Ed and I attended Portland’s wedding expo last Friday. It was small, and we blew through it in just about two hours. But I’m glad we went. Having a destination wedding of sorts, it allowed us to meet with several representatives from hotels around Portland and talk with them face-to-face about group rates.

I wish we had checked into hotels before booking our reception venue. Most of the hotels within walking distance from the reception rang in at $200 per night for a basic room. These hotels were not willing to give us a group rate, despite our requiring at least 20 rooms.

The issues are that we’re not holding the event at the hotel, and Sept. 20 is on the verge of foliage season. One hotel representative told us he wasn’t even sure if he had 20 rooms left for the weekend, since the hotel is usually completely full by December.

However, some of the hotels in South Portland are 10 minutes away from the downtown and willing to cut a group rate of $100-$140 per night for guests. Although I have to make some calls this week, Ed and I think we’re going to go with the Fairfield Inn in South Portland. The woman we talked to was willing to reserve 10 rooms and keep a continual check on how many were rented. If they fill up, she’ll put more rooms aside. Plus, she will release unrented rooms one month before the wedding, so Ed and I bear no responsibility for rooms that don’t get reserved. I was impressed with the level of service offered by the Fairfield Inn. The representative said if we wanted to make gift baskets, she’d be willing to pass them out at the check-in counter or put them in guests’ rooms. A nice idea and one I hadn’t thought of.

I would have liked my wedding guests to be able to park their car at the hotel and not have to worry for the rest of the weekend. However, there are several parking garages in the downtown, and most of my family and friends are on a budget. Therefore, they’d appreciate a less expensive hotel more than being walking distance from the reception. Frankly, there’s not many people in my family who would pay more money to walk anywhere.

Some of the hotels I spoke with called the group rate a “social rate” rather than a “rom block.” The difference being a block is a group of rooms considered reserved, and if guests don’t book them, the bride and groom must pay for the extra rooms. The social rate is a discounted rate offered to guests when they call to reserve a room. The bride and groom bear no responsibility, since the rooms are held, rather than reserved, until they’re actually booked by the guests.