... and it was because of this book I discovered the awesome fact of contacting your local Convention and Visitor's Bureau to help search for a reception venue. I called the San Diego Convention and Visitor's Bureau after Jon and I had visited about 4 venues. But I should have called them first. Automatically, they were able to tell me if there were any conventions in town that may affect the availability/price of hotel room rates - this was especially important because we are expecting a lot of out-of-town guests. They asked for our wedding date, how big of a space we're looking for, how many hotel rooms we may need and the location we preferred. Then, the magic started! The Hotels were e-mailing US! The SDCVB uses a system called "iLead" - where they send out all of your event information and the hotels bid for your event. It creates competition between the hotels and allows for some great deals!If it wasn't for the SDCVB, Jon and I wouldn't have been able to book the venue of our dreams: The Omni Hotel! Even when we started venue shopping, The Omni seemed way out of our budget and I thought I would need to win the Lotto to have the reception there. But we were able to get a great room rate for our guests and a SWEET reception package at under $100 per person, including an open-bar cocktail hour, hors d'oeuvres, champagne toast, free cake cutting and a seated dinner with 3 meal choices!! What, what?!?! Holla! AND they'll even give me city guides and maps and coupons for all of our out-of-town guests...
I want to give lots of love to Gillian! She helped us so much... Contact her if you need a room block or need help finding a hotel venue:
Gillian Ware, CMP
San Diego Convention and Visitor's Bureau
2215 India Street
San Diego, CA 92101
619-557-2825
