OMG! FREAKING OUT ABOUT ROOM BLOCK - help please!

[Heidi]

OK, so Reggie & are paying for this wedding. We don't have much money. Our parents have NO money. Translation - we are saving up until April 08, which is why our wedding is almost a year and a half after we first got engaged. Just got off the phone with travel agent who informs me that no, the rates and deposit amount she emailed me is NOT guaranteed. Too bad she didn't tell me that until AFTER I sent out my 70 save the dates and started getting responses.

 

So tonight she tells me that in order to get those rates, we need to sign a contract. So fine, I'll sign. No contract till I put down a $200 per person deposit. She emailed me that it was a $150pp deposit, which is the info that was in my save the date. That was SO NOT what we had talked about at all. She never told me we would need to do that. I have told her many times that WE DO NOT HAVE MONEY!!! So now what do I do? Her suggestion is to email my guests and ask them to send ME $200 per person by next week. And then I can put the money down for the room deposit. We have MANY MANY people hemming & hawing about coming or not, how in the heck are we supposed to get $$ from them??!?!?! And we need a minimum of 10 rooms. That's $4,000 I definitely do NOT have...

 

On top of that my sister/Maid of Honor tells me she can't support my wedding and doesn't want to come; my uncle tells me it's not safe in Jamaica so he & my aunt won't be here and I swear if one more person tells me about safety issues I'm going to go through the roof.

 

I just want to cry OK, sorry I just can't stop crying!!! I'm so frustated and hurt! I don't know what to do... Maybe I can just call everyone I invited & tell them we changed our mind and just go elope somewhere...

[CourtneyV]

Wow, eloping sounds like a nice option right now!! What are your family's concerns with Jamaica not being safe? If they list certain concerns maybe you can research it and get back to them on what the situation is really like! Sometimes people listen to the media a little too much and get spooked when they hear the slightest chance of danger!

 

As for the room blocks, maybe you could just tell your guests that rates aren't guaranteed, so they should book soon if they like that rate - otherwise they risk the chance of a raised rate! I had an issue with that too; we did room blocks and needed to find a place to get the money... Aaron suggested we ask the guests to send us $200 if they wanted the room... uhh NO! I was thinking of telling my guests that $xxx was the current rate, but it's not guaranteed so they should hurry and book. Having said that, I did end up doing the room block, so I'm not sure how that would have turned out.

 

Sorry, I'm not much help!

[Heidi]

Thanks for responding...

 

My TA tells me that my guests would NOT be able to get the quoted rate UNLESS I have already signed a contract...I can't sign a contract until I get a $200pp deposit to the resort, hence the problem. I don't want to have to tell people they have to decide NOW, 10+ months in advance that they are going to our wedding. and that we need that much money ASAP

[gkashmira]

Heidi - That's a tough one. The truth of the matter is that it's not too late to change your location or if you really do want to cancel and elope you can do that too.

 

I guess my advice it to PM Tammy, our beloved host and see what she thinks. Even if she can't get better rates she may just be able to give you great advice.

[PaulaV]

Oh Heidi! I am so sorry you are going through this!

 

I am not quite there yet, but we are also paying for our wedding. We were going to put it on a credit card because as people reserve, it comes off your deposit, I think. I am not sure of the details yet, but Tammy(host) will be able to explain it better, or someone that has already had to deal with it.

 

I hope your sister reconsiders as she is your sister and close to you as your MOH...

 

Sorry I cannot be of more help, but I just wanted to send you a big hug!

[CourtneyV]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hln321 Thanks for responding... My TA tells me that my guests would NOT be able to get the quoted rate UNLESS I have already signed a contract...I can't sign a contract until I get a $200pp deposit to the resort, hence the problem. I don't want to have to tell people they have to decide NOW, 10+ months in advance that they are going to our wedding. and that we need that much money ASAP

Is it a group rate? Honestly, I just went to a cousin's wedding in March and we reserved almost a year ahead of time. If you decide to do this, just explain that you know you're asking early, but DWs are a little different and need preparation much earlier than at home weddings! But, I forked over the deposit for my room for my cousins wedding way in advance too.

[TammyWright]

it is standard for there to be a per room or per person deposit to hold a room in the group block. this guarantees that the room is saved for your group at the group rate.

 

hotel rates fluctual so if you are thinking of having it at a hotel that books quickly and you have a bigger group, then this is what you are going to need to do.

 

one option is to lessen your number of rooms to hold now and when people start calling to book and put their deposit down, you can up the number of rooms if they are available. or have your ta try to negotiate the deposit rate. one group i worked on recently wanted $150 per person or $300 per room but we were able to negotiate it down to $200 per room.

[MikkiStreak]

I'm sure each TA and resort/hotel have variances in the room block, but I think a lot of them ask for the deposit up front but as people reserve, the money for that room goes to your actual travel expenses. I think I've seen a lot of people talk about having to get guests to book their travel by a certain date or the couple has to release the room block and they do wind up getting at least a partial payment back from what they originally put up front.

 

I had these same questions and asked Tammy (host) about them quite awhile ago and she explained some of the in's and out's.

[LadyP]

HEIDI

 

I havent gotten that far but I wanted to give you a and let you know that it will work itself out.

[Heidi]

Thanks Tammy and everyone else.

 

I just checked the rates on Riu's website and they're $200pp cheaper for the week...now I"m confused But that makes things MUCH easier if that's the case - they can just book on their own