Weddingbee boards

I went online and looked at the price that the hotel is currently listing and bargained down from there.  Currently, the rates for July in my area are 50% cheaper than what they will be once it's closer to the date.   Your wedding is in October- I'm not sure what's going on in your area at that time of year, but I can't imagine that it's "peak season".

I would go online to the hotel's websites and also check places like hotels.com to get an idea of what rates are listed right now for your wedding date.  Call the hotel and speak to a sales manager and see what you can work out. 

I booked two blocks of rooms at two different hotels and then on our website, I put "We have booked two blocks of rooms at this hotel and that hotel.  Should you require alternate accomodations, we recommend that you try expedia or hotels.com to find hotels in the area".  It was my way of saying "If you don't want to pay this rate, then go find your own cheaper place to stay" :)

Oh, and the way blocks typically work is, they will give you X amount of rooms at a rate with what is called attrition, which means you are responsible for booking a certain percentage of room nights in your block or else you will be charged for the remainder (assuming the hotel doesn't sell out on its own-if it does, then you wouldn't be charged because they would be able to sell the room).  Most hotels will also give you the option of blocking X amount of rooms at a slightly higher rate where you WOULDN'T be held responsible for attrition.  Definitely ask; you might be able to avoid the attrition.

They will only charge you if it's in your contract that you will be responsible for attrition.  To book the block, usually you just have to sign a contract.

I think "reasonable" is one of those terms that means something different to me.  To me, I thought it was very reasonable that our venue gave us a $165 rate (their summer rates hover around $300- however, the rates on the website currently are $189 so I used that to bargain).  My mother, however, thought most of my guests would have "sticker shock".  Once she got over it, she remembered how much she's spent over the years attending other peoples weddings and remembered that no one ever asked her how much she wanted to pay, she just booked the room and went to the wedding.  My point- look to get a discount from your hotels for your block.  You're probably going to get offered between $20-$40 off from the regular rate; this is "reasonable" in my book.  Know that people will either pay it, or they will find someplace else to stay.