Is it necessary to block off hotel rooms for out of town wedding guests?

Question

My fiancé and I are getting married in a small town with no hotels or motels close by. The closest place for our out of town guests to stay is about 40 miles away from where we are getting married. We aren’t sure what to do since the places to stay are so far away from where the wedding is. Please help!!

Answer 1

We had a similar situation 4 years ago. We had a selection of rooms blocked for our guests. By requesting a block of rooms, the hotel gave our guests a substantially discounted rate. Our guests had to reserve their room a minimum of by a date 2 weeks prior to the wedding, after which the block was to be released and the rate revert to the standard rate. We actually had more guests than we anticipated, and the hotel allowed us to expand the block.
Since alcohol (champagne, wine, beer) was to be served, we also arranged with a "party bus" service to be available to ferry the guests to and from the wedding at set times. (Only a few of the guests used this service. The others car-pooled with designated drivers.)
We paid for the party bus, but did not pay for the guest rooms. An added advantage of blocking the rooms--the hotel catered the rehearsal dinner and post-wedding breakfast in one of their large conference rooms and only charged us for the food, not for the facility.

Answer 2

Hopefully you planned your wedding early in the afternoon so people will have time to drive after the wedding is over. 40 miles is quite a distance. If you block off the rooms, then one of their headaches is taken care of for them. Usually you have a minimum number of rooms in order to get a wedding party discount, and they have to be reserved a certain number of days ahead of time (ours was 10 days). There was no penalty if the rooms were not taken. Call around and see where you can find the best option. Sometimes it is fun if the people know each other and can stay in the same place.

Answer 3

Have you considered renting a house? VRBO and other websites like them so offer homes in locations that you would never have imagined. If a house is not suitable, then you'll have to get a hotel and rent a shuttle to transport guests. The shuttle bus will probably run between 500-1000 depending on your area. And if you need to get a hotel that will provide you a room block, try using an online resource like http://grouptravel.org. They have hotels that you may not be aware of. Tip: When filling out their form, ask for hotels that offer shuttle service. Maybe one of them can either provide a discounted rate on the shuttle or even split the cost with you. In reading the responses, i liked how @Mom O called it a party bus :)

Answer 4

There are not even any bed and breakfasts? Or anything? A cabin to rent out, in groups? Wow. I find that strange.

Actually I think that in your case it is even MORE important for you to find the closest lodgings and reserve a block of affordable rooms, so people don't end up having to room 50 miles away or even FURTHER.

Also, make sure you end the reception at a reasonable hour so people can drive back to that 40 miles away hotel, without it being the wee hours of the morning. You may also want to stop serving alcohol 1.5 hours before the reception ends, so people get it out of their system a little and aren't driving drunk.

Answer 5

Since it is so far, you probably don't have to block off hotel rooms (although keep in mind, they just hold a certain number of rooms and if people coming to your wedding don't call to make reservations by a certain date, they put them back on the vacant list and noone gets charged)....if you don't block off any, at least put a note in with their invitation of a few different options of hotels (name/address/phone number) and how far away they are from the site....if you do have a hotel hold some rooms, put that info in the invite - there will probably be a special code they have to give to get the rooms in your block.

Answer 6

Yes i believe it is necessary. These guests are your friends and family and want to celebrate the commencement of your love with you. Why not make it easier for them to celebrate it with you? In you wedding invitations just add a list of the closest hotels and if that a chunk of rooms have been blocked off at a particular one. That way they have options. Also you dont want guests to have to call you up and say that they want to stay with you at your house .....believe me I've seen it with my sister's wedding (she also got married in a small town) and just from experience seeing your Uncle Ned in his underwear and only his underwear on an inflatable mattress scratching himself is not the first thing you want to see on the morning of you wedding......just take the the block of rooms out that way you wont feel guilty or obligated to let Uncle Ned and his tighty-whities sleep on your brand new leather sofa.

Answer 7

Well, if that's where they're going to have to stay, it's nice to block off rooms. They'll usually get a discount that way. Otherwise, try to sort something out in town for them. Are there any friends or family they can stay with, or perhaps a bed and breakfast?

Answer 8

It would be nice of you to reserve a block of rooms, you may even get them a discount!

40 miles is closer than where they came from

Answer 9

I'd certainly see about blocking rooms off, especially given the distance. Get a ballpark # of how many people are going to need rooms, they'll fill up fast.

Good luck!

Answer 10

Not necessary but it would be nice if you could figure out some type of accomodations for them.