After you select your venue, one of the very next (and very important) things you’ll do is set up a room block for your guests’ sleeping rooms. While it may sound a bit technical at first, room blocks are actually a wonderful way to make your wedding weekend smooth, organized, and comfortable for your guests, especially for South Asian weddings, where celebrations often last multiple days.

A room block is a set of hotel rooms reserved at a discounted rate specifically for your wedding guests. These special rates usually apply for the core wedding nights and, many times, for a few nights before and after the events as well. This gives guests the flexibility to turn your wedding into a mini vacation where they can explore the city, relax, and spend extra time with family and friends. From a planning perspective, room blocks also help keep everything organized, particularly for things like distributing welcome bags and knowing where your guests are staying.

How many rooms do you need?

When we reserve a room block, the hotel will ask for an estimated number of rooms per night. This number doesn’t have to be perfect, but there are a few key things to keep in mind as you decide.

Most hotels can offer a courtesy room block of about 10–20 rooms per night (the exact number varies by property). A courtesy block is low-risk and very client-friendly. If none of the rooms book, there’s no financial penalty to you. This is often a great option for smaller guest counts or weddings where many guests are local.

If you need more than 10–20 rooms, the hotel will require a contracted room block with what’s called attrition. Attrition usually falls between 80–90%, meaning you’re committing to having a certain percentage of the rooms booked by your guests. For example, if we reserve 50 rooms with an 80% attrition rate, you’re financially responsible for at least 40 rooms being booked. If fewer than 40 rooms are reserved, you would be responsible for the difference. While this sounds intimidating, don’t worry! We, at Events By C, will walk through your guest list, travel patterns, and event schedule together to arrive at a number that feels comfortable and realistic. 

What if the block fills up?

That’s good news! This happens more often than you’d think! If your room block fills up and you realize you need more rooms, we can absolutely request additional rooms from the hotel. These are based on availability at the time of the request, and while the hotel will do its best, the added rooms may not be the same rate as the original block. That’s why we always encourage guests to book early whenever possible.

Cut-off dates matter

Room blocks come with a cut-off date, typically about 30 days before check-in. All reservations must be made before this date to receive the discounted rate. Requests made after the cut-off are handled on a case-by-case basis and, most of the time, the room block rate will no longer apply. We always make sure couples have this date clearly communicated on their wedding website and invitations so guests don’t miss out.

A note about booking on points

One important detail to be aware of is that rooms booked using hotel points do not count toward your room block or attrition requirement. This often comes up with large chains like Marriott. If many of your guests are loyal to a particular brand and plan to use points, we’ll factor that into how many rooms we set aside. This is usually less of an issue at independent hotels, but it’s an important consideration either way.

At the end of the day, room blocks are about creating ease, for you and your guests. They help streamline logistics, offer valuable savings, and keep everyone close to the heart of the celebration. As always, we, at Events By C, are here to guide you through the process, answer questions, and make sure your wedding weekend feels as seamless and welcoming as possible.

 

Written by Sahleen Deol for Events by C