So you’ve been searching high and low for the right wedding venue, and nothing seems to be hitting the mark? Here’s where our Airbnb wedding advice could come in handy! Perfectly suited to couples who are having a wee wedding, an Airbnb or country house rental can work for those of you who are dreaming of a low key, stripped back and relaxed affair. It can definitely work out a less expensive way of doing things (read less expensive, not cheap!). However, it can take more time and preparation as you won’t have the luxury of an on site co-ordinator/wedding planner. (Unless you book one separately, like Cat from Fin Flükra, more great advice from her later!).
Other websites can of course be used for finding your perfect wedding venue – such as Cottages & Castles, Scotts Castle Holidays and Unique Homestays to name a few. However for the purposes of this blog we’re going to pop them all under the one banner – Airbnb :D So without further ado, here is our best Airbnb wedding advice…
1. Be Open + Upfront
This goes without saying really, some owners can get a little anxious at the idea of a wedding coming in – they might automatically think giant marquees and a large amount of guests stomping all over their lovely property! But, if your wedding is small and low key you should absolutely explain this. Let them know how many guests you will have, the fact that it’s not like a traditional large wedding, as many of your plans as possible (in terms of using the grounds, car parking etc). Prepare to meet some disappointments as some venues may just not want to host weddings. Of course, it’s up to you whether you tell an accommodation anything at all but we 100% wouldn’t recommend keeping it a secret from the host – not only is it a bit rude, but if they find out you could lose your booking and be left without a place to say your ‘I do’s’ :-O
2. Expand Your Search
Hopefully you have a rough idea of where you want to go, but don’t be scared to expand your search even by a few miles outside of your chosen location. Donna + Bjoern were married in Applecross Church while their reception house was over the Pass of the Cattle in Loch Carron – not the same area at all, but worth it for the epic drive over the hills (and yes, of course we stopped for photographs!) Of course, if you do choose two venues make sure to factor travel time into your wedding timeline (we’ve written more about wedding day timelines here!)
3. Arrive Early + Have a Plan
You’ll definitely want to arrive at least a few days before your wedding date so that you can scope out the rooms (and pick the best one for yourself of course), check out the surrounding area and really get a feel for the place. One of the first things we do when we arrive is take a big walk around and familiarise ourselves with the location we’re shooting to find some great photo spots but it’s always nice to hear what makes our couples ‘ooh’ and ‘ahhh’ too!
In terms of how your wedding day runs – this is the fun bit as it’s totally up to you! There isn’t a rule that you have to have a sit down dinner with speeches beforehand so if you’d prefer chilled speeches at your afternoon reception or even an impromptu ceilidh (see below!) then that’s great! Fancy a casual buffet over a seated meal? Do you! You might even want to spend your morning together rather than apart. Really, the options are endless and you can do it however the hell you want. If you need a hand planning your wee wedding timeline then definitely ask us, we love to geek out on this very subject (linked above!).
As we mentioned earlier, one of the downfalls to planning an Airbnb wedding is that your venue isn’t a wedding venue, so the support you would normally have from a co-ordinator is missing. Step in the awesome Cat of Fin Flükra! We’ve seen her at work at our friends wedding (we were bridal party!) and have worked with her loads since, and there is nothing this woman can’t do! Here’s her top Airbnb wedding advice…
“Having a small personal celebration in a self-catering or Airbnb setting brings with it different things to consider. Mainly if hosting a laid back party for your nearest and dearest to celebrate you getting married… how do you avoid ending up doing the actual hosting part? You know what I mean… the stuff you do when having a party; making sure the food and drink are sorted, decorating, ensuring the table/chairs are all arranged for a party layout, managing the music and keeping tabs that everyone is fed/watered/having a good time etc. Fancy doing all that on your wedding day? Didn’t think so! Even if bringing in a number of suppliers to help you have your perfect day – hiring a planner can help oversee and manage all these elements allowing you to switch off, relax and enjoy your wedding to it’s fullest!”
Such good advice! We can confirm that Cat is brilliant to work with. When our Austrian/Scottish pals (Jasmin + Dave) were planning their day, we gave her some pretty peculiar requests – one being that she help us source a giant log, a two handed saw and a stand so that the newlyweds could be surprised with the German wedding tradition of ‘Baumstamm Sägen’ (Confused? Read about that particular tradition here!). Danke schön, Cat!
4. Think About Your Ceremony
This is a pretty short one really, if you’re hoping for an outdoor wedding ceremony in the grounds of your venue – make sure you have an indoor option in case of rubbish weather…and clear that room before the wedding day (even if it’s just moving sofas to the side and bringing in a few more chairs from other rooms for guests to sit on!). Of course, we’ll do sun dances for you in the run up but if you’re getting married in Scotland the weather can be a lil fickle to say the least ;)
5. Catering
It will definitely be worth looking for local caterers and getting in touch with them early on in your plans. They’ll have the inside scoop on local produce and their knowledge and expertise will be invaluable. Plus – #shoplocal for the win! Your accommodation may even have some recommendations for caterers, it’s worth an ask.
6. Extend Your Stay
Most larger houses ask that you book in week blocks or more. So why not extend your stay? Give your guests dates that they are welcome to join you as well as your actual wedding date so that you can spend some extra quality time together. Think about it, you’re never going to have these exact people gathered under the one roof again, so savour every moment you can with them :) We’ve seen weddings where some friends stayed in the main house while others brought their camper vans. Why not ask some culinary whizz kids to bring cakes rather than have one wedding cake? The world is your oyster!
If you do have a full house, there are a few other tips you might want to consider;
– Create a wedding website, online document or Facebook event page to keep your guests up to date with all the important information
– Organise a cooking/chores list – out-with your actual wedding day, people still need to eat, you could even pair up guests who don’t know each other – perfect way to break the ice and get a good meal out of it too ;) We’ve seen this work really well!
– Don’t be afraid to ask for help decorating, you can’t do it all yourself!
– Do a search for local events, things to see or companies that can bring activities right to you. Using a company like ABC Events is a great way to break the ice prior to your wedding and introduce some friendly competition ;)
And our last bit of Airbnb wedding advice? Consider a mini-moon, or make sure to have the accommodation to yourself towards the end of your stay. Not only is this a nice way to end your time, it’s a good chance to decompress and let it all sink in :)
So there you have it, our Airbnb wedding advice. Massive thanks to Cat for her invaluable wisdom, whether you’re planning a wee do or a big riot of a wedding then we’d 100% recommend reaching out to her via her website – she’s a right good egg! And it goes without saying – we’d love to hear from you too, contact us here!