A wedding room block is a big commitment and an even bigger decision-making process. By opting for a destination wedding, you are not only inviting your guests to attend your special day, but also asking them to make travel arrangements. This means that as the bride and groom, you will have additional responsibilities during the planning process.
Your guests will likely turn to you for guidance and information about their travel plans, especially if it is a destination unfamiliar to them. The good news is a wedding planner can assist you with the wedding room block, guiding you in the right direction to make it seamless for all.
For most destination weddings, a wedding room block is essential. By blocking hotel rooms, you can ensure that your guests have a convenient place to stay near, or at, the wedding venue. In addition, hotels often offer discounted rates for room blocks, which you can pass on to your guests. This makes things easier for you as you can provide your guests with a link to make their own travel arrangements, allowing you to focus on planning your wedding.
This is especially true in resort towns like, Los Cabos, Punta Mita, Cancun and Riveria Maya. These resort towns can be a little spread-out, so it is nice to choose a hotel that is central to your venue. It’s even nicer to have everyone together.
Even in destinations such as Cartagena, Colombia, or San Miguel Allende, Mexico, where everything is geographically closer, it is still nice to have a wedding room block. The block saves time and money for your guests and also ensures everyone is staying together, adding to the ease enjoyment of the weekend. However, there are a few key points to consider when doing a wedding room block that will help you choose the right hotel.
Wedding Room Block Advantages
SPECIAL RATES
This is the most significant benefit. Hotels and resorts typically offer discounted rates for couples who do a wedding room block for their wedding.
WEDDING ROOM BLOCK ADDITIONAL PERKS
Another advantage is the additional perks that you and your guests can enjoy with a wedding room block. You may be eligible for free upgrades, such as an upgraded room category for the bride and groom. Special amenities may be provided on the wedding nights such as champagne, strawberries, or a romantic turndown service. Some hotels also provide discounts on food and beverages, spa services, and gift shops.
Examples of hotels with perks are The Nizuc in Cancun, Chileno Bay Resorts and Residences in Los Cabos, Susurros Del Corazon in Punta De Mita, The Rosewood in San Miguel Allende, and the Solaz Los Cabos. Some will even gift you a 3-day return stay for your anniversary.
COMPLIMENTARY ROOMS
Certain resorts offer complimentary hotel rooms when a certain number of rooms are reserved by wedding guests. For instance, a resort might provide one free room for every 20 room nights booked under your wedding room block. This benefit often translates to free stays for the bride and groom.
UNIFORM PRICING
When guests book using your wedding room block, they all receive the same rate. This ensures that all guests have the same cancellation policy, deposit requirement, and access to equal perks and amenities.
LOW DEPOSITS
By blocking rooms our for your wedding, your guests typically only need to provide a small deposit when reserving their rooms. Some hotels may even offer the option to pay upon check-in without requiring any deposit.
SIMPLIFY YOUR PLANNING PROCESS
People tend to be unreliable when it comes to getting timely RSVP’s. However, if you decide to block hotel rooms at the resort, this may solve the RSVP issue. By doing so, you’re essentially killing two birds with one stone. Firstly, when presenting guests with one, discounted hotel option, the decision fatigue is removed. Guests can make a fast decision regarding their attendance.
Secondly, room blocks allow you to streamline your wedding budget. You can periodically call and find out how many rooms have been reserved under your room block. This gives you an estimate of the number of attendees for your event.
KEEP EVERYONE TOGETHER
It can be tricky to allow the guests to book their own accommodations. Guests may end up reserving accommodations at different hotels scattered all over the place. This can create a major headache when it comes to organizing events for the wedding weekend. Especially if the wedding itself is taking place at a venue outside the hotel. With a room block, everyone will be staying at the same hotel or resort, making coordination much simpler. This ensures that nobody arrives late or gets lost on their way to the wedding.
ENSURE AVAILABILITY FOR EVERYONE
By doing a wedding room block, you eliminate the risk of the resort being fully booked. Once the rooms have been blocked, they are taken out of the general inventory and are no longer available to the public. It is only after your specified cutoff date (typically 30 days before the wedding) that these rooms are released to the general public if they haven’t been booked by your guests.
Disadvantages of a Wedding Room Block
Unfortunately, wedding room blocks do come with some risks as well.
NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT
In the event that a certain number of rooms are not utilized or if you decide to cancel your wedding, the deposit you made is usually non-refundable.
POTENTIAL, UNFORESEEN DISCOUNTS
Hotels sometimes offer last-minute deal emails from travel websites offering discounted rates. In certain cases, these last-minute deals may be cheaper than the group rate that you and your guests are paying at the resort. If you choose to block hotel rooms for your wedding without exclusive use, there is a possibility that you or your guests may eventually find cheaper room rates for your hotel online, long after negotiating your room block rates.
Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence with online flash sales, and there isn’t much you can do to prevent it. If this situation arises, you may want to discuss with your hotel sales representative whether your guests can take advantage of the limited-time cheaper rate and still count those rooms towards the minimum bookings required. Though it can be frustrating, hotels need to fill rooms that might otherwise remain vacant. One way to assist with this is to have a lowest price guarantee in your contract with the hotel. (It doesn’t hurt to ask). The good news is that this situation does not happen often as flash sales only occur around peak holidays and for ‘Black Friday’ type sales.
ADDITIONAL WEDDING ROOM BLOCK CHARGES
Hotels often apply fees for services like delivering welcome bags to guest rooms or handling package deliveries on your behalf. These charges are usually outlined in your room block agreement and are generally non-negotiable. The fees usually are between $4-7 USD per delivery. While it is a relatively nominal amount, it is still worth noting.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE MINIMUMS
It’s common for hotels to require a food and beverage minimum consumption when doing a wedding room block. This ensures that the hotel can meet their sales targets, considering that a significant number of guests may be attending events from outside of the hotel premises.
If you plan to host all your events elsewhere and have a substantial minimum spend to meet, you can explore creative options such as offering guests a complimentary bottle of wine upon check-in, including breakfast in the room rate and applying it towards the minimum spend, or providing turndown treats.
These negotiation tactics become even more effective if you commit to hosting at least one event at the hotel. In this case, there’s no need to hire transportation to and from the hotel as all of your guests will be staying onsite. A first night welcome party can be a fun, inclusive and money-saving option for everyone.
ATTRITION
Attrition is a contractual clause used by some hotels to ensure that group block bookings are honored. The couple must pay for a specified minimum number of rooms regardless of the actual number booked by guests. If the group block does not reach the minimum number of rooms by a specific date, the contracting party may face a financial penalty or the remaining rooms may be released for public sale.
It is crucial to carefully review this attrition clause in your contract to avoid any financial liability. Attrition rates vary among hotels, and although some hotels may not employ this clause, they may have alternative methods to guarantee a minimum number of bookings.
CANCELLATION POLICY AND FORCE MAJEURE
Pay close attention to the cancelation clause when doing a wedding room block. It is essential to clearly understand the terms and conditions related to cancellations outlined in your hotel contract.
It’s unlikely that your wedding will be canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. Examples are illness, acts of God, war, hotel strikes, or personal reasons. However, it is prudent to be aware of your financial obligations should anything happen.
All in all, a wedding room block is an excellent option. It ultimately provides peace of mind, inclusion for the event and potential financial savings to your guests. A wedding room block allows the bride and groom even more quality time with their guests. And that’s the ultimate goal behind a destination wedding.
Keep dreaming of your perfect destination wedding event!
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