Hotel Blocks & Who Pays

This is an expense for the guest.

Most room blocks don't require you to pay. It just is a special rate extended to guests of the wedding. Is a hotel trying to make you book all the rooms for your guests?

My future inlays paid the deposit on the room block. All of my guests are from in town, and will not be staying at the hotel. My in laws are hosting a (way too big) rehearsal dinner and a farewell brunch as well. The hotel block room deposit is going towards the brunch!

You should do a courtsey block where the hotel blocks as many rooms as you think you need/they allow and then they give you a code. You can then give that code to your guests, they call in and reserve on of the rooms in the block and are responsible for paying for it. This way the rooms are being held in a block but are individually paid for, by room per guest.

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I was just looking into them, trying to get quotes. Our event is 1.5 hours away from us in town, so I don't find it necessary for a hotel for guests, but then I think about them drinking. I wouldn't want them to have to drive that way back home. But it is nice to see the cost is for guests at a discounted price. What if all the rooms are not accounted for?

Hi Rachael! This varies! Some couples pay, while some do not. The decision is based on what works best for you. I think the following WeddingWire article might give further insights and help you get a better idea:

- Bride vs. Bridesmaids: Who Pays for What?

The article gives recommendations on who typically pays for hotel accommodations, but of course, you do not have to follow our suggestions; do whatever works for you!

Good luck!

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That depends on the agreement with the hotel. For us the special rate was active until x amount of weeks before our wedding and then the rooms were released to the general public.

There are a lot of nuances with room blocks. Your best bet is to just ask individual hotels.

And with 1.5 hrs away, I'd def do one. I stay in hotels for weddings that are only like 45 min away from home...

You shouldn't have to pay for the rooms when you create a room block. Guests pay for their own rooms. Blocks allow guests to stay in one hotel and they usually get an discounted rate.

There are different room block options though, so you'll need to check with local hotels to see how they handle blocks. A closed block means you put down a deposit to block the rooms and you have to pay an attrition rate for any unsold rooms. An open block doesn't hold you responsible for unsold rooms.

https://apracticalwedding.com/hotel-booking-wedding-block/

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Thank you! Very informative!

Definitely check around with hotels. In the city I live in hotels don’t do courtesy blocks and hold you financially responsible for the rooms that aren’t booked. But in general guests pay for their own accommodations.

Rooms blocks are generally complimentary for the couple to set up, and each guest pays for their own room, directly through the hotel. They have to make their own reservations, and when they call, they just say "I'm booking a room for the Rachael wedding", and then put their own cards down.

Whether you have a block or not, the guests should be paying for themselves. There should be no expectation that setting up a block means you're paying for them.

We are getting married in Vegas, I inquired about the blocks (we originally weren't going to but FMIL asked if we would) but it was no cheaper then the current price at the hotel we were getting married at AND we had to pay for them all up front.

Most people want to stay at different places and are getting great deals so we are just skipping the blocks. We've also found AirBNB to be super useful for getting a place for people to split!!! I would recommend AirBNB to guests as we've used this and gotten great deals in different cities!!!

We found a hotel that lets us add rooms 5 at a time (as long as they are available) at the same rate. So we are initially doing 10 rooms, then as they fill up we will go from there. We pay for 80% of unbooked rooms. Guests pay for rooms at the discounted rate if they book at our hotel in our block.

The Inn where we are getting married does a courtesy block for the entire Inn and then a month before the wedding if 15 rooms are booked for 2 nights then we get the Inn inclusively for our wedding:m. I definitely recommend a room block, it’s always nice to give your guests the option of a hotel room

I have rooms blocked at two hotels (two of the Marriott chains) in the NOVA area; they have the rooms set aside for no fee and will release them to the general public I believe three weeks before the wedding. I set the rooms aside because the Army 10-miler race is the same day as the wedding and wanted to make sure OOT guests could get a room at a special rate. They know that they have to pay for the room(s) themselves.

I blocked rooms and did not have to pay, although I have to guarantee them a certain amount of the rooms. So in this instance I need to guarantee 70% of the rooms. I know my immediate family wants to drink and so will be getting rooms - we are paying for rooms for certain people - (I made sure that was the 70%)

We get ten rooms with no charge. They are just discounted rates for guests-they pay. If we reserve over 10 we are responsible for covering 80% of any rooms that don't get booked.

I was curious about this too, because the hotel I used to work for, the bride and groom had to pay upfront. I'm going to be asking the hotel we're going to do the reception at and see what their agreement is. I'm thinking because it wont be a home football game that week that they'll be more accommodating. That's the big issue with most hotels here. Football season packs all the hotels months in advance and the rates are raised sky high. A friend of ours paid over $200/night a week ago for a normally $100/night room. It's insane!

We did room blocks and the responsibility of the room prices were the guests. The discount to the room block was tremendous compared to the full price the guests would have paid without one.