Is this the done thing?

[DannyWallace]

So this happened a few years ago, but I'm curious to know if this is quite common. (The reason it came up is because I was chatting about it with my friend who is getting married. I thought this couple were massive CFs, my friend thought it was a great idea so we need an impartial decision)

A few years ago someone in my family was getting married (not a close relative). My parents were going and decided to stay at the venue. They were told that, when booking, to say the name of the wedding to get the wedding rates for the room.
So, my mum called up to book. She spoke to the receptionist and got told the price of the room. My mum then remembered about mentioning the wedding...and the price went up! Turns out the bride and groom were able to use the extra money on the rooms towards the price of the wedding.

I was really surprised as I've never heard of this before. I got married in quite a nice hotel and they also allowed me to keep aside a few rooms for guests, but that was so they could get a discount (and every other wedding I've been to has had that too!)

AIBU to be surprised at this and think the couple were CFs? Or is this quite normal (and am I about to be flamed for this 😫)

I would be shocked if the price went up. I would have assumed )maybe incorrectly!) that the bride and groom had group booked/held lots of rooms and therefore the guests receive a discounted rate on the room.

@Shuffletrufflepig well that's completely what we all thought too!

From reading other threads recently it does sound like the Bride and Groom do recoup costs towards the wedding.
I think it is a cheeky thing to do.

Nope, definitely CF in my books.
You pay for the wedding you can afford not by skimming off your guests.

Not normal IME.

When we had our wedding, the opposite was true - if you quoted the name of the wedding you got the rooms for cheaper.

It's advanced cheeky fuckery.

Extreme CF's.

Seems to be a -very CF- new trend.
I would secretly hope everyone stayed in the local travel lodge so the B&G had to (quite rightly) pay for the wedding themselves

Sometimes when you book a venue exclusively or with rooms you pay a set price and then you can recoup some of that money on guests paying for those rooms. Maybe they're not aware they've been charged/that they're charging more than the going rate. If so the hotel is being naughty! If they are aware and even doing it on purpose I don't think that's very fair.

And like most have said normally it's a discounted rate unless exclusive use, etc.

@Gronk27 well some people thought that, but when it was brought up later on, the parents of the groom said it was great that they could decide the price of the room to lower cost...
I don't think they got many people staying there though

I've read of this before and think it's completely unreasonable!

My friend charged what she thought the rooms were worth, not what the hotel charged. From £125 per room to £200. I refused to stay when she wanted me to pay for a room for two nights, that I only needed for one as she wanted me to stay with her the night before!

@dannywallace well that's just crappy behaviour then!!

@EnglishRose13 whaaaaat?? That's crazy!!

@Gronk27 yeah, I was just so surprised by it!!

I used to work in a posh hotel. The standard wedding rate was £149 per night, normal saturday rates would range from £109-199 depending how busy we were. So sometimes wedding guests would be getting a good deal. We always started selling Saturdays at £179 in advance but if we were quiet closer to the date the price would go down. I think we hoped that wedding guests would have booked up early so definitely looked like they were getting a good deal

Wtf. Never heard of that before. That's really manipulative. A guest paying for a hotel room and not realising that they're actually giving money to the bridge and groom...very grabby and deceitful...

Happened to me last year, when my nephew got married. My sil insisted that I had to say I was part of the wedding party. The price I was quoted was more that the hotel price online.

I have never heard of anyone being able to recoup the money from wedding guests that is horrible!

But from working in hotel sales - if someone booked a wedding we would offer them a 'set' rate for their guests and it was always called a set rate not a 'discounted' rate because at the time of them booking their event and block of rooms it would have been a great rate however hotel prices change so often depending on how many rooms sold etc that the general rate could shoot up and the guests are getting a great rate but equally the hotel might reduce prices on this date and then the guests might not have got a discount if that makes sense?

I've worked in events for a long long time. Any mention of "wedding, anniversary" would see an instant hike up of prices for accommodation, venue, catering etc.

Never heard of this before, insane!

It's definitely becoming a thing but I think it's very cheeky. Weddings are already very expensive for guests.

OMG that is horrendous behaviour. I cant believe that a bride and groom would do that to their guests who are already paying a fortune to go to the wedding in the first place i.e. presents, accommodation, drink etc. If I found that out in advance I would make a point of staying anywhere but the hotel that was hosting the wedding or going home if possible.

I agree with TeaforTwo - weddings, engagements etc just plain increase the price, so it may be that the B&G don't know and aren't directly benefiting. Suppliers just see the opportunity for a fast buck.

A friend arranged a caterer for her son's engagement, booked the date and was quoted one price. Called nearer the date to discuss details and mentioned the engagement and the caterer tried to increase the price by nearly double! The only thing different they were offering was engagement themed paper napkins! Friend paid the original price and provided her own paper napkins.

Apparently this is a thing now! Girl on my team at work is getting married this year and they’ve booked out the whole venue, which includes accommodation. She was planning on having the wedding party and family stay and covering this cost, but venue have advised her the ‘done thing’ is to charge slightly over the odds to help recoup their costs (and the directed them to the premium catering package 🙄)