ha ha hello hello
welcome back to Destination Wedding Planning made easy
I am your host Mario Lopez
you got the team from Destination Weddings expert here
Prissi Powell and Nikki Sanders
hello ladies
hi hi
alright so today
we are talking about one of the less romantic topics
that we get to talk about
when we're talking destination wedding planning right
it's we're gonna talk a little bit more in depth
about the room block
how we book it and why we book it the way we do
alright so
this is
some of the conversations that we like to have
in our consultation when we meet with our couples
is talking about
the different ways that you can book your
your rooms obviously
when you're booking one or two rooms
obviously when you're booking one or two rooms
you know you have the option of shopping around of
you know going direct
whatever you wanna do to you know
get the get your room booked and that's fine
um but when you're talking about booking
you know 30 rooms
40 rooms 50 rooms
you need to be protected
you need some consistency in your booking
you need to you know
be able to guarantee rates
the only way to do that is with a
a room block
and with the room block
you have two options of going on your room block
you can do a tour operator um
or you can do direct right now
our policy for like 99.5% of our weddings
is to do a tour operator
and so we want to talk a little bit about that today
kind of why we go that route
why we have that conversation with our couples and
and why we feel it's the best thing to do um
in the interest of everyone involved
right
so I think you know
the first one that that we want to talk about here
of course we love our resort partners
they do a phenomenal job that's
they are invested in us and invested in our couples
and making sure that everyone has an amazing time
but in the end
a resort is going to be on the side of the resort
right so the reason I
you know I
the reason I started this off
with it being kind of like
the non romantic part of wedding planning
is this is legal there's
you know when we're signing a room block contract
it could be you know $100,000
$200,000 that's money that us as the agency and you
as the couple are on the line for right
and so when we're talking those kind of numbers
the resort is always gonna look out for themselves
and so the reason that you hire us
the reason that we go through a tour operator
um and the reason that we have all these contracts
in place to protect us
is to make sure that those protections are in place
that we don't you know
end up with a hundred thousand dollar Bill
on rooms that we're not gonna use or
you know that's
we wanna make sure that we're
we're following the guidelines
following the processes the entire way through
does that make sense yep
that's you know
that's our our resort partners
have always done a good job of working with us
but
we want to make sure that these policies are in place
to kind of keep everyone on the same playing field
so uh
prissy you brought up a really good point before
about the reservations mm hmm
you know now we have our room block
and we're talking about you know
if we're doing direct versus through operator
when you go direct with us or sorry
excuse me when you go with the tour operator
so you're going through us
that's we have a booking system
all your guests go in they go into the booking system
they fill in the information
we have the team you know
here at Destination Weddings Expert
that checks the reservations
make sure every all the information is correct
before a single dollar is charged
right
we're making sure that everything is looking correct
prissy tell me a little bit about kind of the resorts
and how sometimes
they might handle their reservations directly
a a lot of resorts
is very common
for them to give the couples a booking link
um with that booking link
no inventory is being held
no one is monitoring that group
looking at the guests who are maybe falling behind
no one is looking at
as you approach your trition dates
or your final payment dates
so you don't have anyone nurturing those reservations
so it's you your link
the contract you signed and the resort
so you really have no one advocating for you
managing your group
keeping you in the loop of what's going on
so in my mind
it's a terrible way to plan a destination wedding right
you're paying vendors for X amount of chairs
you may not have X amount of bodies
who show up at this wedding
so it can be very costly for the couple
absolutely absolutely
and then you you know
you mentioned you know
that's using the booking link and payments
so Nikki and I both have some horror stories to share
uh when it comes to booking direct and
and kind of having things go sideways
so like I said in the beginning
destination weddings expert
we have booked 99.5% of our groups with a tour operator
and we've done that
because we've tried direct a couple times and
and some things have gone a little sideways
so Nikki
fill me in a little bit
about how the payment process was
the one of the times that we went direct
so sometimes they do give you that booking link
and you will process the payments
those payments might be processing in another country
so for a lot of people who have
you know well
we all got credit cards
but some people have strong fraud Protection
that that payments being run in another country
it gets declined um
we've also had book direct
and they require us to print a paper
fill out a form scan it in
and then they're gonna process it on that end again
in another country that's a lot of P I I
I don't know we didn't know when they're doing it
they say it's being done but they delayed in
in processing them so two weeks later
someone thinks that 13 dollars has been processed
they spent their money hmm
it doesn't and it declines again
um the
the payments booking direct can be difficult
even with the payment link
that you might be sharing with your guests
when it the payment doesn't complete
no one follows up on it
so sometimes we have payments and they decline
and we follow up with the guest until we figure out why
this payment has not been processed
or here's your invoice where it has been processed
if everyone's doing it individually direct
or if we're doing it direct
we may not know the final accounting
until days before the wedding
and it at that point
it's really hard to come back to people and say
you know what sorry
that payment didn't go through
your room's not paid in full
and so we need another $800
um
it's just it
it is it's much more of a comprehensive service
when we book through a tour operator
the payments are processed in the United States
we see their accounting we have our accounting
which we hold our accounting separate from there
so we can verify that the money is worth money
supposed to be and
you don't get that experience
when you're working direct
yep you know
I think that that's one of the beautiful things
about working with a tour operator
is that when we do this this
we have access they open up their systems to us
that's they we have a group profile
so your wedding is underneath the group profile
we have everything kind of set to go from there
and then when we go in we log into that reservation
we can process the payment
see the approval come through right there
with the approval code we know there's a approval code
and as soon as we have that
it's done we
we know that it's handled on the tour
operator side we know
that those funds will be transferred over to the hotel
at the appropriate time
when it's time to go over to the hotel
um but we know that that's being taken care of
when you go direct
you don't get any of that information that's
you get oh
we will process your payment
you've you submitted a payment request to us um
and that doesn't always work
mm hmm so that's that
payments can really be a nightmare
if you try and go direct and you know it when if
especially if you're not doing with this with an agent
if you're doing it on your own
and trying to go direct with the hotel
it can get I mean
this is a full time job that's I've
you know we've got a team of five people here at DWE
that handles you know
everything in the in the system with the reservations
right so that's
it's
to try and do that on your own for your own wedding
is a task that you just don't want to take on right
it's so
then
let's talk about some of the protections that you have
through contracted services
so the protections that you have with um
if we end up going through the tour operator
so when you go direct
I think one of the tempting things about going direct
is that your attrition schedule is shorter
they might say hey
you don't need to give the rooms back to us
until 30 days ahead of the wedding right
um that comes with its own problems though
so it sounds good it sounds good yeah
oh I have to be true yeah
I don't have to pay
I don't have to release rooms until 30 days before
awesome
except for your wedding planning was due 60 days before
and so now you have finalized
approved and paid for
guests that all of a sudden decided they're not going
and and they can actually cancel then at that point
because the attrition schedule is so short
this
so when we go this route we
first of all the tour operators
are going to have a little bit longer uh
attrition schedules right
it just comes with the territory
when you do a tour operator
but it's okay we build in
we make sure we give them enough time
your guests enough time to make payments
to decide if they want to come or not
that's how we structure it
we do that on purpose
but it also is there to protect your planning
so you know
when you're doing it this way
then you can go in and say okay
I know this is my guest count
it might change one or two right
but it's not gonna shift by 10 rooms
it's you know
so that that a trition schedule really
is there to help protect not only the room block
but the planning process as well
it's Nikki talk to me a little bit
about the shorter trition schedule and like
final payments with guests
and how why
why we structure ours the way that we do
we structure it the way we do
and we time it and so does a tour operator honestly
because wedding contracts are finalized
typically 90 days out and the payments are made
that is when you know your
how many guests you have coming
that way our wedding couples aren't booking
you know three more tables
three more centerpieces three more this
a bigger dance floor and then they have
you know how many rooms
of guests that are gonna pay on property
mm hmm pay when they get there
they're not going I'm gonna tell you what
they're not going so we set our payments
you will know who's got skin in the game
mm hmm for your wedding
in enough time for you to plan and make payments
so we'll have a second payment
because the tour operator does too
the same way you're gonna hold the rooms
we want them we want people to own these rooms
they're coming these are their rooms
so at after that point
we give back the extra rooms to the hotel
so they can give them to other guests
and they can get booked
by the time final payment rolls around
you have your headcount yep
you have your headcount for planning
I think you know
it's one of the
things that people don't realize is when
you know when we
we have all these padded dates and padded amounts and
you know the
the way that we structure our contracts
it can come into question sometimes on the well
you know can't we just push this back
or can't you know
can't we hold this a little bit longer
and the truth is is that
not everyone is as invested in your wedding as you are
right so that's if
you know you have auntie so and so who
you know forgot about second payment and
you know we didn't pat
let's say we didn't pat our dates
and we didn't pat our amounts right
so we said you know
October 23rd second payment is due
and in the contract it also says October 23rd
second payment is due
that gives us zero time for follow up
that's zero time to go to anti so and say
are you coming or are you not
we need to cancel your room if you're not
so that we can make sure that we're up to schedule
otherwise you as the couple
are now on the hook for the difference that aunt
auntie so and so didn't pay
and that's you know
that's what I think people don't realize
when they're signing these room block contracts
this is a contract
you're guaranteeing funds to the hotel
if you don't manage it properly
you can really find yourself in a very sticky situation
that's so those shorter attrition terms
those oh
you know we'll pay when we get to the hotel
or we'll pay you know
30 days ahead or whatever
that's it sounds better
and it definitely sounds better to the guest
they'll
they'll hold on to their money as long as they want to
right but it can hurt you real bad in the planning and
yep just on
just on the financial side of things
it can hurt this is
this is not where you wanna be that cool
laid back parent
this is where you wanna be the structured
structured parent because this is money
it is money and it is liability for everyone involved
and the numbers that are big to us are small to them
nothing yep
but they'll still take it from you
yeah
right yeah
and that's that you know
that's I guess
that's the point that we're trying to make with this
Nikki right
is it's the reason you have us involved
the reason we have the tour operator involved
and then the tour operator goes to the hotel
is because that's we want those protections in place
you need an advocate that's gonna advocate for you for
you know for your wedding
for your guests to make sure that everything
runs as smoothly as possible
when we put these policies in place
when we structure the contracts the way that we do
we're doing it
because we know it's gonna keep everyone protected
it's we're not
we don't take a room block lightly
because it's in the end
I'm also on the line for $100,000 right
it's money I don't play with money
no I don't wanna give away my money
no we we
we do not do that with you
no no
and it's tough and realized too
all of this is like this because it needed to be
yeah because people got stuck and burned
like fearless
um you know
we've seen stories we've seen stories from other
you know people in the industry
I have 40 rooms I'm stuck with now like
that amount of money mm hmm
it's like it's crazy
you do we don't want any part of that
we're gonna we're gonna do it because we watch your
we watch your room block we have room block maintenance
we watch it all we check all the payments
we check your guests um
if it's direct they're not gonna look at it until
right before the wedding mm hmm
and you know
occasionally
we have clients submit the reservation request
and the dates are wrong
it might be a week or two if they're
they want to come in it
on the Thursday before the wedding
but they have the dates wrong
you may not get that noticed
when it's direct
because that booking link might pick up those dates
cause they're available at their system
mm hmm you wouldn't be able to do that with us right
yep it's you know I
there's so many other terms that are in these contracts
that we really
we skim over because the terms are there
and it's there to protect us
we know it's there to protect us
we don't necessarily go as deep into it
as we probably should but
you know there's
again when you go through a tour operator
let's say you end up in a force majeure
that's situation right
it's at at the time that we're recording this Hurricane
it was Tropical Storm turning into Hurricane Melissa
is making its way through the Caribbean
and it's it's looking like it's gonna hit Jamaica
right that's
so that's
when you're in a force majeure situation like that
where the hotel is not
you're not gonna be able to stay open right
if you are booked direct yes
they're gonna try and accommodate you
they're gonna try and you know
work things out they're gonna change your date
but they're gonna let you change those dates
yeah hey
you can come whenever you wanna come
yep we
we but I ain't got no money to get back to you
yeah we've had this happen
we've had a hotel have a fire
uh huh
had a hotel damaged by Hurricane for upcoming weddings
now both of those would not have had alternative
alternative resorts to move you to your dates
out the window
cause now you gotta get that money back from that hotel
how long is that gonna take
if they give it back like it
and so you gotta change your dates
all your your guests have bought their flights
they paid for their rooms
and no
what are you doing where are you going
yeah and prissy
that you brought up a good point
you have to wait for that
you know the hotel to return the money then
by the way
it's going back to each guest individual card
so now we have to recollect the money and
you know and send it over to another property
if they'll allow us to do that
right yeah
but that's if it's direct
we don't know when they're gonna do it
we don't know when they're gonna do
and guess at this point I don't want to be bothered
my money came back
I'm going to buy me some Gucci shoes or something
you're not like
I have options at this point like no
you don't want to be in that position
yeah yeah
so that's with the tour operator
with the Force Majeure part of the contract
that's there we're able to now shift move
none of the money is gonna go back to the guest
it's gonna go back to the tour operator
and the tour operator is then gonna reassign it
to another hotel it's the
the example that you use Nikki
um back
what was that 22
20 I have no clue 20
I think it was 23 that's uh yeah uh
well in 22
Atelier had uh
that fire
it was you know
it's it's such a beautiful property
and we had a wedding
that was gonna be absolutely gorgeous there
but there was nothing that
you know we don't want to send guests to a hotel
that smells like smoke um
and so they had to they had to
you know renovate the hotel
get things fixed which they did a phenomenal job
by the way yeah
um but in the meantime
we had to move a wedding
between our relationships with Live Aqua Cancun um
and our relationship with the tour operator
we were able to get that entire wedding from Atelier
moved over to Live Aqua kept the same date
kept the guest accommodations as close to
you know where
you know obviously
the categories are a little different
at different properties but we kept them as close to
you know as possible
because of our relationships the uh
the new hotel held the rates that
you know should have been a lot more at that point
since we were so close to travel
um so it's
you know it gives us flexibility
it gives us move security security
it's when when things like that happen
that's why we have this stuff in place
um it it
it takes me back to kind of like
the conversation you know
that we have on a very micro level
about travel insurance it's not about
you know it's not about if
everything goes perfectly
if everything goes perfectly in a perfect world
awesome we don't need contracts
we don't need insurance right
but when it goes wrong yeah
stuff happens and when stuff happens
you wanna make sure you're protected
going direct as much as we love our hotel partners
as much as we you know that's
we do trust them with some amazing weddings
we want to make sure all the protections are in place
that we can have so that we're protected
so that our couples are protected
so that no one runs into the
oh no what
what happened what now
the easy going days are gone
the easy going days left a few years ago
and we all know why
a lot of reasons why yeah so
I like to look at the suppliers
they're holding the umbrella
and we're standing under it
but I think we we lose sight of the umbrella
like the group hundred and fifty thousand dollars
the umbrella
is worth a couple of hundred million dollars
so we have more Protection
we have more power we are
we have more coverage being under that umbrella
so it makes sense to you know
get on up under there do what you're gonna do
I love being safe have a good time
yeah because when something happens
you're not you're not by yourself
you're not out in the cold by yourself
yep and what happens during the planning
when the resort is unresponsive huh
to to schedule their events
Mario no
like when the hotel is not responding
to plan their welcome party
so that just happened recently um
which is why Nikki's bringing that up
um that's
but that's because we had a tour operator involved
tour operator involved I not only was able to go to my
my business development manager for that hotel brand
and say what the hell is going on here
let's you know
we have an event coming up
and they travel in a month
and we don't you know
we don't have anything confirmed yet uh
cause the the property is not responding
not only did I have that but actually
where I actually got my traction from was the
the tour operator I went to the tour operator
I said hey
we have this in our contract
that we have a welcome event that we
you know get comped
they will not respond
they will not confirm anything for us
I this
I have exhausted my resources
what can you do and we had an answer
what was it 24 hours later
we had an answer from the property that's
someone else was assigned to it and
and we were able to get that event going
and we got it planned they had a welcome event
it's it was not ideal planning timeline
but it but it got done hahaha
so it's it the umbrella
the umbrella exactly
yeah yeah
it's it it
every every policy
that destination weddings expert has in place is
like Nikki said before is in place for a reason
either we have experienced it in the past
or someone else has experienced it in the past
and we've Learned from it
and so that's when we when we structure the
the contracts like we do when we tell you hey
you do wanna go with a tour operator
this is
this is the way that we structure our room block
contracts it's all there to protect you
to make the planning process a little easier for you
to make sure that you are able to enjoy the process
and not be stressed or worried about
you know if Auntie so and so pay
you know submitted her
her credit card to some link
that you have no way of tracking and
you know things like that
so um
we wanted to get this this episode out here
just so we could talk about what the differences are
cause there
when you're out there and you're doing your research
you do have a lot of options that you can consider um
but they don't always talk about
you know it's all the
all the good the bad
the ugly that's involved in it
so that's that's why we're here
to talk about the good the bad
the ugly so this
ladies
thank you so much for joining the conversation today
I really appreciate it
I think this was a very informative uh
this episode so uh
you all have a good day okay
bye bye
