Guest Accommodations

You are so wecome!

View quoted message

This is amazingly helpful, thank you for sharing!!

Getting a block of rooms is super easy.

I called the 2 hotels I was looking at (both are about 10 minutes from reception and on the water in Windsor). and I went with the one that had the better price (both had been renovated in the past year).

She emailed me a contract. that didn't require anything on my part. they will hold the block of rooms and price up until 1 month before the wedding. they held I think 10 rooms on the night of the wedding, 5 the night before. and if they have more people book. they add to the block.

View quoted message

For sure! Also, request late check out! Then you and your new hubby can order some room service breakfast, sleep in, and just enjoy having nothing you need to do for a little bit!

We blocked off rooms at a couple hotels for our guests. There was a discount if you block off a certain number. There is an option, depending on the hotel, to pay a fee to ensure those rooms are blocked. We didn't do that. We just asked for a certain number of rooms but they were first come, first served, so it wasn't a guarantee that our guests would get a room. But, most of our guests ended up renting Airbnb's anyway.

Hey, also getting married in the GTA (Vaughan)! I'd say email the hotels you're interested in acquiring pricing for and go from there. It's nice to provide your OOT guests with suggestions at various price ranges. I don't recommend calling these places since they tend to give the runaround.

There is a actually tool here on wedding wire for hotels! You put down the information and someone will do the "negotiating" and inquiring for you! Every so often you will get emails from the wedding wire agent saying this hotel contacted us and this is what they can offer, do you want to accept the bid or not? Then it's just a matter of you connecting with the hotel after you get a bunch of bids and like others have said this hotel will reserve a block of rooms that get can take advantage of. Make sure that you book blocks that dont make you liable for the outstanding amount if the target of rooms is not reached Usually if they just give a deadline for guests to book by that means that you are not financially liable, because after that deadline they can release those rooms back and not actually lose money. How you can advertise it, is either on your invitations or if you are having a wedding website that would be a great way to let guests know! Hope this helps!

View quoted message Tell me about it! Every time I’ve stayed in Vancouver I’ve paid way more than in Toronto. But I agree with everything you’ve said. I can’t count on my guests enough for that. When I create the website I will definitely make a tab for hotel suggestions. I like the notion of planning to accommodate without paying to do so. Lol.

View quoted message This makes complete sense. And the more I think of it, it would be great to retire in a hotel thereafter.

Room blocks are hotels best thing since they give discounted wedding rates and accommodate all family and friends reserved under your names.

It is always nice to have somerhing set for all guests to know they have somewhere to mingle with others while their stay. Let them reserve their rooms upon the information provided on the invite.

I had to deal with this as well. I grew up in AB but now live in Vancouver so a lot of my family and friends are coming in from out of town. I looked into booking a hotel block in Vancouver but none of the hotels I called would offer a ‘couresty block’. What does that mean? It means I’m financially obligated to guarantee ten hotel rooms (that’s the minimum amount of rooms required) for two nights OR $1,500 deposit - whichever is the greater cost.

i couldn’t guarantee ten rooms and I definitely wasn’t going to put a non-refundable deposit down for ten rooms. I imagine you will find the same thing in a larger city.

Instead, I contacted each out of town guest and told them I wasn’t able to secure a hotel block with a brief explanation. Everyone understood.

But on my wedding website I have an accommodation tab. There I listed three hotel options in three different price points. I included distance from the airport and from the venue.

That is basically all I was able to do! Hotels in Vancouver are SO expensive. For a more cost-friendly option,I sent some of my closer friends specific Airbnb properties that would work. I encouraged them to book soon because the ‘good’ places go quick and my wedding is on a busy, long weekend.

I hope my experience can help you. Best of luck and let us know what you decide.

View quoted message

I agree with this! Look into a decent, mid-grade hotel and book a block for guests but it's up to guests to actually book their rooms. If you book a certain amount of rooms, your guests could get a discount on rooms.

For the couple, I would book a suite, even if you could easily go home afterwards. Your wedding isn't any normal night and your night-of could be more special at a suite!

We're getting married at a hotel so we hav our suite and a room block for guests, but the guests are 100% responsible to book rooms for themselves. Some guests may book lower or higher grade hotels but we give them the option of ours.

100% up to the guests. You can inquire with a decent hotel, and block some rooms for them, see if you can get a discount/event rate for booking a certain number of rooms... then you can pass that information on to your guests as a suggestion... but it is not your responsibility to find their accommodations for them. Generally hotel blocks means that they will save X number of rooms at a certain rate until a specific date, then any unbooked rooms are released.

Some guests will want to splurge and get nicer/higher end rooms, but you'll probably want to focus on a good, clean, modestly priced hotel. Something that is reputable, but under $150 a night.

I would suggest getting a hotel room for the couple. We are going straight on our honeymoon, so we have a suite at the Fairmont Vancouver (airport hotel), however if we weren't going away, we'd still book a hotel room. Preferably somewhere different than where most of your guests are staying...