Renting a House for Wedding Reception (HALP!)

I've looked into renting cabins and cottages in Luray and the Shenandoah area before, but as soon as you throw in the word "wedding" they want an arm and a leg. :/

This was one of the sites I looked at:

www.allstarlodging.com

ETA: My venue pinterest board might be able to help you, too. We looked mostly in the Northern Virginia area: http://www.pinterest.com/baddyart/venues

VRBO.com or vacationrentals.com

Kristen: Thanks, I'll check them out!

Maritza: I've searched nearly every home on VRBO.com, etc. A lot of them won't allow weddings.

Aw.. that's too bad. Sorry. Just keep on Googling.. I'm sure something will come up. Good luck!

I should have mentioned that we're getting married at the Jefferson Memorial (his only request!) so we’d like to keep the drive to the reception relatively short if possible.

It probably depends how close to DC you want to be. DC proper? Probably won't have any luck. Going way far out into MD/VA, you might have a bit more success. Do you want the house to SLEEP 65 people?

Yeah, if you're looking for a house to sleep 65, that's going to be either A. nearly impossible or B. cost you a freakin' fortune.

Since your ceremony is in DC and your reception is elsewhere I highly recommend the Historic Blenheim Civil War Center. We checked out and thought it was so cool and loved the history appeal, but it was too small for our wedding of 100+ guests. It would be perfect for a reception of 65! Plus, their rates were a steal.

www.fairfaxva.gov/government/parks-recreation/reservations/rental-venues/historic-blenheim

Look at http://www.theuptownhouse.com. It's in DC and you can rent the entire house/cottage. It won't sleep 65 people but will sleep a group.

Blenheim is lovely ^^ and Fairfax County has a TON of lovely inexpensive county-owned property...but getting their quickly from the Jeff memorial is a risk. Getting anywhere from downtown DC on a weekend is going to be a risk/challenge as it could take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour.

What about getting a block of hotel rooms? Could that be an option for you?

Www.homeaway.com

No, not to sleep 65 people! Just to have the reception. Idea was to have family stay at the house (10 max) and other guests would either rent a cabin or stay at nearby hotel.

Kristen: Great, thank you!

Try this list: http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/washington-district-of-columbia.html

Smaller boutique hotels may let you rent the entire place, especially a B&B, and may have the permits for a wedding (and space for cooking/storing food and bev). A home rented out by the owner will probably not have the insurance/permits to allow it. And very few homes in DC will be large enough for a backyard type event. Maybe if you offer to get the insurance policy yourself they would allow it, but not sure?

Thanks, all! Really appreciate the ideas.

Other idea is have the ceremony in the early afternoon (maybe on a Friday) and then just have a “cake and punch” reception (issue is where in DC area that isn’t a ton of $$$!). THEN spend the weekend with close friends and family somewhere in VA exploring and getting to know one another. Any advice on this would be great!