Room Blocks!

You could request a courtesy block, which would cover many of the things you're looking for! The courtesy block is where the hotel sets aside a set number of rooms (usually 10) and gives you a room block code (usually your name or your fiance's name) and a deadline. You pass along the hotel number, cost info (often, hotels give a discount for booking in a room block), and room block code to your guests. Your guests call the hotel directly to book a room using their cards, mention the room block name, and they get one of the rooms set aside. If all 10 fill up before the deadline, the hotel sets aside another group of 10 rooms (depending on availability). Any unused rooms at the deadline are released back to the hotel to sell to someone else. At no point are you charged for the rooms - your guests pay for their own rooms. Definitely also ask about shuttle services as well.

Lisa gave great advice!!

We did a curtesy block with our hotel, and just asked them what was the max amount of rooms they could block for us, which ended up being 25 and perfect because that's around the number we're needing. To figure out how many we for sure needed, we looked at our guest list and counted how many people would be traveling from out of the country and state that would 100% need a room. We counted couples as one room. We also included our bridal party and ourselves in the count. Curtesy blocks are great because you aren't held accountable for the rooms that don't get booked. They just become available to the public after a certain date. No money needed from you, your guests pay for their own rooms. Ask the hotel if you and your guests will get a discounted price for blocking off rooms with them. We were given a generous discount!

Shuttle services aren't necessary, but are appreciated, and it's def. worth asking about.

Also, if you're doing welcome bags, ask the front desk if they would be able to hand them out as your guests come to check in, or if they're able to pre-set them in each room. Ask if they have special honeymoon suite discounts, or anything special for the couple. FBIL and his wife got complementary champagne delivered to their room because they inquired about it!

Thank you for the advice! What would you suggest putting in a welcome bag?

View Quoted Comment Welcome bags are totally optional, but if you decide to do them, you could include things like water bottles, snacks (pretzels, mints, candy, etc), hangover/first aid kit (headache relief, bandaids, etc), sunglasses, deck of cards, a welcome note from you and your fiance, a map of the area, a list of the wedding weekend events that they can attend including dates/times/locations, and/or maybe see if local businesses in the area are willing to give you coupons that you can include in the bags for your guests.

View Quoted Comment

Everything Lisa said!

They're def. optional so don't feel like you NEED to have them! Lisa gave great suggestions for fillings, so I have nothing to add onto that!

As PP explained, courtesy blocks are the best way to go. Also, shuttle services to/from the venue are nice but not necessary. Shuttle services between the hotel and airport are definitely not necessary and would be a logistical nightmare to plan.

View Quoted Comment Thank you!