Bride-to-be Blogger Jennifer: Bunking Up

Photo by Meyer Photography

Securing lodging for wedding guests turned out to be far less traumatic than I expected. We are only five months out at this point, so I definitely dragged my feet a little on this one … But now, I’m happy — and incredibly relieved to have this checked off my to-do list. I learned a huge lesson from this process that I will be sure to apply to the rest of the planning: Feel comfortable with your vendors, or don’t do business with them.

My first attempt at blocking rooms for our guests seemed to go well, at first. I was chatting with the hotel contact who was really nice, and even joked and asked if she could come to the wedding (it’s her birthday, too). The hotel had literally opened up that week, so she was a little stressed, but assured me that they could accommodate my guests. They already had a wedding in the hotel that weekend (slap to the forehead for waiting so long), so I panicked a little. Many of our guests are from out-of-town, so I expect to need a sizeable block of rooms. She held 20 rooms for me after our conversation, but asked that I e-mail her with specifics. This is where things got uncomfortable for me.

She wanted me to e-mail her regarding how many double rooms vs. king rooms we’d need, and get a count of how many of our guests intended to stay the night and which ones would be there longer. Without calling everyone on our list, this didn’t seem possible.

That weekend, Anthony and I were going home for a visit, so we each spoke with our families about the possible number of rooms we would need. My count was very high, but I e-mailed her as requested. I never heard back. A week went by and I called her. She was busy and took my number and said she would give me a call back in a half hour. That was one week ago today and I still haven’t heard back from her.

In a panic, I called a hotel chain nearby that has two hotels on the same property. The gentleman I spoke with was so helpful, and even offered us advice regarding limo companies for shuttles and a location to get the tuxedos. His daughter just got married this summer and he was empathetic to my desperate-sounding voice and subsequent sigh of relief. He sent me the hotel agreement the next day, and that was that.

The second person seemed to be better organized, and made me feel like we will be in better hands on our wedding weekend— as will our guests. Plus, if we need more than the allotted block, I think this property is better equipped to handle our guest list.

Did you run into any snafus along the lodging path? Any “I wish I would have known” tips you gathered along the way?

Up next: Doing our tasting, and choosing our menu!

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