Reserve A Block Of Hotel Rooms For Wedding Guests Today!

How Many Hotel Rooms Should I Reserve For My Wedding Guests?

We know that reserving a block of rooms at a hotel has a ton of advantages but how do you go about figuring out how many rooms you need to block off?

There are many guests that are coming from out of town, but what adds to the confusion is that many of the local guests would rather not drive after the wedding so they need to stay at the hotel too. The whole process can be a bit overwhelming.

So is there an easy way to figure out how many rooms to reserve in a block?

Simple Answer

If you need to block less than 20 rooms per night, consider getting a courtesy room block. This is where the hotel sets aside 10-20 rooms and once these get reserved, you can add more.

In this kind of room block, you’re not held responsible for any unused rooms and there is no deposit either. You can learn more by reading this article.

Detailed Answer

If you need to reserve more than 20 rooms per night, then you can do either a rough estimate or a more accurate one

Rough EstimateEstimate the total out of town guests coming and use half that number as a guide for how many rooms to reserve for the wedding. So if you have invited 100 guests and fifty are coming from out of town, you would look to reserve about 25 rooms.

Accurate EstimateMake a list of all out of town wedding guests and separate them into three groups; families, couples, and singles. Now figure out:

How many are families have less than four people (1 room)?

How many families will need more than one hotel room? How many will need adjoining rooms?

How many guests are couples and will only need one room.

How many couples are divorced and will/may need to reserve two rooms.

How many of your guests are single. Are any of them willing to share a room? Will Uncle Harry share with Uncle Tim since they are both single.

Do you have a cleric coming in from out of town who will require a room?

Take the total from above and add your wedding party, and your parents. The resulting number should give you an accurate estimate of how big a block of rooms you may need.

Once you have determined the number of rooms to reserve, fill out this form to get group hotel rates. Select the hotel that suits your needs and block rooms for wedding guests.

Some additional tips and resources

Check for any large events in town
Make sure to research whether there is any large events or conventions occurring at the time of your wedding. If there is a large event happening, encourage guests to make their room reservations ahead of time. Not only will they guarantee themselves a room, they will also get the discounted group rates that were negotiated.

A sample note would read:

“Our rooms are being held at [Insert name] hotel with a group code [Insert group code] till [Insert cut-off date]. Please make sure that you call ahead of this date to make your reservations. After this date, the rooms will be released to the general public and the discounted rates we have won’t be honored. There is a large event going on during the weekend of the wedding so make sure to book well in advance to secure your hotel rooms”.

Get a rough count a month out
When you send out invitation cards, ask your guests if they’ll be staying at the hotel. If the number of out of town guests attending is smaller than expected, then call the hotel to reduce the number of rooms blocked. Make sure that your contract allows you to lower your room block at least one month ahead of the wedding.

Free room for the newlywedsIf you need to reserve more than 25 or 30 rooms, make sure to ask for a free bridal suite. Many hotels will provide a free room to the newlyweds as a thank you to reserving their room block.

No matter how many rooms you end up needing, remember that you don’t have to call a dozen hotels to ask for group rates. Save yourself some time by using our group hotel rates service. It’s free and you’ll have group rates from multiple hotels in less time than it takes to make a phone call to one hotel.