Many Congratulations for your engagement!!
And now is the time to plan your wedding and if it is a destination wedding, then you need to plan even more!!
Undoubtedly, a destination wedding is analogous to the thrill and romance in some other land and saying your wedding vows. If you are planning to get hitched away from home on some other land, then it’s really a great news! You must have finalized your location to say your wedding vows, now the next step is to reserve hotel blocks for your wedding. Yes, you need to do it well in time or else you will end up compromising on both, your stay and wedding venue. Choosing to get hitched on some other land automatically increases the challenges of wedding planning a tad.
Hosting a wedding in some foreign land of your dream, downright away from home, amidst beautiful scenic views with few close near and dear, the thought itself is so mesmerizing.
However, reality check: Wedding in other land has its pluses and minuses, from tacking a thousand miles away to language barriers, logistics to vendors, rules and regulations of other countries, etc. Besides, making arrangements for your wedding guests, of course they will need a place to stay. Reserving hotel blocks is the best way to ensure that your wedding guests have a place to stay. There are many ways you can do it: You can book the same hotel where you are staying for your guests as well, or you can reserve hotel blocks for your guests in a nearby hotel.
This will make planning and transportation a lot easier for your guests and you as well. Besides, having your guests in the same hotel or nearby hotel will help you privilege of having them for each and every function, be it large or small.
But the question is how to reserve hotel block for your wedding…
Here is how you can reserve hotel block for your wedding guests…
While reserving hotel blocks for your wedding, you need to keep these pointers in mind: your wedding budget, proximity to your wedding venue, amenities provided by the hotel and the cost. For reserving hotel blocks you will need to do a lot of research online, select at least five good hotels in the area. Also, you will have to decide beforehand whether you want to have the same place booked for your wedding and stay or you want to go for two different places for your wedding and stay. Once you know your requirements fully, you can then talk to the venue managers of selected hotels and ask about their prices, amenities and the discounts (hotels do give discounts so, don’t miss to ask about discounts).
Call all the hotels, it will help you narrow your choice down to two –three hotels depending on your wedding guests list. If you have a huge list, then surely you will need to book two – three hotels for your guests. So, before reserving hotel blocks know the number of guests you would be expecting at your wedding. Accordingly you will book your hotel rooms.
When you call the hotel, make sure you give all the details, such as date of your wedding, dates you expect your guests would be there. Also, ask them the additional services they provide in the given rates, like few hotel provide you airport pick and drop facility, likewise you can ask what all you can expect from the hotel. Of course, unhappy guests would be the last thing you would want to have.
When you start booking, don’t book all the room at once, instead start with a smaller number of rooms and gradually you can add more room (if required). Doing this will help you avoid any kind of penalties if rooms go unused.
Make sure that you book the venue at least three months prior to your wedding. Delaying hotel blocks booking can cause severe problems later. Also, depending upon your guests list you will have to reserve the hotel blocks for your guests.
This may sound like too much initially, but trust once you will start the procedure, you will be at ease with it. If still you do not want to do it, the best is to hire a professional to help you in your wedding planning journey.
Negotiating the contract terms for a hotel block
Once you have selected the best hotels for your wedding and accommodation, the next is to negotiate the contract terms for a hotel block. You may find things a bit technical here, but the good part is – they are not so complicated. Before you finally sign the contract you should know these terms, which are often used when you reserve hotel blocks for an event, like your wedding. These terms are as follows:
Allowable Shrinkage Clause
This number simply stands for the percentage of rooms that you requested to have blocked that did not get filled. Always aim to have a target percentage between 10-20 percent. This simply means if you have booked 20 rooms, but out of those 20 rooms four or less rooms go un- booked, you will not be charged a fee for those unbooked rooms.
Attrition Rate or Minimum Guarantee
This number simply means that the host would be paying a per-room amount for each empty room in the reserve room block below the minimum commitment. Aim to have a target percentage of 70 – 80 percent. For instance, if the entire hotel room block is not used, you’ll be charged for all the unused rooms based on a minimum commitment of 70 or 80 percent. This simply means that if the minimum amount of rooms that you have blocked go un-booked, you’ll have to pay 70 to 80 percent of the room block to the hotel for their loss.
Mitigation Clause
Mitigation clause also called resell clause simply means that the hotel shall undertake all reasonable efforts in order to resell canceled or unused rooms, and will credit those revenues against the liquidated damages in an amount. This means, you won’t be paying any penalty for those unused or canceled rooms.
While signing the contract with the hotel it is essential that you are aware of these terms and accordingly you negotiate the terms with your hotel. Also, make sure that you read all the terms and conditions of the hotel carefully before you sign on the dotted line. If you have any doubt on any condition or term, ask there and then, don’t ignore anything. Get clarity on everything before signing the contract it will help you have a great ceremony.
To pan out…
Once you have reserved hotels blocks for your wedding, make sure you communicate the same you’re your wedding guests as well. And the best way to communicate your hotel block information to your wedding guests is – include the details on your wedding website. This will help your wedding guests have all the information about their stay on your wedding. Also, they will be happy to know things in advance. Besides, you can also add other details, like contact information of the point contact, directions on how to reach the hotel, you can even add some interesting places or facts about your wedding location so that your guests would be enticed to see it, etc.