Wedding hotel room blocks and wedding cruises

For most weddings, a courtesy room block is the safer choice: the couple owes nothing for rooms guests don't book. Here's how to set one up, how many rooms to hold, and how a wedding cruise works if you'd rather marry at sea.

Start with a courtesy block

Wedding guests book on their own schedule. Some reserve the day the invitation arrives, some wait until the last week, and some stay with family. That makes pickup hard to predict, and an attrition fee on a contracted block can land on the couple. A courtesy block avoids that. Hotel room blocks explained covers the difference in detail.

Destination weddings are the exception. When guests have to fly in, nearly all of them need a room, and a contracted block can make sense.

How many rooms to hold

A useful rule: hold rooms for about a third to a half of your out-of-town guests on the main night, then fewer for the night before and after. If 90 out-of-town guests are invited, that might mean 15 to 20 rooms Saturday and 8 to 10 Friday. You can often add rooms to a courtesy block later if they're available, but shrinking a contracted block costs money.

Two hotels at two prices

For larger weddings, blocks at two nearby hotels at different rates let guests choose. Make sure at least one is close enough to the venue for a shuttle or a short drive.

Dates to put on the invitation

• The hotel name and the booking link or group code
• The cut-off date for the group rate, usually about 30 days before the wedding
• A shuttle schedule, if there is one

Send a reminder two weeks before the cut-off. That one email does more to fill a block than anything else.

Weddings at sea and wedding cruises

Many cruise lines offer ceremonies on board, either while the ship is docked or at sea, and some offer weddings in ports of call. What's allowed, who can officiate and which paperwork you need depend on the line, the ship and where it's sailing, so check before you set a date.

On a wedding cruise, guests book cabins in a group block and pay for their own. With 8 or more cabins, many lines give group terms, and a welcome party or rehearsal dinner can often be arranged where the ship offers it. See how to plan a group cruise for the timeline.

Tell us about your wedding group and we'll look at hotel blocks or sailings for your date.