Hotel Block Locations

I would plan hotel blocks that are closer to the reception venue because that's where guests will be leaving from at the end of evening. I think it would ridiculous to expect guests to pay $25 to pay to park. Since the ceremony is only 4 miles from the reception and the hotels are only 3-5 miles from the reception that means they are only 7-9 miles from the ceremony which I think is totally fine. I don't think I would worry about providing a shuttle because you'd need one from the hotel to the ceremony then from the ceremony to the reception then back to the hotel. People will also want to leave at different times so I think coordinating a shuttle would just be extra stress that I wouldn't want.

I agree with Veronica. The end of the night when you're tired and wanna go to bed after tons of food and dancing is where you want to shortest drive. The issue with providing a shuttle is you would have to provide a shuttle from hotel to ceremony venue to reception venue and then back to hotel.

I agree rooms closer to the reception venue would be best. Nobody wants to pay for parking lol. They will all be beat and ready to get back to the hotel at the end of the night.

If I were a guest, I would much rather have a hotel room close to the reception venue than to the ceremony venue. Also, I would recommend using a service to find the hotel block for you (we used and liked Kleinfeld, another one is Hotel Planner, they're both free). The person who helped us with ours asked a bunch of questions about what we were looking for and then sent us an excel spreadsheet of options. So you could tell them that you really don't want your guests to have to pay more than $X for parking, for example and they would only send you hotels that agree to that. You can also ask for hotels that provide a complimentary/inexpensive shuttle service.

Maybe instead of getting 1 big block of rooms, you could get 2 smaller ones? One block with valet parking, one with free parking. Then your guests will have options.

Honestly, I really don't think the parking thing is that big of a deal. You're in a city, and parking is naturally going to cost money. I would choose the hotel closer to your venue, regardless of parking costs. Personally, I would have killed to find a hotel with nightly valet parking as low as $25 a night for my hotel block!

For what it's worth, I actually attended a wedding in downtown Milwaukee last year and the cost to park for the night at the hotel was $40. However, the guests who didn't want to use the hotel parking were easily able to find a space close by on SpotHero for $15 a night, so it's not like people wouldn't have options. Unless you're not in a city, I think that parking costs are simply something that comes with the territory.

Thanks everyone! I was leaning more toward the hotels near the reception venue but I may get blocks in both locations so they do have options. I’ll definitely have to look into Kleinfeld for the hotel blocks so thank you!

I think hotels closer to the reception are better than closer to the ceremony. We had two complimentary room blocks, one at a nicer hotel with more amenities, and one at a cheaper hotel, so people had more options. We also listed 2 more hotels and some airbnbs on our website for guests.