Marriott expands Wedding Services

Marriott International is launching one of the most extensive weddings resource and services in the lodging industry. The company has trained 1,200 of its managers as "Marriott certified wedding event planners" to design and assist with a broad range of weddings, including cultural, religious, ethnic and military weddings, at its Marriott and Renaissance hotels. Marriott's wedding services will be enhanced later this month with a new toll-free weddings help desk, followed by the introduction of a dedicated weddings web site in May.

"Globally, the number of wedding events at Marriott and Renaissance properties grew approximately 10 percent over the past two years, and more than half of our hotels report a significant increase in ethnic, multicultural and military weddings," said Robin Uler, senior vice president, food, beverage and retail, Marriott International. "Annually, weddings and wedding-related business generate property revenues of approximately $300 million for the company's full-service hotels." 

Approximately 71 percent of all wedding receptions take place in a hotel, country club or catering facility. More couples are also traveling to get married, choosing destination and resort venues that provide unique and sometimes exotic backdrops for weddings, as well as transforming the event into a vacation for family and friends. Marriott offers the most resorts and spas in the lodging industry.

"We understand the important role our hotels play in planning and hosting weddings and have developed a full range of services to meet the needs of these special customers," said John Marriott, executive vice president, lodging, Marriott International. "The weddings business continues to grow and change, and our wedding event managers are incredibly well trained and equipped to create truly memorable experiences. Weddings are an opportunity to build trust and loyalty with our guests that last a lifetime."