Hotel Blocks

- Booked 11 months in advance (before the save-the-dates went out- since there's info on our website so people can book rooms)
- Chose the hotel closest to our venue with the best rate (one that included breakfast for guests)
- Ask them how many rooms they will block at a time, if you have to guarantee bookings, if you will be charged for unbooked rooms, if breakfast is included, what check-in time is for your guests

Our first block of 20 rooms is already booked. We have a lot of international travelers- so we got the word out early.

We booked ours 13 months in advance because my FH works at one. He's the retail supervisor and it's a water park so it went hand in hand for us. They gave us a great rate and they don't charge us for unfilled rooms. Always be sure to ask if there is a max/minimum, if they charge for unfilled rooms, if guests can have a late checkout, and when they will stop honoring the price discount!

We are 13 months away and I reached out to hotels about a month ago. 90% of our guests are from out of town and are already asking and trying to book rooms. I learned some great things.... 1) there is a major soccer tournament in town the weekend of our wedding, so I can let guests know to book early., this also causes room prices to increase a bit... So you may learn about an obstacle that you may have been unaware of..... 2) pricing isn't typically available till about a year before. So I am waiting till about mid November to get official pricing and lock in rooms. 3) I toured the hotels, it was nice to get a feel for where the guests will be staying. At this time I also learned if they offered breakfast or any other amenities that I thought might be important to my guests.

I booked ours 11 months out (just last month). We chose what was the most decent priced and as close to the location as possible. I did extensive research on multiple hotels including reviews (of course not all hotels will have 100% satisfaction) and talked with FH about which ones he also felt would be better to book with.

Make sure to ask if they have a courtesy block (basically asking if you would be financially responsible for any of the rooms). How many rooms can you book at a time? If you need more rooms later on, could you add more?

You could ask about complimentary breakfast if you'd like but more times than not, they would have already stated such. You definitely want to make sure what check in/out times are. When you find out the deadline for your block, you can tell your guests at least a week before that because some people like to wait till the last minute.

One hotel (luckily stated in the contract because I forgot to ask) mentioned that if a person checks out of their room AFTER the check out time, they would be charged another full night! I've never heard that before but I put that little tid bit on our accommodations page on our website.

We are having our ceremony and reception at a hotel, so we of course did the room blocks there. To be honest though, one of the reasons we chose that location is because of all the amenities the hotel offered. They put the block in 18 months in advance. Here are some of the questions I asked: how many rooms will you block? Will I be in any way financially responsible if all the rooms are not booked? what is the deadline rooms have to be booked by? Do you give a discount on rooms for weddings? (many hotels also offer deeper discounts for the bride and groom, as well as other amenities. Our hotel is upgrading us to a suite for our entire stay at no charge. They are also giving us free valet parking for the entire week, and they are sending champagne and Pettit fours to our room the night of the wedding). Do they have a swimming pool, and if so, is it indoor/outdoor? Do they offer shuttle services (ie, to and from wedding wedding venue, or airports if you have guests traveling). Do they have complementary Wi-Fi and breakfast? Is there a restaurant and/or bar in the hotel?
I would make sure you look at pictures of the guestrooms on the website so you know that your guess will have nice rooms. I would also read guest reviews to ensure the hotel is clean and the staff friendly. and check out the surrounding area to make sure it is safe and has options for guests (ie, convenience store, gas station, etc. nearby). I would also highly suggest all correspondence is done by email. Most of the correspondence I had with our hotel was verbal, then the woman I had been speaking to ended up quitting. I had to start completely over with a new lady who told me completely different information. Luckily, she agreed to stand by everything the previous woman had told me. I got lucky! So much easier to have everything in writing in case there are any discrepancies down the line.

-how far in advance did you block hotels? We booked ours 1 year in advance.
-how did you choose a hotel? We had two blocks, one cheaper ($80 per night) and our main block ($120 per night). Both hotels were close to each other & had good reviews.
-what questions should I ask them? We asked what the perks were (free room for bride & groom if you fill the block, handing out welcome bags, free wifi, etc.). We also wanted a bar in the hotel for guests to hangout at after the wedding & the other nights.