albeit my wedding is in delaware on race weekend that also happens to be the university of delawares grad weekend. Which I am sure is a lot less people then the pope will attract. Also being may 30 it's considered in season for the B and Bs in the area. I ended up looking online, hotels that told me had no vacancy were showing rooms available so I booked them online via hotels.com or something like that and then called the hotel and talked to the "group" sales people about rates and what not. Someone told me that they lock rooms to sell online specifically so that's why everyone was telling me they were booked. I needed 10 rooms they are at 2 different places but it's all I could do and really 10 is overestimating for me. I was already way to locked into my date. If you can't move it maybe try this. It had me stressed for a week I am so sorry you are dealing with this. Everything will work out in the end !
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