Questions · When to start
How far ahead should you plan a group trip?
Start six to twelve months ahead for most group trips. Wedding weekends need nine to twelve months, before the save-the-dates go out. Company retreats and reward trips often start six to eighteen months out. Family reunions and friends trips can work in three to six. For a big event week, start the day the dates are announced. Notched Travel Co. plans all of these.
Last checked 24 September 2026.
- Wedding weekends: nine to twelve months, before the save-the-dates.
- Company retreats and reward trips: six to eighteen months.
- Reunions, birthdays, friends trips: three to six months.
- Event weeks: as soon as the dates are out.
Why groups need more time.
There's no group price you can look up and click. Someone has to ask for one.
For one room, you search and book. For a group, we ask a few hotels what they'd offer, wait to hear back, compare, and bring you the best two or three. That takes a couple of weeks before anyone books anything.
When a hotel does make an offer, it doesn't wait long. A week or two is normal. So it helps to know who has the final say before we start asking, whether that's you, your parents, your boss or the couple.
The earlier you start, the more choice you get. The best rooms, the private dining room and the hotel next to the venue all go to whoever asks first.
If it's sooner than that.
Ask anyway. A trip in eight weeks can still come together. There are fewer choices, and some of what's left costs more. We'll tell you straight away what's realistic.
By kind of trip.
The date that matters is when you start asking hotels, not when you travel.
Wedding weekends
Nine to twelve months out, longer for a wedding abroad. The rooms should be ready before the save-the-dates go out, so the card can carry the link.
Company retreats
Six to eighteen months out. Budgets get set early in the year for trips later in it. Once the approvals are in, things move quickly.
Reward trips
Pick the month and the place when you announce the trip. The names come last, so the flights wait for them.
Family reunions and milestone birthdays
Three to six months can work, and more is better. These vary the most, because it's often not clear who gets the final say. Settle that first.
Friends trips and bachelorettes
Three to six months. The date is usually the hard part. Once it's set, move before the group chat goes quiet.
Event weeks
As soon as the event publishes its dates. For a big game, a race or a trade show, the rooms nearest the venue go first.
Questions.
How far in advance should you book a group trip?
For most groups, six to twelve months. Weddings nine to twelve. Company trips can start eighteen months out. Friends trips and reunions can work in three to six.
When should we set up hotel rooms for wedding guests?
Nine to twelve months out, before the save-the-dates. Then the link can go on the card.
Is three months too late for a group trip?
Not always. It depends on the place and the week. There will be fewer choices, so the sooner you ask, the better.
When is the busiest time to plan a wedding weekend?
Right after the holidays. A lot of engagements happen between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day, and the hotel search starts soon after.
Does booking early cost more?
No. Asking early costs nothing, and you get more choice.
When to do what.
What to book first, and when.
- 12 MONTHS
Pick the place and the dates
We ask the hotels. Wedding rooms get set up before the save-the-dates.
- 6 MONTHS
Flights and the plan for the days
Fares and routes watched. The dinners and the driver held.
- 90 DAYS
The details
Who's in which room, who lands when, and what everyone is doing each day.
- 30 DAYS
The last bookings
Late guests chased by us, not you. The plan goes on everyone's phone.
Start with the date.
Send the occasion, the month and roughly how many are coming. We reply within a couple of business days.
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