Unexpected Wedding Photoshoot on our property!

[Michelle-And-Michael0]

Hi Everyone,

I hope this is okay to discuss here, this situation actually happened through another hosting platform that we thought we would trial (but are now cancelling as soon as we receive our one and only payment). But this could just as easily have happened through Airbnb. So we would love some advice....

Our Airbnb Studio (3 guests max) is attached to our home, but is on a lower level with its own separate entrance.

Our guests from this past weekend booked months ago for 2 guests, on behalf of family members who were coming for the booking Guest's wedding, at a location just up the road from us. Two days before they were due to arrive, I contacted the 'soon to be newly weds' asking for the contact details of their family members that were supposed to be staying with us. They then told me that they had decided to stay in our Studio themselves..... Great! No problems there.

They arrived late the night before the wedding, and so we hadn't met them, although I had been in contact with them several times during the day about arrival times, and self check in details. Lots of chances to discuss anything with us.

The morning of their wedding, cars were coming and going on our property.... from what we could work out, the bride left, the groom was picked up, then another car arrived and 2 women got out, at this point I introduced myself, believing one of them to be the bride.... but No, one was the Mother of the Bride, and the other was a Bridesmaid. I assumed that the bride was in the Studio, but was told she was somewhere else having her hair and makeup done, and that they had been given the pin code to let themselves in to our Studio!! They proceeded to go inside and get ready for the wedding. The Bride arrives a little later.

The doorbell to our house rings, my husband answers it.... and two wedding photographers start taking his photo as they try and step through the doorway!! Completely taken off guard.... He points them in the direction of the Studio! At this point in time, we were really considering saying something, but we felt it was all too late, and we didn't want to put a spoiler on their day....

While all all this is going on, and not having any clue of what was about to unfold that day, we already had a house full of our own visitors..... my parents, our daughter, son in law and our grandsons, who we'd been babysitting overnight! Which wouldn't normally be a problem, as we were at the back area of our home.... furthest away from the Studio, for our guests privacy!

Next thing we know, the Groom has turned up again in his suit, greets the bride and they are off wandering around our Backyard with the Photographers, having their photoshoot! I know, we 'did' actually say in our listing that Guests are welcome to wander around our yard.... but there's nothing to say that they are also welcome to invite other people and/or professional photographers onto the property without our permission!

They had lots of opportunities just to ask us if this would be okay! And, while everything had all been well thought out and pre planned in advance on their side of things, no consideration or notification had been given to us, and the use of our home.

Sorry about the long drawn out scenario, but it has opened up a few questions for us, as well as some contradictory feelings, and we would appreciate some input....

Because, at the end of the day, if they had asked us in advance, we probably would have said Yes to all the activity, but with conditions.... after all, in this instance, our Studio was no worse for wear. It was kind of exciting to watch it all happen, and they really just seemed like a lovely young couple who just didn't think.... or maybe, they got one over us!

1. Where would we stand with Insurances? With no prewarning, we hadn't prepared our Backyard for a Wedding Photoshoot..... We have a grey water sprinkler system that automatically comes on when the tank is full. That would have made for an interesting photo.... not to mention a ruined wedding dress! Also the fact that someone could have hurt themselves.

2. How do we make sure that we aren't caught by 'surprise' again? I know we can put something in our House Rules.... but, if someone doesn't tell us they're getting married and chooses not to read, or disregard the rules, I'm pretty sure we will still have the same reaction, and not say anything..... because we wouldn't want to spoil their day!

3. Is there any way of offering a 'Bridal Package' without being out of pocket? In other words, an extra charge to cover extra services such as cleaning, extra people using the property and privacy/location hire. We'd really love to hear feedback from anyone with any experience in this area!!

Thanks in advance,

Michelle 🙂

[Michelle-And-Michael0]

@Letti0 Thank you for the information.... I'll be interested to see what the Airbnb Wedding category involves! It's great to get feedback from someone with experience in this area. I hope it's mostly been a good experience for you! 

If we were to offer some kind of 'Wedding Experience' it would need to be on a very small scale for a limited number of people onsite. So probably just Wedding Prep, photoshoots, maybe the odd elopement.... who knows!

It's something to think about though!  And, from what I've learnt from the feedback so far, on this post and others, as long as insurances are in place, terms and conditions are met, and there's been full disclosure of who would be entering the property, I guess....

Thanks once again 🙂

[Fred13]

@Michelle-And-Michael0  Is your 'Event' flag turned on or off? Mine is Off and via permission we also allowed one pre-wedding, went more less as yours, a lot of people also running around. Ok, experience but a bit exhausting.

[Michelle-And-Michael0]

Your place looks amazing @Fred13  I can only imagine the organisation involved on an island. Thanks for the tip 🙂

[Fred13]

Thank you. It is challenging because have to be sooo organized; I forget one thing, it's a looong boat ride to an island 6 miles away through open sea. 

[James853]

Do you have short term rental insurance if so yes you would be covered If you don’t have short term rental insurance you’re not covered no matter what our regular home insurance policy do not cover short term rentals and a renters insurance policy does not cover short term rentals

[David126]

I have done Weddings in the past and plan to do them in the future, just not ready yet.

Obviously there is a lot of money in Weddings much more than in Hosting but you need a different way of booking them, AirBnB is not suitable.

[Letti0]

@David126 Small intimate elopements and weddings for 30 people and under AirBnB works relatively well. I just add the cost to the reservation, but for larger weddings it would not work too pricy with the fees added. I advertise my larger wedding options of up to 150 people on The Knot, WeddingWire, and the Wedding Spot.

You would be amazed at the amount of people who use AirBnB, HomeAway and VRBO for small weddings and elopements because there are no other options for them. The reason is that almost all of the places that do weddings you need at minimum 50-100+ people to rent the place. Our property specializes in Elopements and Small Weddings and we caterer to this group at reasonable prices providing tables, chairs, tablecloths, etc. Our indoor area seats a maximum of 52 people. Our outdoor areas can do 150, but no more as it would cause parking issues. 

[David126]

My Dining Room when configured would seat 32, I also have a Bar area so for a sit down 30 for a Buffet maybe 50.

There is a very long list of reasons why AirBnb would not be suitable, very different to renting out rooms.

No way would I want to work within their cancellation clauses, deposits, timing, food etc etc.

Weddings are big ticket items, best to do it properly or you can get seriously burned.

[Kathy33]

Hi everyone, here’s another way of thinking. They have photos and they show all there friends the photos of your great place and then ask how can I stay there? Then they hang the photos on walls for years and are the same thing. Happy hosting

[Paul154]

@Kathy243

That's all good to advertise through guests' photos. However host should get compensated for a wedding/ wedding prep occassion photos. NOT a plain old Airbnb stay photo.

Guests will be just as happy with a wedding photo where they were forthright, instead of sneaky.

There is A LOT of money in the wedding industry. There's also a reason for it. 

It's stressful and needs a lot of thought,insurance and client management.

Best for professionals, not humble Airbnb hosts.

[Fred13]

Funny story on one of the weddings, I have had in the island. The couple were so taken up in the romance of the moment, they decided to get tatoos with the GPS coordinate numbers of the island, in sort of an 'interesting' spot in their body (serious). Well, three years later they are divorced! I bet those numbers look rather strange now; what a conversation piece.