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Welcome to Wedding Day podcast with your host Sonja Babich, CEO of Iron Diamond Media, a leading wedding resource featuring seven localized wedding brands across the country and Dan Riggs, photography and videography expert and founder of Summit Hill Studios. Come along as they travel from state to state to connect with the most creative and well respected professionals in the wedding industry. Every episode will army with the hottest new trends, wedding date tips and details, and they'll show you all the joys of planning your perfect wedding day.
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Welcome to Wedding Day Podcast. This week, we're in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona, joined by Anna Lelou, the marketing director of W Scottsdale. Anna's here to fill your cup with wedding hotel and venue secrets, tips on finding your perfect venue, expert insight on room blocks and wedding accommodations, and when you should ideally book your dream wedding venue. Episode two is powered by Ryan Lindsay Photography, Hazel Grove Rentals, Florals by Kendra, Amore des Sucres, and La Beige Beauty.
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Welcome to Wedding Day Podcast. We are in Scottsdale, Arizona today with Anna Leeloo of W Scottsdale. You are the marketing manager. Yes, I am. Hi, everyone. Hi, welcome to the show. Happy to have you here. Yes. Love it. Yeah. So like marketing manager, what do you do on a daily basis? Oh my gosh. What don't I do? So as the marketing manager over at W Scottsdale, I have my hands really on everything. So my day to day.
02:10
come in, there's a lot of computer items, but essentially I create the marketing collateral, anything printed, stationary that you see at the hotel. I also am the only marketing department in the hotel, so I run our social media, I run any of our printed ads, feature listings that you may see. I also work with our W Hotels brand. Each W Hotel is going to be different in their narrative. Ours is kind of a
02:38
desert in the Oasis. And so every hotel has their different target audience and so forth. So I work closely with the W brand to make sure that we're still aligned on colors, fonts, kind of our brand messaging. And then I also work with our public relations company to make sure that we're in the best light for national and local coverage. And I also work with our Marriott digital service team as well to make sure that our...
03:03
Fun ads and Google SEO and all of that is running really well. So I really do it all. And I also do a lot with marketing for weddings and for local events that we'll have at the hotel too. So I have my... So answer the question shortly. Everything. Yeah. And Anna's title should be everything under the sun there. She does everything from head to toe when even planning a marketing event or a wedding.
03:32
even too. So you're just part of it all. You're kind of like the, I was thinking you're kind of like the mascot for her. I'm serious. I thought that like her energy is just so contagious. When you walked up and greeted us, you could just tell like, I'm a big cheerleader for the hotel. So of course you are. And they're just also so excited to see you. Like the team, when we got a tour of the spa, it was just a 10. So thanks. Of course. Oh yeah. You missed the spa too. Yeah. It sounds like that.
03:58
Oh, well, we're going to soak in the spot next time. So that's on our list. But when we're having dinner, we're just like, you know, chatting. And of course, the food there is fantastic.
04:10
Rehearsal dinners are actually really popular at W Scottsdale, right? Yes, of course. So it's an amazing concept upstairs and it has sweeping views of obviously Camelback Mountain and Scottsdale. But overall, the rehearsal dinners themselves, they can be taken at the restaurant. It would be a private buyout, of course. And then we also host rehearsal dinners that are going to be downstairs in our ballroom space or in our space called Social Mingle. It's honestly it's fantastic. It's custom menus.
04:37
And you know, W. Scott said we like to take it up a level sometimes. So we can offer bottle service right during like after your rehearsal dinner or started with like a champagne service. So that's really fun. So this kind of goes into like experiences a little bit, too. Yeah, it really does. So when you say private buyout, not a lot of people are going to know what that means. That means that they have to like.
04:59
buy out the whole restaurant? So with the private buyout, it really depends on reaching out to the restaurant. And it's private for your party only. We would close down the entire restaurant. We can do custom menus for everyone to order from. We could also do signature cocktails as well. But it's going to be private for your party. And it's going to be private for your party.
05:19
Actually, I just realized now that with Donabe, depending on your party size, you could still have it where it's private exclusively just for your group and your wedding party, or depending on the number.
05:33
you could still host your rehearsal dinner, but have it open to the public as well. So you would have a reservation, of course, like everything how we would just talk about, and then it would still be open to the public. So regular restaurant goers could still come in and check out the restaurant too. So do you see like staying on the property just in general with a hotel, that wedding state have their blocking there and then they had the rehearsal there or have their wedding there? Do you see that like?
06:00
combination of wedding parties staying at your hotel and they wanna do as many things on your property to make it kind of like one stop shop? Great question, so yeah. So what I've seen lately, especially because wedding couples nowadays, especially with COVID, they just wanna make it a full experience. So at our hotel specifically, and what I've seen is they'll do everything from lift off to landing. So it will be...
06:23
blocking a room block, which if people don't know what that is, you essentially block 10 or more rooms with a certain discounted rate for your group to stay at the hotel. A lot of bride and grooms will be into their wedding block as well and stay over. And during their wedding block, everyone stays at the hotel, but this also means that they can also do.
06:45
their rehearsal dinner there, they wanna experience possibly, you know, the lounges that we have at the hotel. So it's a really nice option for guests, especially if they're traveling, or they're just coming in for the wedding weekend, they wanna spend it with the bride and groom. So great, we already have a room block scheduled for you. We have all these plans already at the hotel, and everything's just conveniently there, or if it's not directly at the hotel. In general, we're just in the middle of
07:13
you know, middle of all the entertainment district, restaurants, dining, spa, as Sonia mentioned. So I think that's a really it's a really great option. And I think couples want for their experience to be elevated when they have weddings. Exactly. Like experience is key. So going back to the hotel block, what is the like steps of the hotel block? Do you start with 10? Do you get more? When does it come available for anybody? Like, how does it all work? So I'm going to speak it from.
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I'm gonna put my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my
08:04
you are contracted for those certain amount of rooms. So, yeah, so a lot of times. So you wanna make sure you don't overestimate. Exactly, so, and you also don't wanna do under. So as an example, and numbers are not actually my forte, so we'll keep it at 10. Usually for a contract, they'll ask for a certain attrition. Attrition is essentially, you know, I commit to said number of rooms, but,
08:34
this gives me like a variance. So my contract could say that I commit up to 10 rooms but have a variance of, you know, one room where it's not a lot, it can't be in the block, which that's, which is normal. So you can commit to all 10 rooms and you're sold. It's fine. It's great. But unfortunately, if only seven rooms actually book, you, you and, you know,
09:01
You're on the hook for the other three. Yeah, exactly. So like, what if I book all 10, can I ask for more rooms? You definitely can ask for more rooms, but during the sales process, oh my gosh, my Mariah hat, they contract you for a certain amount for a discounted rate, and that's why you want it. You know, you want your guests to experience the hotel, and of course you want this perk of getting this like room at a discounted price. Right.
09:23
The discounted price is ongoing all the time. It changes from minute to minute. So just as an example to keep numbers even, I could contract you a room, 10 rooms, for $100 each. Amazing, that was the contract. Oh no, I'm completely sold out. I have additional people that wanna come. Not a problem. They can definitely add an addendum to that, but then you...
09:48
risk of going into it's not going to be the same discounted rate at times. Yeah. Okay. So it really depends on the first the first stamp. Like the first like what I want to do. And it's really getting to know, honestly, for my advice for room blocks, and I would talk with your sales manager as well, the bride and groom or the bride and bride groom and groom, they know your party best. So for example, if I were to have a local wedding in Arizona, I and I have a lot of family members
10:18
but my husband has a lot of family members that are from out of town. So I kind of just guesstimate that a majority of my friends and family are most likely going to stay here. I'll keep some rooms knowing that some of them are going to get a room block. Or for out of town, I know a majority of my husband, family and friends are from out of town. So I wanna make sure the room block can at least accommodate some of that. So when thinking of my room block, I did.
10:44
I did a little bit, I did more than 10. Yeah, I did too. I went to, I had 80. I had 80 for my room block. Oh! 80? Yeah, and I remember talking to the hotel. I'm sharing real life experience, you guys. I love it. That's great. And I'm like, they didn't believe me. And I'm like, I am talking the talk and I'm gonna walk the walk. I need 80 rooms. Yes. Booked 82 rooms. Amazing. How much does 80 rooms even cost? What was that like? Well, I didn't buy them. I just blocked them. Yeah. Wow. And I was just gonna say, and I...
11:12
I did the oopsie. I did the opposite. I was thinking, and I had my wedding actually in Hawaii at Wale as we talked about before. But essentially I was thinking, oh I don't know, I don't think that many people are going to come in my head. So I only blocked about 25.
11:30
Well, everyone wanted to come. And so I had, you know, I ended up. Did you want to miss Anna's wedding? I ended up contracting more. The sales manager was fantastic, but it was one of those things where, you know, you know, you know your audience best and it's really best to talk to a professional about that too. So with that too, when do room blocks lift usually? Is I've heard one month like.
11:54
They just they lift them to the public. Like, don't they like stop the block as so? Yes. So they will release rooms up to a certain cutoff date. So you'll see, you know, you'll see that in the contract. It's important to pay attention to that date. Absolutely. Definitely. And I saw tears from couples like they can't stay in my room. Like at the hotel, you got it. They got to pay attention to those days. Yeah, absolutely. And usually it's about and usually they cut off dates very close. It's usually about two weeks before you're typically before your wedding date.
12:23
But when you work with, we're in hospitality, so people first, so if you have a really good relationship with your sales manager and the property, they can, you know. They're gonna take care of you, which it goes back, they'll work with the good wedding professionals. So what happens if you run out of rooms, then do you have like a couple, maybe other hotels in the area that you send them to? Yeah, like actually like run them out. Like wedding professional friends? Like what do you do?
12:49
Don't panic, everything's gonna be okay. Cause everybody wants to stay at your property, right? I know, I know. And it does get sold out. So what happens is, if the room block is fully secured and we still have rooms at the hotel, of course we'll have rooms, but it's going to be going at that ongoing rate of whatever is gonna be sold on online. And of course we can recommend other properties and hotels around the area, but speaking from a hotelier, I want you to stay at my property, but it would be just at a different rate.
13:18
So I got a fun question. Are you ready? Perfect. I'm ready. So being a venue, we would have multiple events happening on the same day. Yes. How does your team manage multiple events on the same day, like a wedding, corporate event? How do you make them feel special and focused and all that one-on-one care? Absolutely. So speaking from my property specifically, when we have weddings, we have a lot of people
13:43
That will be the only wedding for the day. Just because, I mean, our team, Banquet's team, is fantastic. But we also want to make sure that the couple feels special and our team is all hands on deck, essentially. So while we still may have other smaller events that are going on, if we book that one big wedding,
14:09
Usually that's the only wedding for the day. And usually at our hotel, we do have a lot of corporate or celebratory meetings that are going on during the daytime. So our team is fantastic and they, we.
14:25
It's all about the pre-planning. It is about the pre-planning. So we know what's coming in, what's going out. And usually for that specific reasons and wanting to make sure that our couples feel special, we usually only host one wedding, like a day, to make sure that's the big concentrate. Oh, I love that. I love that. Oh, a great question is, does your property require a wedding planner to be on site or does it not matter to have a wedding planner on site for your?
14:50
or what do you prefer? Do you prefer to have a wedding planner on your site for weddings? I was just gonna say, so while it's not required, we heavily, heavily, heavily, heavily, heavily, heavily recommend it, just because with our hotel, of course, when you book a wedding with us, you do get a venue coordinator on site with you.
15:11
But a venue coordinator and event wedding planner is just, it is, there are differences. And we can, yeah, and I was just, we can dive into that, but essentially with the venue coordinator from a hotel side, they'll be with you to help with, of course, just connecting with the vendors that you already have. And so they can help with, you know, kind of organizing their day from a hotel venue standpoint. You tell me when your vendors are gonna get here, I can, you know.
15:39
come greet them, or I'll let you know when, you know, organizing everything that has to do with dinner, organizing the help with like the layout of setup, and like checking in with the bride and groom. But really, other than that, it's just anything that's within the venue coordinator scope just only has to do with the venue coordinator. So it doesn't have to do with anything with hair and makeup. It doesn't have anything to do with, you know, helping you find your vendors. Of course we have a list of preferred vendors we can give you and recommendations.
16:05
But they're not going to be the ones that are calling up and seeing what's going to be vet bidding your vision. They're not going to be the ones that if your corsage or, corsage, am I in prom? Your bouquet ends up missing. Of course we can think on our feet, but we're.
16:23
You're not gonna stitch it back together, right? Yeah, exactly. A planner comes with a kit. They have all the tools, all the little things. Wedding planners come with you from A to Z, from that start to finish, and we just love them because they already know like, they already know the whole lowdown organization of the wedding, and so it's amazing to have a wedding planner there that the team can actually feed off of.
16:45
and organize and make this big day together. So while we don't, while it's not required, we heavily recommend it and I haven't, we've been blessed to not really have to work with a wedding without a planner. Would you say that you heavily recommend it? Heavily. And going off of that, I'm speaking. But don't let me influence you. I was an event coordinator at my property and there wasn't a lot of wedding planners where I was.
17:13
And so I actually went, that was the biggest lessons that I learned coming into Team Bride with the brands that how important wedding planners are, but also the communication between vendors. Yes. Like that's the game changer. And I think also after, I'm gonna say this, you were COVID, it was like, we all have to work together to produce such a happy event and day a wedding day for this couple. So do you do any like a special meetings when...
17:40
to bring all the vendors together, what have you experienced with that? It's kind of that path to the planner and the planner's kind of your main contact between the venue and the planner and the planner to the wedding professionals. So during our process for the venue, especially since our event planners are in contact with the bride and groom as soon as it comes over. So we start the pre-planning process quite immediately. And that really means that's phone consultations, that's...
18:09
And also a lot of times they'll come in, we'll do a site tour if they haven't done it already. And I'm just sure that's another topic for you. And then we also like to do sit downs with something that we call, we do event orders before, which essentially means, you know, kind of a rough timeline of what your wedding day is going to look like. And essentially what the food is going to look like, the timing of everything. And of course, because we're gonna be the ones servicing the event. So.
18:39
We definitely do have an influence on the couple. We definitely have multiple phone consultations and in-person meetings as well. And I would say what's great about the wedding planner is they will bring in that organization and the plan with the meetings. So then it's just efficient. And it's easy. And I mean, I can't recommend wedding planners or wedding professionals more than. So like how many meetings is the average to do with your venue?
19:07
It depends on how big you want to go. I would say typically for in-person meetings, I want to say the average is usually about four, like in-person meetings. Phone calls, emails back and forth, I can't put a number on that. No, no, no, no, no, no. I have counted a couple. How many emails did I do with this couple? But I would say average three to four, because that one, that detailed planning meeting is very crucial.
19:35
Exactly. That's a little longer. Mine was about an hour to hour and a half. You know, if they come prepared, it can be an hour. If they're not, uh, three hours, right? And that's a perfect meeting to bring the planner with, with your venue. Yes, exactly. Right? Warpaint International Beauty Agency, a team of on-site award-winning hair and makeup artisans that bring the beauty to you. On-site beauty whenever, wherever. They understand how valuable your time is and the importance of looking your best.
20:04
Their team of vetted professionals design exquisite hairstyles and makeup applications for corporate, editorial, weddings, headshots, special occasions, and more. All in the comfort and convenience of the location you choose. Warpaint International, the ultimate symbol of luxury and excellence in hair and makeup artistry. So tell me about the tour. Like tours, do people schedule tours with you or do you prefer that or do you prefer they walk in? What's ideal for...
20:32
Your world. I was gonna say, I love site tours. Okay, well you were just on one. Yeah, I know. How did I do my site tour? But I scheduled my site tour and I had dinner. She wanted to just wander around the hotel. Right, but yeah, she got lost in the spa. But a lot of, like, I know engaged couples, they will stalk you so hard on their website, wedding profile accounts, Instagram, before they're like, yep, that's where I want to tour. Exactly, so a lot of times, couples will know ahead of time,
21:02
This is, I'm interested in venue A, B, C, and D. So in a preferred world, typically for site tours, we would need at least 24 hours in advance from a venue standpoint. And that is just because when, personally when we do our site tours,
21:18
We have our vet manager or sales manager that goes on the site tour with you and they show off the best of the hotel and highlight the best of the property. So and also in that we get to know the couple at least a little bit more as well. So, for example, like we know, you know.
21:34
I want to do my ceremony up on the wet deck in the pool. So it's like, OK, great. So I'll make sure that we have that space available. Oh, I want to do my cocktail hour in this space. We can actually try to set up the space ahead of time so the couple can actually envision it. Because as much as you want to see our venue, we want to make sure that you see our venue in the best possible light as well. And I know that some venues prefer certain times. We don't.
22:01
I mean, we typically do it during, you know, kind of regular meet like regular day hours, 8am, 5pm. But typically we would love to know 24 hours in advance. And we'll ask you questions as a couple of exactly like what spaces do you want to see kind of the generic of, you know, what is your setup? What is your theme? How many people? I love that. And just so that we know we can reserve the space.
22:25
And we talked about room blocks before this. If they're interested in guest rooms, we actually show them guest rooms as well that they could potentially be staying in as the wedding couple, and also what their guests are going to be staying in. And I think that a lot of couples nowadays, again, it's talking about the experience, they wanna be able to, we wanna be able when they come to the hotel or venue to walk how their guests would be seeing their space. And we want to be able to have the time.
22:55
and staff to set it up in the best light as possible. Because we want you to get married there too. Right. But if your venue is literally the venue of your wedding and it's one of the most, of course, after your engagement, after you celebrate, and after you figure out your budget, it's the third priority of finding your date and venue. And so it's fun. You should take that time out of that busy work schedule. And that's really hard for me to say that. But to go ahead and schedule and take a look at your future.
23:23
venue to you know where you're where you're gonna be marrying the love of your life and so when you yes and it's it's very important yeah and so a lot of these wedding professionals they have families too that they have to get home to yes i think a good plan is probably you know if you have a few venues that you're interested in if you have them lined up yeah take a pto day right you you and your fiance take a pto day just knock listen to the podcast while you're driving to it listen yeah
23:51
Nice plug. At wedding day podcast and all socials. Yeah, take a PTO day and just make it a date day. Exactly, I was just gonna say, I think- I think day's perfect. I love that idea, Dan. I would take like a PTO day or you just know that, hey, within these two weeks, we're gonna pick these two days and we're just gonna knock it out. And you could also, I love the idea of adding the date night idea to it. And coming from just a regular venue standpoint, scheduled site tours are going-
24:21
to be a little bit better just because we want to prepare for you. We want to highlight the venue in its best light and when you come in or you're like hey I'm just walking in or I just want to see things, you may not see the venue in the best light because we potentially can't show you the space that you want and that could also be a waste of your time as well. And also...
24:44
you know, when we're setting up for your space and only, let's say half of the room, you know, isn't even open because we're setting up with like a meeting for a corporate event. So you're going to go in and be like, Oh, the air walls there. And there's like some, you know, corporate tables there with a projector, like PowerPoint, this is boring. You can't envision it. And you know, not only would that like just
25:12
It just doesn't put the venue in the best light. It also doesn't give them a chance to. And then your person just knows what to show them. Best likely, you said, at night, best at time to show it. But then again, I missed out on so many things. But two then, also sometimes these venues are better when they're all set up or completely naked. Sometimes they are. A lot of people can't, some people can look at a blank slate and go, oh, this is, I can see this and this and this. Some people like me.
25:42
I need to see it, I need to visualize, I need to have the arch there, I need to have the floral or whatever you're thinking of. Exactly, and we try to, when we talk with, before our site tour, again, pre-planning is so important, when we talk to our couples about that, we ask them those questions, and sometimes it is just a generic layout, but also if there's a time where it's like, hey, if you're having your wedding on the wet deck and we actually plan it at a perfect time because we got to know you.
26:09
Oh, look, the sun is setting. You can actually see what your cocktail hour would actually look like during the sunset during this time. Wow. Isn't that impactful? And that's in general with every location of where all the brands are. To know the lighting in your venue. Yeah, definitely. That's very important with photography even and videography as well. Yeah, there you go, Dan. We need to know what time of day it is. Summer solstice, we need to know. Yeah, exactly. And to be able to visualize that, yeah, that's really good.
26:38
There was a couple venues that I would tour that I'm like, the blinds are down during sunset. And that changes the, you gotta pay to ask all those questions, the what ifs when you're doing those tours. And I think coming back for a second tour is okay. Yeah, absolutely. And also we've actually had second tours where it's great. They've already picked their videographer. They already picked their photographer. And we welcome vendors to come on on the second site tour with us.
27:05
Or we can also talk about... Yeah, and then there's also the final venue walkthrough as well. That's always really fun. And I always say, bring the parents. Bring the parents on that one. Because it gets everybody on the same page. And it gets them really excited. It gets them excited. And there's no showing up on the wedding day, I don't know anything. So bring the parents so they know everything. Expectations, times again, they hear it again. It makes everybody feel more confident and have a happy day. Yeah, plus they'll bring the checkbook.
27:33
Right? Yeah. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. That's smart. Yeah. So you do bring the checkbook and we do your final meeting. Yeah. Yeah. And everybody's happy. So what would you recommend? Like how long should we book out if we're booking a wedding venue? Should we do it six months out, a year out, five years out? What do you think? So I think, as I mentioned before, why when a couple is engaged? First thing you should do celebrate.
27:56
Second, talk about budget. And then third is going to be venue selection. So for the ideal venue day, especially just talking about Arizona venues, and after, I'm going to say the C word too, COVID, venues book up really fast. So I would do it, I would look at the venue as soon as possible. So ideally I'd say at least a year out before your wedding.
28:18
And then if you really want to chance it, six months, but more than likely, especially in the Arizona market, to take a look at scheduling out the venue, I would definitely recommend at least a year out. So if I'm in love with W Scottsdale and you don't have my date available, what do you suggest? We could look at, we could possibly look at other dates or, you know, taking my venue hat off. I'll look at, you know, what did you like about W? Maybe you can talk to your wedding professional.
28:46
that you hired for your wedding day. And they can also look at other substitute too, of areas around, or if we can't make the date work as a venue, we always wanna try to make it work. So we can figure it out. I heard a venue was booked out until 2026 already. Like booked up till. So I'm like, if you're in love with a venue, book it. Pull the trigger. Book it. Yes, do it. You gotta be proactive. Don't sit because if that's your dream venue, book it. If that and your date's available, book it. And if it is your dream venue, be flexible about the date.
29:16
Exactly. We all can't get married on 11 11 11. The smart ones actually get a planner first and then go to venues again. But a lot of people don't know that. Yeah. So I'm going to help educate you out. If you are planning for a planner, get your planner, and then they can help you hold your hand, finding the perfect venue based on your wishes and wants to. And I would say that for any wedding professional, like if, if you want them book them because you just never know. Yeah. And their schedules go fast. I would say like.
29:42
Even for my wedding, I had a specific DJ that I wanted to bring out and they, I was just so, we were so close to it. I couldn't, I picked out the venue, but we were going back and forth on dates and then we finally got the date, but I couldn't get the DJ. But I knew, and especially Sonia, what you were saying, if there is a dream venue that you have, if there is a vendor that you want, go ahead and reach out to them immediately because the-
30:11
The demand is high. The multitasking, yeah. If you love them, they already love them too. And if you get a planner ahead of time, they can actually reach out to these venues and start the process, and start the process of the vendor process as well. And they can go so fast, if you especially have a wedding planner, because they have connections already with them. They already have relationships. You have to think, they have touched these wedding professionals before. Exactly, I've had planners that are like, I have a couple.
30:35
it's gonna be around this date and I would be like, secured. Yeah, because I think wedding engaged couples just think like, it's their first time, it's everybody's first time. No, these wedding professionals have done this for so long and have friendships with these wedding professionals. So if you say you have a date, a venue, a photographer, a band, they'll snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, and probably let you know within an hour that it happens that quickly. They're gonna reach out to the people that they truly trust, that they've worked with, and yeah, that they know are gonna do a great job for you.
31:04
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31:34
Ooh, very good. Very good question. Honestly, I would look at your room block as soon as you book. I would look at your room block as soon as you book the venue, just because you're already in that contracting phase. And when you have your venue, if you decide to book a hotel, if you decide to book a hotel for the venue space as well, then I would take a look at the room block. And if it's going to be out of that, if you just book a venue outside of a hotel, I would look at your room block.
32:02
pretty soon just because those ongoing rates and dates are also in demand as well. And in Arizona, our popular dates are just, I mean, we're here. We're in big season. Yeah, you are in the heart of it all. Yeah. You're in the heart of all. And that also goes off to even if you're not getting married at W Scottsdale and you want to stay at the hotel and you want that certain room, do it. Yeah, exactly. Because I know I picked my my spot, which I didn't get. But, um.
32:30
But that was, I got my venue and I got my hotel. Yeah, and you're already in that contracting phase where like, OK, here's the hotel. Most of the times and what I would recommend couples is when you have your venue, choose the hotels or your room block around your obviously wedding and ceremony location, because that's where, you know, it's easy to transport people back and forth, go back and forth.
32:58
So when you're already in that contracting phase of the venue, after that, I would immediately go, I would immediately go into the room block. Anna, is it, is it common for the couple to book with you, but then have the rest of their wedding party or their family stay at a different hotel? It is actually very common. Um, a lot of times the bride and groom, of course, I mean they deserve it. They want to be able to stay a century. Look either.
33:23
It has to do with location. So they wanna stay more essentially located to the venue. They want a certain room type that they're in love with or a certain hotel. So a lot of times they will stay at the hotel room and then their guests are in different room blocks because sometimes they get an even more discounted rate outside of the hotel that they're staying at. Or I've seen it where it's done both.
33:47
where it's the bride and groom, and then the parents stay at one hotel, and then their wedding guests are at another one. Just also being hotel rates and room blocks aside, they just want to be able to spend time together as a bride and groom or as a couple with just like their parents, and then their wedding party can be crazy and do something somewhere else. Yeah, I was the same. They don't want best man like.
34:12
What are you doing in there? Yeah, or doing the inappropriate things to the room before they get there. Right, right. Yeah, so I've definitely seen both, but I've definitely seen it more, especially, you know, I keep talking about it, personalized experiences. Sometimes the bride and groom just want a moment to themselves.
34:27
Because on the wedding day, you're entertaining, you're putting on a show. And at the end of the day, you kind of just want to go home, but home to a different hotel. Yes, exactly. And just breathe a little bit. So I've actually seen both. I've seen it where they've just stayed completely separate from their wedding party. Or I've seen it where they started with the room block, with the wedding party, and everyone else from that. And then they check in to, on their actual wedding night, where they can spend time together. It's separate.
34:57
So it's more common than you think. Or they go hog wild and do it all together, right? And join the party to the wee hour. I'm in on the wet deck. Yes. Let's do it. Love it. Well, this has been so much fun, Anna. Thank you so much again, Anna, with W. Scottsdale. No, guys, thank you so much for hosting me on Wedding Day Podcast. If anyone wants to go ahead and follow W. Scottsdale or away spa Scottsdale, we would appreciate the love.
35:24
And again, thank you guys so much. It's been so much fun. Thank you so much. Where can people find you guys? Anna, we're at Wedding Day Podcast on all the socials. We'd love for you to watch us on YouTube and also Spotify and Apple Podcast. You can download our episodes there. Perfect. Awesome, and you can find it all on all the seven brands as well. Thank you guys for tuning in to Wedding Day Podcast. See you, bye.