Planning a wedding is complicated enough so it really throws a wrench when you hear about how you should be “reserving a block of hotel rooms for out of town guests”.
Websites, wedding planning books, and guests all advise that you should get a room block but no one tells you what it is.
So let’s start with the basic questions of what a room block is
When you have a group of people coming to a wedding from out of town, you can have each of them search for a hotel on their own or you could reserve a bunch of rooms (i.e. block of rooms) at a hotel that is near the wedding venue.
Most couples will block 20-30 rooms for out of town wedding guests at a hotel near the wedding venue. In most cases, there is no cost to getting a room block and there is no deposit.
So why is it important to block hotel rooms?
There are many reasons but we will go over three of the most important ones
Reason #1-When you block rooms, your guests will get lower rates
Over 5000 groups have blocked rooms with us and the average savings has been about 22%. By blocking hotel rooms for wedding guests, you’re helping them get a discount. And if you’re paying for any of the rooms for parents, officiant, or bridesmaids, then you’re saving too!
Reason #2-Most hotels will offer a free room
Most hotels will offer you a free room if more than 20 or 30 rooms are reserved and paid for. You can use this room for yourself or give it to someone in your wedding party. In some cases, a hotel will even offer to give you their bridal suite for free.
Reason #3-Guests are not scattered all over the city
Weddings can get far bigger than we originally anticipate. In many cases, we have seen over 100 people come from out of town. Imagine trying to keep track of who is staying where. If you block rooms, you simply have one hotel to go to great guests, and one place from which to provide directions to the wedding.
Plus, with one hotel, you can hand out welcome gift bags too. Finally, if guests stay in one place, it makes for a more fun experience as they can all hang out at the hotel or arrange for activities together as well.
Many families attending the weddings use this time as a mini reunion where the kids can hang out at the pool while the parents can catch up.
The three reasons should be enough to convince you that a room block is a necessity.
So how do you block rooms at a hotel
It quite simple really. You can call each hotel individually and ask to block rooms (make sure you ask for courtesy room block) or you can do the same thing online by filling out this form.
Once you fill out the form, hotels in your desired city and budget will email you their room block information along with their contact information. Once you decide on a hotel, you can contact the them directly.
Just make sure to ask if they can offer you early check-in
Something many couples don’t know about but should is that many of your guests will want to stay only one night (usually the wedding night). They are going to want to check-in early on the day of the wedding (usually Saturday), get dressed, and then come to the wedding.
In cases where the couple did not arrange for early check in, we’ve seen wedding guests getting ready in the lobby bathrooms. Rather than subject your guests to that, try to get the hotel to commit to an early check in so your guests can get ready in peace
Blocking rooms for wedding guests is a necessity. It provides too many advantages for both the guests and yourself that is is worth spending the ten minutes it takes to block rooms.
What should you do next?
If you have more questions about blocking rooms, read our frequently asked questions section