Room blocks. How necessary are they?

It's not important to do one at all, unless you think hotels will be difficult for guests to get. I did one only because there's a huge PGA tournament in town the weekend of our wedding.

My friend just did one and the only person staying in the hotel she blocked is her dad. The rest of us chose our own hotels. It's really not worth your stress to find out later nobody is using your block anyway

To reiterate AMW it's probably not necessary unless getting a room might be difficult. I live near 2 concert venues and a college so sometimes it's tight. We reserved a small block of rooms that will be released after a certain date if they're not booked. We're also listing other hotels in the area so people can make their own decision.

It wasn't really a huge deal to do the room block. I called the hotel, told them the date, and they sent me something to sign.

See, that's what I thought! I think we'll end up doing one block (at a hotel that does a courtesy block - i'll be damned if I'm on the hook to pay for unused rooms!) and let that be the end of it! Our wedding is in Austin, Texas - so there's always something going on here, so i'll feel better atleast having one block.

Thanks!

I really didn't think it was necessary, because there are ~5 billion hotels within 15 miles of my venue. However, when I started looking into a place for just the wedding party and found out that the block had no strings attached and if we filled it, we got the wedding night free, I did the room block.

I don't think your not having a room block is terrible, though. I was not planning on having one and simply communicating to my guests that the wedding party would be at This Hotel and if you would like to be in the same place, please reserve a room there. I expect my guests to act like adults and be able to get themselves a hotel room if they need it.

Edit: I'd also like to add that my creating a room block gives everyone a discounted rate, so there is an upside to getting a hotel block.

I have one set up. I have a lot of OOT guests, there's a sketchy between our venue and the interstate and I'm trying to give my guests something in a similar price point but less sketchy, and FH and I get a whirlpool suite free on our wedding night if 10 nights are booked through guests (which will happen easily).

I tried to use jetaport and got a far lower quote from the same exact hotel not using it. If you want a hotel block, my advice would be to call yourself and speak with the manager directly. Also, find a courtesy block or don't have one. You definitely don't want to be responsible for unbooked rooms.

I never heard of Jetaport, but we have had a really easy time booking a block. It was free, if enough people book we get our room free, we can see how many people we should expect for welcome bags, etc. People don't HAVE to stay in the hotel we are offering, but they are giving us a discount on the prices (which I think is common), so it is definitely worth offering one. If I can save or offer an option for my OOTers to save some travel expenses, I'll do it! And booking one block at one hotel is really simple.

I agree that it isn't necessary, but it the perks may be worth it if you can find the right hotel. We chose to do a block because our wedding is in downtown Cincinnati. With our block, we are able to get the cost reduced per night. Typically the hotel is about $200 a night, but with our block we got it for $139. We were able to do a courtesy block, and we get upgraded on our wedding night. I used Jetaport to secure our block.

Not necessary. We did a courtesy block. Even arranging that was stressful and not everyone likes our choice. They are welcome to stay elsewhere. I thought it would be easier having most out of town guests at one location, we could have breakfast together, offer transportation, etc. but that's just not working out as planned. SO glad we didn't do a block that required a minimum!

So unless lodging in your area is a potential problem, don't bother or just do a courtesy block somewhere (if you are staying at the hotel, do that hotel) and list a few other recommended places for guests. Done

It's not totally necessary just a nice gesture. On my wedding website I suggested the local ones in the area and also contacted one and they gave me a courtesy hold for less than 10 rooms at a great price.

I was first working through a service online and when I spoke to the person at the hotel itself she gave me an even better price than through the service because then there is no middle person to pay off. So if you want to do it, keep calling for courtesy holds. If I had to contract with a hotel and pay the ones not sold, I wouldn't have done it. I don't think it would make a difference to my guests that are coming.

It's not that important is just a nicety.

You aren't picking their hotel for them, you're just making sure there is for sure room for them up to a certain date. My family is probably booking on their own because of military discounts.

I did a block to get a better rate for my guests. Hotel rooms are always outrageous in my area. That and our wedding is technically on a holiday-ish weekend. And since I'm not financially responsible if the rooms don't fill, it was a win win! The only block I did was at the hotel that we are having the reception at.

I have a block at a price friendly, but still nice hotel. I have some people who will want a higher level hotel so on my wedding website I let everyone know the where the block was but also listed some higher price hotels if they want to book elsewhere.

I looked into Jetaport but got better prices on hotelplanner.com

If you have a bunch of OOT guests, it's helpful because you can get a group rate that's lower than what they would pay booking at that hotel without it. We didn't do one because we don't have many OOT guests. We figured our guests have their own hotels that they frequent and acquire points at, as well as different standards, so we figured they could find their own. I did create a list of hotels close to our Reception venue and gave it to anyone who asked for more information on hotels.

If you are getting married in the Superbowl town on Superbowl Sunday....or in a major city on homecoming weekend...

I think it's pointless. It's one more thing on your list that adult humans should be able to arrange....

Why aren't you just working with the hotel? My room block was easy and took 10 minutes with the hotel itself.

We did a block of rooms just because there was a hotel 10 minutes from our venue and we have a lot of OOT guests and didn't want to run into a big concert or sporting event to keep guests from not finding a room or having to have way too much

Where the wedding is there's a ton of stuff going on that weekend, basketball, wrestling, and some other tournaments are going on. So I was lucky to get my rooms blocked! I wanted about 40 but only got 30. Another motel was so busy they didn't even want to accept my block.

I used jetaport and the wedding wire room block service too. I liked wedding wires better.

I wasn't able to get any rooms blocked. So I suggested that people make reservations early to save them rooms and money depending on the hotel they choose

It can be helpful for those of your guests that don't travel often, but it's not necessary. We did a block but more than half of our OOT guests found their own accommodations. The ones that did settle on the block tried to look for alternative accommodations first.