Have any of you guys had your wedding at an airbnb?

I'd just say to be super aware of the rules the owner has. Some owners don't allow parties on any sort, let alone weddings. If you want to do this, be upfront with the owner and let them know what you're planning and they can let you know if it's allowed or if you can only party until a certain hour and everyone needs to go home.

Most Airbnb won’t allow events to take place on the property because of liability. You’ll have to make sure you disclose that this is what you’re looking to do. Also, the owners can sometimes cancel without notice for Airbnb so you’d be out a venue with little to no notice.

There's a huge liability issue here, and most likely if you find someone to let you do this you'll need to purchase liability insurance. Odds are you won't end up saving much money.

That's a good idea to contact the owners. Is there any kind of insurance so they won't cancel? Also I know that on airbnb you can specify places that are "suitable for events"

Our original plan was to host our small wedding at an airbnb that allowed events. About 3 months before our wedding the owner cancelled our airbnb reservation because they had sold the property. We were left three months before the wedding without a venue. We ended up finding something great, but I wouldn't rely on an airbnb for your venue.

Echoing PP's, it can definitely be a risky move. We were looking into renting one for the night before the wedding, and were very upfront with our intentions- we needed a place to have our hair and make-up done. Surprisingly that can fall into the "party" category, and a handful didn't want to rent to me.

I'll also say, my friends and I have previously rented one out for a weekend stay, and the home owners happened to have REALLY rude neighbors which really put a damper on our time. I doubt this is a common issue- but I'd be weary of property lines and how private/remote it is. It would suck if someone living close by could interrupt your day.

You might also need to look into additional insurance- I vaguely remember that being mentioned on here before by someone who was considering this route..

We were thinking of the same thing but very limited homes would allow events the one we found the owner wanted to charge us an extra $2500 for the event, another one was very honest with us his property was up for sale and said most homes are but are with rental companies like this but if we were interested to contact him 60 days before to see if it was available. I was also reminded by family you have to clean before decorate and clean after the day after you get married

View Quoted Comment Look into the cost of the whole trifecta: venue, food, alcohol (if you're having it). The benefits of an airbnb type deal is not really the venue costs, but it's that it usually allows you to do what you want for food and alcohol and that saves you money. So consider a restaurant buy-outs as well. I looked into the airbnb route and there were very few that allowed parties. Under filters on Airbnb, scroll down to "house rules" and click "suitable for parties".

I found an Airbnb up in Fort Bragg, CA who will let me have my reception there. The only stipulation was a portapotty to not clog the septic system. It overall saved us a bunch of money and left us free to choose our own caterer and wedding cake designer, as well as dictate when people can come and leave whereas a venue would force you to use their caterer and tell you that you have to be out by 9 pm!

I would not. I think there is too much risk attached with late cancellations (since the contract is all in the host's favour) as well as the lack of coverage if there's a serious issue.

I am doing my wedding at an Airbnb. I'll try my best to write up the process and what it involves so you're well equipped to venture down this avenue.

1. I reached out to about 20 airbnbs. I'd say 80% wouldn't allow me to host my event there. The others, all had stipulations in the form of a minimum stay (usually one week), an extra event fee that would be settled seperate from the Airbnb site, and a seperate contract. The final cost of securing the house was $3,000 for a week stay, and then $1,500 for an "event fee" with additional deposits (total of $4,500). We signed a contract regarding the event that had it's own requirements such as trash removal, purchasing of 3 million dollar liability / event insurance, leaving the house clean, and a guest limit of 75 people.

Note: make sure there are enough bathrooms. Luckily, our airbnb used to be a meditation center, and therefore has 5 stalls for each restroom.

Note: make sure you discuss parking

2. Now that you secured the venue, you will need to rent e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. I'm talking tables, chairs, linens, silverware, flatware, glasses, napkins, chargers, etc. This is definitely more do-able if your guest list is smaller. We are hosting about 70 guests. This was about $2,500 for the rentals.

3. Where we saved money: providing our own alcohol. For nine 24 packs of beer, 6 cases of wine, and 14 bottles (litres) of booze, with non-alcoholic options such as orange juice, coke, etc. we are spending $1,800. This should keep the bar open all night. We used a wholeseller, recommended by our caterer.

4. Choosing a caterer: make sure they're familiar with hosting an event from scratch, since you're renting an airbnb. Ours, has so far been amazing, really above and beyond any expectations a human being can have. He visited the Airbnb with us, drew up a floor plan based on its measurements of the main room, and his staff includes licensed and insured bartenders. Saving us that extra expense. He is also coordinating the drop-off of rentals, flowers, and booze with those vendors.

5. Some pros of the entire endeavor (I know you're all curious, all together, for the 70 guests with passed appetizers during the one hour cocktail hour, a full buffet with carving station, open bar for the entire night, and the week rental it cost $18,000) is that we have the place for a week to greet guests as they arrive, we have rooms to get ready in, and we get to pass out at the end of the night right on site. I wouldn't trade doing this for an all-inclusive venue any day. Yes, the planning has been a LOT of work, but I'm excited to see it all come together in a month.

I'm probably forgetting things, so if you have questions - ask away!

There are wedding/event planning companies that work specifically with renting out private residences for events. I would probably go that route rather than trying to contact homeowners directly on Airbnb because most have a clause that stipulates no events.

We are renting an Airbnb! We were very up front with the owners when we were looking for a place, and a LOT of them said no. However, the house we ended up with has an awesome owner who is also providing chairs for us and offering help with everything! Our wedding is small (less than 30 people) and we are planning on doing a welcome dinner at the house on Friday and the wedding ceremony on Saturday. We are doing a dinner reception at a restaurant downtown, though, so it is a bit less of a hassle/concern for the homeowner.

The most important thing is being honest with the homeowner about your plans. Like I said, a lot of people said no (or charged ridiculous extra "event" fees) but I am very happy with the house that we ended up with!

I originally was planning this route until I really started looking into it. In the end, if I was having a very small wedding, I would probably have gone that route but my list is at 100 people. Whats you guest list at? When you book an airbnb all you get is the place, nothing else. Like PP said, you still have to rent/buy everything.
For me, an airbnb wouldn't have saved money, it probably would've cost me more. I would say research venues, talk to friends and family about venues they've been to.

View Quoted Comment That’s awesome! What property did you use? Did they have an expensive party fee? I’m helping my best friend on finding an affordable one in that area!

View Quoted Comment Can you add a link to the airbnb you rented? Thanks!

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OMG thank you for this comment. I have been having such crisis trying to figure out what some of those rental costs would be and wondering if we are crazy for wanting to go the airbnb route. (which inevitably leads us to circle back to the 'should we just elope' question!). This was so helpful, thank you!

View Quoted Comment What are these companies? Do you have resources?

View Quoted Comment Hiii this is an old post from 2018 so you might not see this but my sister is looking for an airbnb venue in fort bragg would you mind telling me which one you used?

View Quoted Comment We ended up finding a beachfront one through VRBO but I can’t find it anymore