Room Block Alternatives?

Is your wedding the same time as kind of event in that area?

What do you mean by close to your venue? 5-10 minutes? Could you look a little further out, maybe 20 minutes or so and provide a shuttle for them?

The short answer is no, there is no alternative to room blocks. If most of your wedding guests are coming from an area where they will need a hotel, then you need to plan for that. Are there that many airbnbs in the area? Are you going to coordinate that? I'm guessing if hotels have a 2 night minimum all of the airbnbs are going to fill up fast if there are any. If everyone is travelling, as a guest I would be expecting transportation to the venue. (This isn't a requirement, but I haven't been to a wedding which didn't provide it if the hotel and reception were at different locations) Your options if you actually want cheaper options is to move your reception venue.

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There is not but it is a popular summer vacation area. My wedding is on a Saturday and I know the venue has a wedding that Friday night as well.

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The three hotels I contacted are about 20 minutes away. Unfortunately, there is nothing closer than those.

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Moving our venue is not an option at this point as we already have a variety of other vendors booked for that day. The hotels only have a two night minimum for rooms booked within the block so if you just went online for a reservation you could end up booking for one night. The guests will be traveling about an hour to attend our wedding and unfortunately the hotel cost wasn't something I thought of when we found and booked our venue.

As for the transportation aspect, that is something that we are totally willing to do but it makes more sense if our guests are all at the same hotel. The way things are looking right now, the guests will be split between hotels since there isn't enough availability at the same hotel. In this case, would we set up two transportation services?

Marriott hotels will give you a complimentary 15 room block, so you aren't responsible for unbooked rooms. Is there a Marriott anywhere nearby you could do that? I think a good alternative would be finding a large rental house for the bridal party & groom's party, and immediate family. Then maybe list a couple rentals on your wedding website in the area (VBRO, Airbnb) for guests? Or local bed & breakfasts?

If you can't change your venue to a location with better hotel accommodations, and it doesn't look like a room block is possible, this is a case where I would communicate ASAP with guests -- even if that's an email -- and give them a heads up that accommodation options are limited, so they may want to research and make their travel plans as soon as they can. Honestly, this might have a significant impact on your guests' acceptance rate.

For those still in the planning stages, be sure you consider this issue before you commit to a venue. A relative had a US destination wedding a year ago. It was 3000 miles from 75% of the guests, in a relatively rural location, the same weekend as "parents' weekend" at a major nearby college. Rooms started at about $300 a night, and because of the cross-country travel with NO direct flights, everyone stayed at least two nights and many had to stay three. We would have declined in a heartbeat due to the cost and inconvenience, but the bride and her mother (who are very close relatives) threw an absolute fit about people not coming.... I spent $2500 on a 4-day weekend (and husband and kids did not attend to reduce the expenses). That was NOT our first choice of a way to spend our disposable income... In general, if you want people to come, you really need to consider issues like travel & accommodations before committing to a venue/location.

This is a tough situation. If the 3rd hotel can only offer 10 rooms, I would block those rooms to at least have 1 hotel option. Ask if they can notify you know if more rooms open up due to cancellations. I'd definitely also recommend looking into AirBnB (which is awesome) or HomeAway. Please do reach out to all of your OOT guests so they're not surprised by the limited options. Good luck!

How about some Airbnb? Those are reasonably priced. But guests will find their own way to attend! I know some of my guests are bunking with each other to save cost. You can always offer an Uber to those staying in hotels farther away.

I would take the 10 rooms and offer those to your VIPs (yourselves, parents, BP members). Then you can just list accommodations on your website without actually making a room block. List airbnb and the other 2 hotels (they can just make an online reservation without the minimum). I've been to weddings where there isn't an official room block and they just list local accommodation options. You may run into issues with people not being able to come because they can't get a hotel, but if you send out STDs with your website on them, those who really want to be there can book early and shouldn't have a problem.

That's so annoying - I never encountered those types of restrictions when getting a block. Is there a hotel a little further? an extra 10 minutes further than the other hotels wouldn't be too horrible, especially if you will provide a shuttle for them.

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I think the transportation must be a regional thing. I've never been to a wedding where transportation was offered. Even when staying in the blocked rooms. You need to get to the hotel somehow so you should have a vehicle to get to and from the wedding in.