Yes. And some may prefer to go elsewhere.
At my daughter’s wedding, none of the groom’s out-of-town family stayed at the hotel with the room block. They prefer AirBNB houses to hotels.
I checked online for Airbnb…and B and B options…and really…close to this venue…there aren’t any.
But I’m going to forget about this…I’m thinking it is not my problem.
It’s like hotel rooms for the night before freshman move-in at college. Some people won’t take advice to book them early. Those people may end up sleeping in the next state. They will survive.
“I’m guessing…I should just put this out of my mind!! If folks can’t get rooms at this place, they will just have to go elsewhere. Right?”
If it was me, considering there is no penalty to cancel, I’d book a few extras under my own name and CC for now, just in case some inited guests on your A list get stuck.
Alternatively, one could simply assume that people know what they’re doing.
Many years ago, when we lived in New Jersey, my husband and I traveled to Maryland to attend a wedding in Baltimore. We stayed in Bethesda – an hour’s drive away. We were not crazy. My husband’s job often took him to Bethesda, and he was familiar with hotels, restaurants, and things to do in the area. When we weren’t at the actual wedding, we preferred to be in Bethesda, and we had more fun that weekend because we stayed there.
@thumper1, other than booking a few rooms yourself (as @doschicos suggests), there is nothing you can do but put it out of your mind. If I remember correctly, there are not a lot of options nearby where you wedding will be, so when this hotel fills up, there may not be other lsat minute options.
My S and DIL were married over Labor Day weekend, but in a large city, so there were always options for any stragglers. The MOB did book about 6 rooms in advance (fully cancelable until 36 hours before check-in) for her “last minute” friends and family. In the end, all were used and she just transferred them to their names. I did the same for my mother and siblings’ families, just to make sure nothing fell through the cracks, and because I really wanted them with us at the hotel.
@Thumper, I would also book a few extra rooms in your name. You can always cancel. I did–and there was a lot of shuffling of rooms a week before the wedding, so was glad I had a few options. I know our bride was sweating when not all of the wedding party made reservations early…but I had her covered if needed.
You’ve given your guests all the information necessary to encourage them to reserve a room early. What they do with that info is up to them. You are not responsible for that and have done all you could. Not your problem.
@shellfell, during wedding run-up I found that while I knew that certain things were “not my responsibility and not my problem”, it didn’t stop me from worrying about them. My philosophy is that if I can do something to save me from additional stress and it won’t cost me anything to do so, do it!
^ this.
Maybe stress-relievers can be a good idea even if they do cost something.
My daughter and son-in-law were not convinced of the value of hiring a day-of-wedding coordinator. I wanted them to have one because I figured that I would end up ineptly trying to fill that role if there wasn’t a professional doing it. So I said the magic words, “I’ll pay for it.” Suddenly we had a coordinator.
For my nieces’ weddings in Honolulu, quite a few folks rented AirBnB, VRBO and found other non-hotel options. They made it work. The wedding couple just sent the info out early and folks did as they preferred.
OMG. My son just informed me of some news that has me rolling in the floor laughing. As you might remember, there was a shower about 3 weeks ago for the bride in her hometown. I rode the 200 miles with my ex-husband’s wife. He has now been married to her longer than he was married to me. I like her. She has been good to my kids, and my son loves her. I hate the term “stepmother” because it has such a negative connotation. At the shower, I introduced myself as [son’s] mom and her as his “other mom.” I thought it would be disrespectful coming from me to call her the stepmother. My son told me that several of the ladies at the shower asked him if the stepmom and I were a couple. Even when he first told me that I didn’t get it. When it finally sunk in, I died laughing! I’m not sure I will be able to look at the shower hostesses at the wedding next week without giggling.
I have agreed to pay for the groom’s cake. My S just asked me if I wanted to decorate the cake. Is it customary for the mom to decorate the cake? I have never heard of this.
Ummmmm – don’t you have the baker do that??
Just got the pictures and here’s a hint - make sure the photographer knows which people are important and, if there are specific people or groups of people of whom you want pictures - tell them. >>>>>>
Yeah, our son and dil’s videographer failed to get me and my husband in a “thoughts for the newlyweds” segment. They are very disappointed. I didn’t even realize it was going on or I would have run him down to make sure he got us.
Well, that’s what I thought I was paying the baker for, but I think my S must have misunderstood. Maybe the baker was asking what his interests are so he/she would know how to decorate it. Son is not excited about the cake. He probably won’t even eat it so he just doesn’t care.
In the south, the groom’s cake is a big deal and often decorated with a sports theme (college colors, mascot) or with some activity the groom likes like duck hunting or poker. They are quite the ordeal. Gators and armadillo and football stadiums.
I think they were asking you if you had an idea, and maybe wanted to surprise son with some big themed cake.
Ok…well…the hotel sent me a list of who has reserved…and just today I found three mistakes. Two have been corrected…the third will have to get corrected next week.
My CA SIL booked four rooms. They only had her down for two. My MD SIL books but aomeohow was not put in th block…and therefore didn’t get the group rate. Those have been fixed.
My niece booked THREE rooms…but they only have one listed on my list. That will have tomget fixed next week as the person I’m dealing with is out until Tuesday.
You know…this is a nice place…it’s not like I biked at the Red Roof Inn.
TBH, I’m a bit disgusted. Oh…and none of the folks ever received email confirmations if their reservations. And yes…they gave their email addresses.
Believe me…I’m going to have a conversation with the reservation person I’m dealing with next week. I think this is unacceptable.
ETA…I am not booking any additional rooms in my name. These folks are all grown ups…if they can’t make their own reservations…it’s not my problem.
@thumper1 after reading your post about the hotel errors, I would be making several extra room reservations just in case the hotel “loses” a reservation that you know was made.
It adds to your “to do” list, but I would be doublechecking all the reservations each month, to confirm that the ones made early on don’t somehow get deleted.