Inside Tips on Wedding Hotel Blocks, Group Rates, Gift Bags and Seamless Guest Experiences

Embark on a journey into the world of wedding hotel accommodations with Century Hotel Group's very own Liz and Kiersten, who join me, Kathy Piech-Lukas, for a heart-to-heart on the latest Your Dream Day Wedding Planning Podcast episode. Discover the ins and outs of wedding hotel blocks — a strategy that might just be the key to a stress-free celebration for your guests. We'll guide you through the what, why, and how to set up a block for your guests and giving you that much-needed peace of mind. With Century Hotel Group's extensive expertise, we unravel the perks and the importance of locking in those room rates early, especially when your wedding might clash with the city's next big festival or event. 

Feel like a VIP as Liz and Kirsten spill the beans on how to navigate the twists and turns of hotel group bookings and rates. They dismantle the common myths, offering clarity on the true benefits of booking within the block, like flexible cancellation policies and the potential for sweet discounts. Tune in to hear how personalized online booking links and a dedicated wedding page can simplify life for your guests. This episode is your golden ticket to understanding the fine print in contracts, the downside of using a travel website to book a room instead of a hotel block, and avoiding surprises.

Pull back the curtain on the hotel booking process with insights that go beyond the norm. We'll talk about the delicate balance hotels strike in filling rooms while supporting your big day, how rates are as fluctuating as airline prices, and the impact of unforeseen events on the hospitality industry. Plus, get the lowdown on how to welcome your guests with personalized touches like welcome bags and organized shuttle services. Let's ensure that every detail is polished to perfection, so your wedding guests bask in the joy and luxury of your dream day. Join us for this episode and arm yourself with the knowledge to elevate your wedding planning to the level of excellence you deserve.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

We are making our own story as we go, as we go, as we go.

Speaker 2: 0:11

Hopin' we are, hopin' that we'll go.

Speaker 3: 0:15

So we're ever after, ever after.

Speaker 1: 0:31

Hi, this is Kathy Piech Lukas with your Dream Day. Welcome to your Dream Day Podcast. And today we are going to talk about hotel blocks. What is a hotel block, how do you use them for your wedding and what do you need to know so that you can get one? And today I have Liz and Kiersten with Century Hotel Group who are going to tell us how to do just that. Hey guys, how are you?

Speaker 2: 0:55

Hi, how are you? We are so excited to talk to you today.

Speaker 1: 1:00

So what is Century Hotel Group? Because that's not a hotel.

Speaker 2: 1:05

Well, Century Hotel Group is a smaller management group that is growing quickly. Our management group owns and operates many different hotel brands but very specifically IHG properties, Hilton properties and Marriott properties. So we have all those three big banners in our portfolio. Century Hotel Group operates the Holiday Inn Express and Suites and Meason, which is the hotel I get to work at, and it owns and operates the Spring Hill Town Place, which is the newest property that they've opened, and Kiersten here with me is the director of sales on site of that property we also take care of.

Speaker 2: 1:48

Century Hotel Group takes care of the Homewood Suites in Mason. And then we have a couple properties in the Miamisburg area, specifically the Home 2 in Austin Landing and the Hilton Garden Inn in Austin Landing, and they take care of the True by Hilton in Beaver Creek and a town place in Lima, Ohio. And we're very excited with two new properties opening over the next two years, the first one being a Residence Inn that will also open up in that Miamisburg area. And then the most exciting project is the contribution to the brand new Hilton Garden Inn property that's currently being worked on and will open, I think, within the next two years. But it's a historical project at the beautiful historical downtown property of the Dayton Arcade. Indeed, so wow, For a good amount of time there will be a Hilton Garden Inn property there, and we're all excited to see that come true for the rest of the year.

Speaker 1: 2:55

Very cool. So we got a scoop on something. I love it, love it, love it, love it. You guys have a lot of experience in dealing with hotel blocks, and that is something that every couple planning a wedding should offer to their guests. What is a hotel block?

Speaker 3: 3:11

So, first and foremost, I would say a hotel block is just a way to kind of alleviate some stress, take away some things from our wonderful brides that are already running around like crazy. So I think by reaching out to a hotel block, we're going to take away some of that. We're going to deal with your guests. We're going to make sure that they have everything that they need coming from arriving, planning their trip, what's in the area, what restaurants are near, what are some things that they can do while they're with us.

Speaker 3: 3:43

By setting up a hotel block, you know you do have the luxury of being able to work with us personally throughout the entire process.

Speaker 3: 3:51

So you know we'll be able to answer those questions. We'll be able to take care of any of the convenience See that you know some of their guests might need. We'll be able to lock them into a rate. We'll be able to, you know, help their friends and family with anything that they might have. We'll also get, you know, some fun perks out of it when you're setting up a block through a hotel, depending on which brand you're with. You know, if you are a diehard Marriott, we're going to make sure that that Marriott planner is going to earn three points per dollar that's spent throughout that entire group. There's always that fun fact of being able to offer a complimentary room upgrade to those bride and grooms or get a signature cocktail at our bar and make sure that's at a discounted rate. You know, trying to just make it fun and just add a little bit more to some of the things that they want for their big day.

Speaker 1: 4:42

So when should a couple start doing this, start creating a hotel block for their guests?

Speaker 2: 4:47

We save the earlier the better, and I will often tell planners such as yourself that the bride and grooms should be looking at their hotel options the same time that they pick their venue. Very much that early to at least look at where you're going and talk to the hotels about rates and what they can offer your guests, and why we suggest things book as early as possible because hotels can be very busy and often like, depending on your area, and when the wedding is might dictate the availability in a hotel. Hotels in every area have hot dates where there might be something big coming to their area and it's harder to negotiate any type of group or discount that might come in and overlap with those event dates. But we've seen our crazy things happen where somebody contract their wedding and they get a rate set that's great for that day and then, lo and behold, two months go by and this is a very specific example and the huge country music festival gets-.

Speaker 1: 5:53

I was gonna say we discovered this as we were talking today, because I've got a client who's getting married at the end of July and we were talking about we need to get a block set up, and I learned that there is a music festival the same weekend as her wedding and hotel availability is going to be through the roof.

Speaker 1: 6:11

So it's also helpful because, like you said, if they book at the same time they booked their venue and that event has not been announced yet they're going to get a steal of a rate. But at the same time, even if for this particular client, we're going to be setting up her hotel block this week, her guests are actually going to be able to have a place to sleep because a lot of these hotels are going to be sold out, and so if you're in that type of situation where your guests may not have anywhere to go if you don't have a hotel block for them, Well, or they're staying much further away or they're all split up in different hotels at a higher rate, sometimes strange cancellation policies or deposits needing to be paid on those individual reservations If you're not dealing specifically with the hotel and get contracted for all the things that this particular group may need.

Speaker 2: 7:01

So the contracts are ever changing with what can be offered, what is expected in return. But the most important thing about getting it booked is number one, getting your group booked. You can easily take a look at a bunch of different hotels and decide what's a good fit for you based on what's available at that time period. But the earlier you book, the better chance that you get the best rate available in a group block and you get the room types, the number of rooms that you're hoping to have, all situated at one or two hotels, usually for a wedding.

Speaker 1: 7:36

Well, and one thing that I think a lot of couples don't realize they just assume that only the out-of-town people are going to get a hotel room. That's actually not the case. A lot of times couples people who are going to the wedding think of this as a little weekend getaway, and they may live 20 minutes from the venue, but they may want to actually have a little getaway of their own and then they get a room in the hotel block and they can get back there safely and they've had a couple too many spirits. They can sleep it off. But there are also things too Like we had our we're going back 20 years but we had our hotel block at a Holiday Inn Express and they had a board room that we were able to pay a small fee for and we had breakfast in there the next morning for our guests and they were able to say hi to us if they didn't really get to talk to us the day before, and that was a wonderful that is absolutely true.

Speaker 2: 8:33

Kiersten and I were talking before the podcast about what to start with and what to look for in a hotel and how important some of the things are and how you might think, oh, I only want to stay with this brand. But then you realize it's the furthest hotel from your venue. Maybe the reviews at that specific brand are not up to what you would expect. What else did we talk about, Kiersten? Proximity to the venue?

Speaker 1: 8:58

Approximately to the venue, Well, anytime we go on a trip, my husband is "Mr Research. He researches everything to the point where the new model comes out, and then we have to start the research over again. But he always goes on TripAdvisor to read the reviews, because what can happen with properties is you might get a new management company in there, or you may find that there's a decline in the service over the course of a couple of years. So even if you stay at a hotel like, say, in 2021, fast forward three years those reviews may not be the same as they were when you stayed at the property. So it's very important to also get honest reviews from the venue that you booked, because their name's on the line too when they refer you to somebody and they're not going to point you in a wrong direction because that's going to make them look bad. So it's also like you were saying it's also important to see what's close, in proximity to the venue, because the venue is going to hear who's a good hotel.

Speaker 2: 10:02

I would absolutely agree about it and in the world we live in today, with so much being done online between booking your restaurant, booking your hotel, buying your shoes online- whatever it may be.

Speaker 2: 10:16

I would say most people, before they purchase something, will 100% read reviews on the product before they just purchase it, especially if they're deciding between product A and product B. There's things to consider in everything, whether it's price or delivery time, but people are going to read the reviews. So I would tell you it's important for your guests to check out those reviews, because a hotel can have great pictures, but you don't know when those pictures were taken. And then one of the biggest and most important things in a hotel is how you're being treated by the staff in the hotel, and I would tell you that those reviews are often the ones we see. The most is how people are either happy or unhappy with service, and I'm happy to say our hotels have great remarks when it comes to our service.

Speaker 1: 11:11

I'll tell you. One time somebody shared a quote with me and I'm not sure who said it, but it's always stuck with me and, being in the hospitality industry, it's so important. People aren't going to remember what you said to them. They're going to remember how you made them feel.

Speaker 3: 11:27

Absolutely, that is exactly right. And I think, being in the hospitality industry too, that's something that you learn, you take into consideration when you're meeting with all of these clients and anyone that's staying at your hotel. In general, Absolutely so.

Speaker 1: 11:43

How does one go about booking a hotel block? Where do they start? They pick up the phone, they call the hotel, and what happens after that?

Speaker 2: 11:51

So we can request many different ways. My favorite is when somebody calls. Absolutely, but I do do I mean the world we live in? There's a lot of stuff done electronically, so I get a lot of requests via email as well as phone calls, and people will actually just physically say we're going to go get hotels today and, you know, stop at 10 hotels in the area. Well, that's great.

Speaker 2: 12:17

I always suggest calling first and setting an appointment to view the hotel, just so that you'll be able to talk to the sales person at the property, because they're going to be able to answer all of the questions about a group walk, whereas a front desk agent, although have great customer service, might not know the answer to how long do we have to book these reservations or you know what else do you offer with a block? So your best bet would be to make an appointment, whether that's electronically or over the phone, and then come in and see the hotel, and you can certainly schedule a bunch over a couple hours. Take a look at what's in the area. I would tell you to always start with looking at what's in your area and then look at how those hotels in your area, how they're reviewed, because you can probably cross off some of the hotels. Even though it might have a beautiful name in it, it might be like a strip mall hotel that you drive past and go no thank you.

Speaker 2: 13:20

That does happen. And if you unfortunately can't drive through, then looking at reviews on those on those hotels are important and what you're looking for in reviews is consistency. Every hotel will have a bad review because somebody was having a bad day or something happened that we couldn't fix to their satisfaction. That does happen. But the hotel every hotel that I've worked with do that does their utmost to resolve an issue and satisfy our guests because we want them to come back and the reviews are really important. And then, talking to your salesperson at the hotel, most hotels that deal with groups have a dedicated person that knows all the ins and outs of it and the biggest thing we need to know is when is the wedding and how big is the wedding? With how many rooms does somebody think they need? That's where I would start.

Speaker 3: 14:14

I agree. What do you have? I think kind of going back to what we were talking about earlier too with the contract. You know, when you're talking to the salesperson we actually know what's going on in the area and what is going to be involved in that contract, Kind of going back to the courtesy block versus the guaranteed revenue, you know, if it does happen.

Speaker 1: 14:35

Let's actually talk a little bit about that. That is a big thing that couples need to understand. What is the difference between a courtesy block and a guaranteed block?

Speaker 3: 14:44

Absolutely so. The biggest difference is a courtesy block is going to be put into place with a cutoff date. So, with that being said, the bride and groom will not be held financially responsible for any rooms that are not reserved within their block. So, with that being said, instead there's a cutoff date in which those rooms that for some reason, weren't reserved are just released back into our general inventory of the hotel. Typically, that cutoff date is about 30 days prior to their arrival. So that way, it gives the business, the hotels, 30 other days to sell those rooms that weren't sold in that group block.

Speaker 3: 15:18

Now, let's say this lovely bride who's getting married on July 27th, who we were talking about earlier, her wonderful wedding is taking place during a Cincinnati music festival, which is a city-wide sellout. So, with that being said, we would love to still have those groups we would definitely want to have, you know, their friends and family stay at our hotel, but with some guaranteed restrictions, rules, regulations put in place. So, instead of a cutoff date of 30 days prior to their arrival, there's going to be an attrition or there's going to be a percentage in which the bride and groom, therefore, would be held responsible.

Speaker 2: 15:57

There could be a combination of. There's still a cutoff date of 30 days, but because we're holding this inventory over an event period, the bride and groom guarantees that at least 50% of those rooms that they're holding will guaranteed have reservations attached to them or they will financially be responsible for paying for them. That protects the hotel and it puts a sense of urgency on the group block to get booked and sometimes allows the bride and groom to really ask the question to the salesperson how many rooms do you think will pick up? In our blog right, which is often very different from what the original conversation is we love our brides and grooms and we've seen weddings that pick up 30 rooms, which would be a big wedding. In most, that's a big block.

Speaker 1: 16:46

That's a very big block.

Speaker 2: 16:48

But I've seen more times than that where somebody believes they need 30 rooms and we say, well, that's a little outside of our norm and maybe we start with 20 rooms and, lo and behold, 30 days prior to arrival, we're releasing 15 of those rooms back to the hotel and there's plenty of reasons why, I guess, may not pick to stay in the hotel that you've chosen. They could be very brand oriented, that they travel a lot with brand X and you've chosen a hotel and not in that brand. It could be that they travel so much for work that they have so many reward points, with whatever brand they stand, that any of their leisure travel outside of work comped for them with the points that they have earned traveling.

Speaker 2: 17:33

And that's well deserved it is, and in a situation like that we will find out that this person should have booked a room they're not on their rooming list that we have to give to the planner. And then they say can you check this person? They said they booked at your hotel. We pull it up, see, it's booked by points and therefore we can at least make note on the reservation that this is part of this group coming in so that we try to house people in the same area of the hotel. We make sure better for not just the group but the hotel If you keep everybody on the same floor so you're not running up and down stairs. It's just better all around to have people together that are coming in for an event together.

Speaker 2: 18:13

But and even more recently, we see more and more people booking through some sort of Airbnb or Vrbo or they're renting something a whole house for multiple people. I've seen that happen more and more. There's things that are different with with a rental like that as opposed to a hotel. I would say for most weddings, though, the hotel blog is your smartest way to go. It gives you the best to wait, usually to give your guests, and and then you can really keep everybody together, Right, Most of the time.

Speaker 3: 18:48

We'll do the feed for them. We'll take care of feeding their guests Breakfast in the morning. They don't have to really prepare anything. So it does really kind of take it back to let us. Let us take away some stress, let us help you.

Speaker 1: 19:00

Well, and I've got a very, very important and I know it's a detail oriented question to answer, but it's a question I get constantly. Every now and then you'll get a hotel block that has, let's just say, hypothetically, a rate of 159 per night, and then they go on a travel site like Yahoo or Expedia and they find a room for 139 a night, which is less than what the block is. Explain why that's kind of a trick.

Speaker 2: 19:30

Well, just like when you see things on sale on Black Friday, sometimes you get there and that product's not there anymore.

Speaker 2: 19:37

And now there's a product that's $50 more out. In its place, I would say a lot of third-party sites will show you number one the least expensive room in the property at the highest discount, which is usually a prepaid, nonrefundable upfront payment on that room. Now again, if the guest feels that they want to save maybe $20 and book that way and let us know, we can absolutely say hey, this is associated with the wedding. We're going to try to make sure they're in the same area in the hotel, but they will not fall under the same rules that the group lock would, which would give you a cancellation policy and specific things that may be negotiated for your group. For example, if you are booking, like I, have a meeting space in the hotel and we will base the rate sometimes of that space based on how many rooms are in the group lock. So if we say hey, at 15 rooms, the space is half price then and the event only gets to 10 rooms.

Speaker 2: 20:43

But other people have booked prepaid rates and booked with points and booked all these different ways, they won't qualify into that number because they're not officially in the block. So I mean there's things that we need to pay attention to to make sure that we educate as salespeople at the hotel that the bride and groom realize this, that they do need to book through the block in order for the perks that come with that block to reach that fulfillment. And we do very best to make sure that everybody is aware of that. And sometimes so many books are reservation and you're like you shouldn't have booked it that way and they can cancel it and book it through the group lock. We will try to educate folks on that as well. If it's canceled a little bit, a lot of times there's some big bold writing on those saying this is a prepaid reservation and that's why it's so much less because even if something happened, you've already paid for the room and you're not going to, and you know, being a third party, it's almost out of our hands.

Speaker 3: 21:39

There's nothing at that point I could really I could do, you know, to get you a refund if something were to happen. But if you had worked with us directly or just let us know ahead of time, we are able to go up to bat for you and do whatever is necessary for that guest.

Speaker 1: 21:54

I loved your Black Friday analogy because that is so on point, because, like one time I had a person tell me, or who worked in a hotel tell me, that think of it as if there's a hundred rooms in that hotel, 10 of them are on these third party travel sites at that bargain basement price. In the minute those 10 rooms are sold, it skyrockets. Yes.

Speaker 1: 22:18

And that's why it's such an inconsistent argument to have, because I've had couples who have come back to me and said, well, why are they charging me 159 when they can go on Expedia and get it for 139? And then I have to explain to them this is why, and it's the fine print. And it goes back to, like you know, I tell couples all the time send your contracts before you sign them, because there's always fine print everywhere you go and you have to understand what the fine print is before you move forward.

Speaker 2: 22:49

And I would tell you that question you have regarding rate not only comes in with, just in an example, where it's a different room type. You know we have a lot of times people want a two queen on a busy weekend but two queen rate is higher than a king rate because you're going to sleep more people in that room, more people are eating breakfast, more people are using the shower. I mean, there's reasons that hotel rooms cost different amounts of money and a lot of times it's logically why and people don't think about it, they just think it's a room, is a room, is a room, but a room with one person for breakfast costs a different amount than a room with five people coming for and all eating breakfast. The other thing I would tell you with the misconception with rates is your. A lot of people think, oh, I'm getting a group block, it's going to be a huge discount. I'm going to tell people I'm really sorry that that's the misconception out there the rate is going to be very much based on what historically the hotel usually sees during that time period. Even if you're booking a year and a half out, we're still going to look at what makes sense for the hotel because we're here to fill our hotels but at the same time be an advocate for the bride's, groom's wedding parties that are planning to use our hotel. So we are here to help make sure you have the rooms you need at a rate that makes sense. And sometimes, you know, it might be a summer wedding and our rate right now is 179. And I might say, hey, I can't change the rate, but I can guarantee you that you will have these 15 rooms held until 30 days prior. So as that rate increases, as the hotel has less and less availability, your rate will not, because it's contracted and locked in.

Speaker 2: 24:35

Sometimes a group block provides a good discount, especially on weekends where we need additional business in the hotel and we're often providing a better rate on those times. But there's times, just like a plane ticket might be on sale one day and with a seat sale, and then they fill up half the plane and then the rates on that plane skyrocketed hundreds of dollars more for the same seat that yesterday you could have bought for $49. Hotels, I mean, it's a supply and demand market. Yeah, rates will change and fluctuate based on what's going on. The hotel industry went through the entire hospitality industry with COVID, I mean it devastated the entire industry because people couldn't travel. Therefore, hotels are empty and I would tell you, in many, many areas the hotels are still recovering from the financial strain of that time period. As rates increase, hotels will increase rates because the demand is higher, even from a real business standpoint, just still trying to recoup what they didn't see for 18 months of travel.

Speaker 1: 25:49

That I mean. I think that's not just hotels, I think that's everybody, I mean. Finally, as a planner, my 2024 is looking like normal again. I mean it's taken because when we book, we book people 12 to 18 months out and so it's like a. It's almost like a ripple effect with the timeline of how are you booking your couples? And I would totally agree with you. I think everybody in the hospitality industry is just finally recovering from all of that. So once they get a hotel block, how do their guests book? How do they go about booking the room in the block?

Speaker 2: 26:24

So easy, Kiersten, so easy.

Speaker 3: 26:27

There's a few different ways. Obviously, after we get the contract set up, once we usually get that signed, we can load everything into our systems. And, of course, their guests are welcome to call the hotel directly. They can speak with myself, they could speak with Liz, they can speak with the front desk agent, you know, and just let them know. Hey, we're booking for the dream day wedding. Can you please make sure we're at this rate? We can go ahead, wambam. Thank you, ma'am.

Speaker 3: 26:52

We can also create a personalized online booking link, and so it'll specifically have their wedding name on it. I think these are usually the most popular and the most beneficial only because most of our brides do have the not to or a wedding website of some sort, and so they can just pop that link in there and they can send off their wedding website link to their friends and family. And, of course, marriott does also have an option to where I can create an entire beautiful wedding page for them. So it's not just a link, it's an actual page and I can put a picture of them on there. I could put a nice little you know memory that they may have had, just to kind of showcase for them. So there's a few different ways that, once the contract is signed and everything is in place, there's a few different options that they have to make those reservations, but very simple, friendly, easy, friendly for everyone involved.

Speaker 2: 27:43

Most part of people are booking online. I think it is definitely happens on all platforms of reservations. Probably 80% for sure or more, get booked electronically. But I would say in the wedding genre that we receive a lot of phone calls because people are very have specific needs in their room If they're traveling with children. Do we have a crib? They didn't read the fine point. Do we provide breakfast complimentary, which both of our properties do? All kinds of things that maybe they have specific questions. We get a lot of people in weddings too that want to call because they want to make sure they're besides so and so or they want to make sure that they're on the same floor in the same area. Those are all things that we try to make sure we facilitate. Again, you are using a director sales out of property to be your advocate to make it the best experience for the entire group coming in.

Speaker 1: 28:41

So once the group starts arriving, two to three days beforehand, let's say a couple wants to have a little goodie bag for their guests when they arrive, or they have an agenda. Let's say they're having a shuttle service that'll be taking guests to and from where the event is taking place. How does that all work?

Speaker 2: 28:59

It's really easy.

Speaker 2: 29:00

I mean I have every hotel is going to be a little bit different on their specifications regarding like a gift bag to give out for their guests.

Speaker 2: 29:10

We talked about it right before we hit report about different hotels you've even worked with that are very different from the way I run it at our specific hotel. Just for my hotel, holiday Inn Express and Suites and Mason, when I have a ride asking for this and it might be the day they book the block, it might be the week before, it might be anytime during our communication when they're like, oh, we want to do a bag, in my case, absolutely, we will do that. We won't even charge you anything extra to do it. We are all about providing a great check and experience for all of our guests. So in order to provide that experience for everybody, including the wedding guests, we ask for bags. We brought to the hotel 24 to 48 hours prior so that we have enough time to organize, but it's not being dropped off a month before and we have to store it somewhere. We don't want your wedding bags to get crushed or be dusty. Whatever it may be, we want it to be trash.

Speaker 1: 30:05

You don't want your front desk person to partake in a little snack during that month or anything like that.

Speaker 2: 30:12

So we ask that they come one to two days prior.

Speaker 2: 30:15

I can set an alert on reservations to say, hey, this person is getting a gift bag.

Speaker 2: 30:20

We actually station ours with a sign right behind the front desk at check-in that says welcome, wedding party so-and-so, with the gift bags on the table, and we will distribute out non-specific gift bags to wedding guests as they check-in. So if they booked through the group lock, easy for me to put that alert on. If they haven't, but we found out that they're part of the group for one reason or another on points like we talked about or booked through a third party to save their $20 and prepay their reservation, then if we haven't listed that they're part of the wedding party, they will also get that bag. So we have a great communication standpoint that works between the sales office, the front desk for arrivals with our management team and operations. So we try to stick to that. It seems to work the best for not just the wedding group but for all arrivals on those busy weekends that are coming in but nobody's waiting in a long time, even though we're doing an extra service for the wedding guests.

Speaker 1: 31:19

Yeah, absolutely. I love your third shift people, because there have been times where at least the couple's been made aware that somebody booked outside of the block and I can send the complete guest list over and they'll cross-check reservations and then shift some things around so that at least when that couple who use their rewards points to book the room, they'll still get that goodie bag when they check in. And you're totally spot on right with it's really important to check with the hotel to see what their gift bag policies are, because, especially with downtown properties, you'll see that a lot of them do charge a per bag fee and that's because they'll deliver it directly to the room for you. Some require that you actually put the name of the guest on it. Most don't, but there are some properties that do require that.

Speaker 1: 32:11

So it's important to check on what exactly is the property requesting of you to make this bag distribution successful, because they want to make sure that we're in the hospitality industry. We want to make sure that all of your guests are treated the way that you would treat them if you were at the front desk. We want to make sure that they get that bag. We want to make sure that the room is clean, that we want to make sure that they're happy, and it's important to make sure that that line of communication is open if you are going to do a goodie bag of some sort for your guests.

Speaker 2: 32:42

And as far as goodie bags go.

Speaker 1: 32:43

I tell people this is the KPL rule of thumb Something wet, something crunchy, something chocolatey, something minty, Tends to go over well with everybody and so I don't know.

Speaker 3: 32:54

Yeah, and a nice little hangover kit would be lovely.

Speaker 1: 32:58

Are you implying people are going to drink at the wedding?

Speaker 2: 33:00

This will be a couple spirits, you know hands on the choice on whether your wedding has an open bar on how much time at all you need to provide. We also do things like. You know a popcorn flavor. There's local popcorn places in our area anyway that will do like wedding popcorn or something that's cool, excellent, great for area. People are coming from outside Cincinnati. There might be Skyline Chili.

Speaker 3: 33:27

Yeah, for some Montgomery Inn.

Speaker 1: 33:29

Oh, I've seen that where they'll do like a city themed bag, I'm like I had one that was up in Dayton and what they did was they had Esther Price chocolates and Mike Sells potato chips and I think they actually had a beer from one of the local brewing companies and so that's a big one that you'll. That's kind of the Dayton bag that you'll see. Or like Cincinnati, they'll have like a little coupon for a cheese coni and Definitely Grippos and Buskin (Bakery) cookies.

Speaker 2: 33:58

Buskin cookies that's a big one. That's a big one too. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 34:02

I love some of the stuff Grippos, yum, that sounds so good right now. Better put a bag of Grippos in.

Speaker 3: 34:12

I had one of these really cute gift boxes, so instead of a bag it was an actual box and she included a Polaroid camera in it, and so she's like, while you're here in Cincinnati, make sure you live it through this camera, but then you have to make sure to share those with us. You know, after the wedding and things, and I thought that that was the most creative one. I think I've seen what a great idea.

Speaker 2: 34:33

People now like share a QR code on, say, like their introduction page, and then that QR code can go right to a wedding like photo page so people can upload their pictures of the wedding or everything to this page that all the guests have access to. So that part is really cool too, that there's so much more coming in the electronic world that allows people to add to the wedding experience. And lasting I think I love taking pictures, so short videos. I think that pictures are a memory that just is there forever.

Speaker 3: 35:09

And you can like, speak to the video too.

Speaker 2: 35:11

I could be like.

Speaker 3: 35:12

You did your wedding day yeah and post it, and now you have it forever yeah.

Speaker 1: 35:18

Well, and it's so cool when people do take videos at weddings too, because that was the one regret that my husband and I had was that we didn't get a videographer and we've lost a lot of family members in 20 years and when we do like, one of our guests did have a video camera and they were taking some video and it's so precious because those people aren't with us anymore and when you see them moving it's almost like they're still here with us. So now, totally agree. So if somebody wants to book a hotel block at one of your properties, how do they get in touch with you?

Speaker 2: 35:51

They can reach out to us directly. We'll make sure that you have Kiersten's and my information so that people can directly email us. But in any wedding block I suggest that they look at their area. They choose five, six hotels that they really want to investigate and, depending on your wedding block size, most hotels will stick to a courtesy block at 20 or less, sometimes less, because you're not guaranteeing any revenue to the hotel and the hotel is holding that inventory right up until 30 days prior. So even if other events come to the area, they can't give away your rooms because you're contracted with them.

Speaker 2: 36:31

I would say to look at that and then reach out to them to set up appointments to come and view the hotel. Once you know that you would be happy staying in the hotel, that's when I would start saying OK, what does your contract look like? What's? What kind of guarantee do you require? What additional perks do you offer? Do you have complimentary breakfast? Do you have a meeting room? Is that something that you utilize? Kirsten's hotel has a bar. What are the bar hours? Is there anything special we can do with the bar? All those other questions that come with it. And then remember to ask your director of sales. What's the most common things that they see with weddings? Because we have a wealth of knowledge on things that happen and we have even things that we would tell you hey, don't do. This Not going to work the way you think it is Right.

Speaker 3: 37:19

Maybe don't use this shuttle, let's use this one.

Speaker 1: 37:22

Liz, Kiersten, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you for listening. Please subscribe to Your Dream Day Podcast by clicking that Subscribe button. We will be back next week with another topic to help you with planning your wedding. This is Kathy Piech-Lucas with Your Dream Day. Happy planning.