Booking - Timing Question

Sandy · June 26, 2009

Hi Ladies - I have a question regarding booking. Some of my guests have already booked but others probably won't book for a little while in order to figure out where they are flying from, if they can get the time off work etc. Does anyone know when guests should typically be booked by? I am a little worried that my guests won't book in time and the resort or flights will be full... My wedding is in January...what do you think? Thanks!

weddinggirl72 · June 26, 2009

I'm going to have the cut off date be one month before the event - which is when the final deposit is due. Your date might be tougher b/c its right after the holidays. People will need to manage their finances and plan for the trip. You may want to have your cut off date be 2 months before your event to avoid last minute cancellations for people who may not have enough money after the holidays?

smith3576 · June 29, 2009

I think it depends on how your rooms are arranged. We had a block of rooms that were reserved until a time period that were released after the deadline date (May for our Nov wedding) and we didn't have to pay for any unused rooms. Guests booking now are just working with our TA to get the best rates they can. We didn't give our guests a deadline; we just let them know when the block of rooms would no longer be available, and let them know that the hotel generally books up a few months out, and encouraged them to book as soon as they knew they were going to ensure they get the room they want for the days they want. Our rsvp is going to be for the end of Sept (our wedding is the beginning of Nov) but that is more geared around our planning than the rooms. Your TA should be able to give you an idea of when/if your hotel tends to book up, although since that's a newer hotel and with all the stuff going on in Mexico these days, it might be harder to predict. We were told ours books up generally by the end of summer, and we are finding that some room classes have limited availability now for our dates.

Good luck!

J&MWedding · June 29, 2009

I'm starting to get a little concerned too. Our wedding is dec 4th, and my TA told me that it wasn't necessary to block rooms, but I know of still probably 20 ppl that still need to book. I put one month in advance too (so Nov 4th), but I think everyone will be booked by Oct or earlier though. any suggestions out there?

brittbrodin · June 30, 2009

My one suggestion would be to try not to sweat it. I had no clue when/if my guests booked, I just knew they would make it work no matter what. It was a little less stressful for me though, because we didn't do a room block and just hoped that there'd be available rooms at Dreams. I'm pretty laid back though, so that's why it was easy for me not to worry. Just remember, that it will all work itself out in the end!

verh0016 · July 1, 2009

Sandy - One thing to note - we found it cheaper to have our guests book through a site like expedia or orbitz rather than have Dreams VM block rooms. Our timing was this:

10 months prior - send save the dates with our website info

8 months prior - email everyone resort and travel information (immediate family and bridal party all booked right away - others have been trickling in since)

3-4 months prior (which is right now) - send invitations out and hope those sitting on the fence make a decision.

People will figure it out on their own. We found it was best to give them the resort info and let them book on their own. We have people coming from all different airports all over the US and staying for different amounts of time. We currently have 68 people booked and anticpate settling on around 80. - Hope this helps, Trisha