With engagement season upon us, you know this means a few things: Wedding dates are being selected, venues are being picked up, and flights are being booked.
The word is out– you’re getting married! Your out of town guests are so excited to celebrate with you on your wedding day, and for some of them, they’re already looking into flights and travel arrangements.
As you begin checking items off of your every-growing wedding planning to-do list, we’d like to offer a planning tip that will make your guests’ entire experience pleasant and easy!
Looking into reserving room blocks at a convenient hotel nearby for your out of town guests is a helpful way to let them know you appreciate them making your special day a priority in their lives. There’s a lot of details on their part, that go into attending your big day.
Providing a room block is helpful for a number of reasons to your out of town guests. First, it gives your guests the feeling that you have put a lot of thought and consideration on your part, to ensure your guests feel welcomed and at-ease the moment they step off the plane. Second, you take out the worry of unfamiliarity. It’s safe to assume your guests aren’t familiar with the lay of the land, and you providing hotel options, checks off one of the many items on their to-do list in attending your wedding. Lastly, having room blocks available is an easy way to provide guests with discounted accommodations. Often times, hotels will offer a cheaper daily rate, based on the number of rooms booked, which is a win-win for all parties involved.
If we’ve won you over on the recommendation of having room blocks, here’s an easy run-down of different options when it comes to room reservations.
We recommend having two hotel options in ideally two price points for guests. In the best case scenario, it would be one guaranteed block {this is your main hotel} and one courtesy block. If you need to have two guaranteed blocks, then we recommend only blocking off the minimum number of rooms needed for your guest count. Another option is to have one guaranteed block and then provide suggestions for other hotels {1-3} for guests who choose to stay outside the block.
We recommend to act quickly on room blocking, especially if you are getting married on a summer weekend*, as hotels will fill up fast for those dates! Be sure to include information on room blocks on your wedding website, or on an information card in your invitation.
If you are looking for hotel recommendations, we’ve got you covered! Here are a few of our favorites that accommodate room blocks:
We hope this information has been helpful! Happy planning!
Until next time!
Danae
*Note: Dependent on the date, it’s important to know that some hotels do not guarantee summer room blocks due to the high volume of guests visiting Seattle at that time. Please advise and plan accordingly in reaching out to multiple hotels to find the one that best fits your room blocking needs!
