Out OF State Guests

NO. They pay for it. It's part of their investment as a guest. You can however throw a welcome party (that's what we're doing in lieu of a rehearsal dinner) and give nice welcome gifts. Make sure they're fed well and you send thank you's

All of our out of state guests paid for their own travel and hotel arrangements. We did block rooms at our motel here in town though to make sure they had a place to stay.

You block off rooms at a hotel for your guests so you can ensure they will have a place to stay. The out of town guests are expected to pay for their own travel expenses to attend your wedding.

You don't pay for them. They pay their own way. If they can't afford to come, they can RSVP no.

Typically the guests pay for their own transportation. If you have quite a few coming, it would be worthwile to block out some rooms in a hotel for them... this way they will definitely have somewhere to stay, and you will likely get them a group rate

I work at a resort...so I had my friend in group sales make a group for my rooms. I luck out in this situtation. All of our guests though are paying for their own travel and hotel arrangements. We are taking care of a few of the rooms. Like for my parents and grandparents, but that's about it.

FYI - Anyone can book a block of rooms at a hotel as long as there is availability, you don't have to "know someone". It is very common practice.

Just about every hotel has a sales department. One of the things a sales department handles is room blocks for weddings, for sporting events, etc. Just call the hotel you are looking at and ask for their sales department.

Once you have the block, let your out of town guests know and they can call up and make their own reservations if they want to stay there.

@ Candice R. ~ so when making a block in a hotel do u have to pay anything when blocking so many numbers of rooms???? how does that work??

No you do not have to pay anything, typically a room block is at least 10 rooms. They will ask when you need the rooms and then they will give you a cut off date.

So of the more upscale hotels, make you sign a contract and sometimes require you meet a certain number of rooms (a guarantee), but most hotels just ask for the name you want the block to be in how many rooms you think you will need for how many nights and then they will give you a cut off date; for example your wedding is 6/2, they cut off date they give maybe 5/1 and you said you needed 15 rooms. On 5/1 your cut off is up and you only have 10 rooms, the other 5 go back into inventory.

When your guests call to make the reservation they would just say they are making a reservation under the such and such wedding block and they would give their credit card information.

Oh ok now i totally understand thats soo much Candice R!!!!

Lucinda - MAKE SURE!! you are not obligated to pay for any rooms not used by your guests in a block. This is fairly rare this day, but it still exists. READ THE CONTRACT and if you are on the hook for anything, renegotiate or find another hotel. The contract should just have an expiration date after which the rate in your block is no longer good, but if you have to leave a credit card (no!) or agree to cover any unused rooms (even as of a certain date), go elsewhere.

Thanks J&R s!!!

Lucinda if you do not sign a contract and do not give your credit card information you will not be liable for any unused rooms.

I believe I mentioned in my post that some hotels have contracts and will charge for unused rooms, but you will know that up front because they will say hey you need to sign this contract and give us your credit card information.

OMG...I think you need to be fined for excessive use of punctuation.

!!!!!!!!

Candice - Actually, most places require you to sign a contract in order to make the rate available to your guests, and you should very much have one!. This prevents the wedding couple from coming back and saying no, we agreed on a lower block rate. That contract is what guarantees that the chosen # of rooms will be available at the negotiated rate, and during what period of time. (E.g., our wedding block and rate expires 1 month before the event. After that, guests are on their own.)

So you should absolutely have a contract so that you have an enforceable agreement to rely on -- otherwise, your guests could try to make reservations and be offered a higher price, and there's nothing you can do about it; and most hotels require the contract before they reserve any rooms for the block -- but the contract should not require you to pay for ANY of the rooms.

I didn't have a contract, I just had a confirmation email that said if I disagreed I had X number of days to reply.

The other key is usually if it's the kind that you have to pay for unused rooms, the rooms are not released. In my case, the block is released one month before the wedding and I am not liable for unused rooms.

Bottom line Lucinda- you need to call around and do this research yourself because different hotels do things differently and the only hotel policies that matter are the ones where your wedding is.

Actually, bottom line is that you should try to make their lives easier by negotiating a lower rate with a hotel, and blocking off rooms, but your are NOT responsible for paying anything for your guests' travel arrangements.

It is also useful to ask if they're going to charge you for distributing welcome bags, if you're planning on them. And if they're providing transportation to your venue, if that's relevant to your situation.

P.S. - that essentially is your contract. Not sure how legally enforceable an "opt out" contract is, but you essentially have a written memorialization of a verbal agreement.

Yes - there are two types of blocks (i also work for a hotel)... there are courtesy blocks (basically no liability but longer cutoff dates) and contracts (you are obligated to pay for a certain number of rooms whether they are occupied or not. many hotels will do courtesy blocks - just ask... that said, you should absolutely get it in writing.

as for payment - that is completely at your discretion. we are paying airfare and accommodations for several of our guests - but it is not a requirement.