The only wedding contract where you can personally owe money for rooms nobody slept in.
The share of a contracted block your guests must actually book. Fall short of it and you pay the difference personally.
Guests pay for their own rooms in both structures. The difference is what happens to the rooms nobody books. In a courtesy block they quietly release back to the hotel. In a contracted block they become your bill.
The hotel holds a set of rooms at a negotiated rate. If your guests do not book them, the rooms release back to general inventory by a cutoff date and you owe nothing. No financial exposure at all. Most couples with under 75 guests can negotiate one.
The hotel guarantees the rooms and the rate, and in exchange you sign an attrition clause. That clause sets a minimum, commonly 80 to 90 percent of the block, that your guests must actually book. Fall short and you personally pay the difference. Larger weddings usually need this structure to secure enough rooms.
This is the whole decision, and most guides present the two as equally valid options without saying that one carries personal financial liability and the other does not.
Estimate the out-of-town households, not guests, then block conservatively and ask about adding rooms later. Over-blocking on a contracted agreement is the expensive mistake. Under-blocking on a courtesy agreement costs nothing.
The contract
The guest experience
Timing and communication decide whether the block gets used.
Ten to twelve months out is normal, and twelve to fourteen for peak season or a destination town like Charleston, Napa or Savannah, where hotels sell out a year ahead. If you are booking a resort block, it often has to be secured within days of holding your wedding date, which is a very short window to read a long contract.
One mid-range and one budget option is far more useful to guests than a single expensive block, and it reduces your attrition exposure at each. Guests have real differences in what they can spend on a night away.
Put the booking link, the group code, the rate and the cutoff date on your wedding website, and repeat the cutoff date in a reminder a few weeks before it. Most attrition shortfalls are not guests choosing elsewhere; they are guests forgetting.
Ask about a shuttle to the venue, a welcome table or bag delivery, an upgraded room for the couple, a late checkout on the Sunday, and comp nights. Hotels have more flexibility on these than on the nightly rate.
We are building this market by market, and a city page goes live only once it holds enough real properties to be worth your time. Two listings is not a directory, so until it is useful it stays closed.
A courtesy block holds rooms at a negotiated rate with no financial obligation; unbooked rooms simply release at the cutoff date. A contracted block guarantees rooms and rate but includes an attrition clause making you responsible for a minimum, typically 80 to 90 percent.
The clause setting the minimum number of rooms or room nights your guests must book. If they book fewer, you personally cover the difference. Every group contract in the hotel industry has one.
No. Guests pay individually at the group rate. Your only exposure is an attrition shortfall on a contracted block.
Estimate out-of-town households rather than guests, and block conservatively on a contracted agreement while asking about adding rooms later. Over-blocking is the expensive mistake.
Ten to twelve months out, and twelve to fourteen for peak season or a destination town where hotels sell out a year ahead.