Hotel Blocks

We just blocked 10 rooms and then when they were filled asked the hotel if they could add a few more.

Just block whatever you can and let them take care of it.

And I'm not sure what you mean by "of course my first time getting married" but there are plenty of people here who have been married previously and your comment comes off a little holier-than-thou.

Talk to the hotels in your area. They sometimes want a deposit of some type to hold a block like that and if nobody uses them you end up losing that deposit.

I counted a room for each OOT family and then added 5 more. I reserved 25 total and they were all booked, and the hotel added more without me having to contact them?.

You also don't necessarily need one. Adults know how to book rooms. However oftentimes you do get a discount because you're booking in bulk. Just make sure the hotel won't charge you for any rooms not booked.

We have hotel blocks at 2 hotels. At one, we blocked off 15. At the other, the manager started me at 10. She said if that filled up, they would add more as necessary. So, you may want to reach out to some hotels to see how they do their blocks.

I know this isn't what you asked, but with MY situation, we aren't doing blocks. Granted, our guest list isn't as large as yours... but it was much simpler to leave the hotel booking to the guests so that they could book what they are comfortable paying and such. It took, what could have been, a lot of stress away, and essentially we wouldn't be held accountable if we blocked rooms and ended up not using them.

I just had an issue today with that. I have ALOT of OOT (I'm assuming that's out of town guests) and the venue I picked is a mini resort. Everything was going fine until I get a call from the event planner to let me know that the hotel is almost out of rooms and I haven't even mailed my invites out yet. So I messaged everyone the phone number and told them to call if they need a room. I am also putting a room block in another hotel which is 5 min away from my venue. Did you sent out save the dates.? I got lucky with that because most of my OOT already booked rooms because the info was on the save the date.

A lot of time, people over estimate how many rooms they need. If you don't think you'll have 10 rooms for sure, I wouldn't bother.

I blocked off 10 and then added 7 more, but all of those likely won't be used. I did have to specifically ask to add more.

I also want to stress to make sure you won't be charged for unbooked rooms.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I can only assume that people in town would want one and I for one do not want anyone driving drunk so I made sure to find the block within 1.5 miles from the venue. I also want to provide a shuttle so no one has to worry about driving after the reception.

It can be tricky depending on where you live- for instance- Maine is a popular tourist spot in the summer- the hotel closest is a half hour away- I booked cottages close to us on a lake- I had to do that a few months ago bc they book fast- also, in a popular summer spot most rentals are for a week at a time only- so I have a couple of camps for a week but no one in them for a few days early in the week- I may sneak away!!!

Finally we also have a lot of fancy summer camps in this region of Maine- generally parents weekend is toward the end of July- sooo there goes a bunch of hotel rooms- I blocked rooms---

Anyway- This is my long drawn out way of saying consider what kind of factors there could be in your area that may make rooms hard to come by!

Thanks @Karen. I actually got an idea to offer airbnb as an option in case guests don't want to do a hotel.

There's nothing stressful about setting up a block of rooms. You contact the hotel, they send you a contract, you sign it and done. You shouldn't have to pay a deposit at all. If you do, look elsewhere. You are doing the hotel a favor by recommending them to your guests and they will usually offer a discounted rate. Some hotels may even give you a free room if your guests book a certain amount of rooms. Usually, the block is held until a month before and this should be stated in the contract. Also, check what their cancellation policy is. I chose one hotel over another since the first required a 7 day cancellation and the one I chose offered 24 hour cancellation. There is no financial obligation to me either way.

It's a big convenience for your guests as well if they are unfamiliar with the city or town your wedding is in.

I'm loving the fact that people get to tell others what's stressful and what isn't.... interesting. Blocking hotel rooms actual can be very stressful, especially with this many guests, just as I said before. People are paying for the own hotel rooms, so I would never suggest only booking one hotel. Some people pay be able to afford $150+ rooms, while others cannot. Look around and do your research. Some places also offer discounts if you book x amount of rooms with them, but ALWAYS verify that there is no penalty for any unused rooms.

I have blocked 10 rooms and will just keep checking the website to see how many have booked up and if I need to add more, I will!

I would book rooms. With 200 guests, won't you need more than 10 rooms? I would put the hotel block on your website. You can also spread it word of mouth.

It really depends on the terms you can get for your room block. For mine, I am able to drop unbooked rooms 75 days before the wedding with no penalty. So I reserved more than I think I'll need and will tell guests to book early if they want the block.

If you are unable to cancel rooms, then it's a little trickier. I would recommend starting with a low number of rooms (like 15-20) and trying to add more if those book up. Remember that 200 guests usually doesn't mean 200 rooms (couples and family members will share).

I blocked 30 rooms for 120 guests. we have 20 booked and i haven't sent out invites yet! the hotel let me add 5 more since they are almost sold out for the weekend so we only have 15 left. I'm a little worried we won't have enough!

Well, it isn't stressful. It's quite simple and being that the OP seems worried about it I want to assure her and others that it's nothing to be stressed out about. Sheesh!