I recently had an instant book reservation from a guest and in the note the person said that they were "excited about spending their honeymoon weekend at my cottage." I interpreted this to mean that they would have had their wedding ceremony already, somewhere else, and that they would arrive at my cottage already married, ready to enjoy a honeymoon weekend.
The guests arrive late at night, and manage to lock themselves out after entering and then going outside for a stroll. We met them and let them back in-- no mention of a ceremony planned at my property for the next day.
The next day comes, and several additional vehicles arrive at my cottage (against my rules- max of two vehicles are allowed- clearly stated.) A few minutes go by, and I see them taking an antique chair out of my cottage, over to the waterfront, a woman in a white dress, and a ipad being set up on the chair. Within the next half hour, they have someone perform their ceremony and have it streamed on the ipad. I watched all of this from my house, which is adjacent to the cottage. There was a total of 5 people at the event.
I did not approach the couple or otherwise interfere while this was happening, as I felt that it was not the right thing to do- to interrupt. But my overall feeling about this is that I should have been asked if it would be okay to hold their wedding ceremony on my property. They did put the chair back inside, although we had to clean the feet as it was placed outside in grass and dirt. They have yet to send me a thank-you or otherwise acknowledge their stay. They left the next morning without so much as a courtesy thank-you or goodbye. They acted as though my property was theirs to use as if it was a public facility.
I haven't reviewed the guest yet, and plan to call them on their communication with me and their lack of following house rules. I also do not plan to host them again. While I in one way feel flattered that my property was chosen for their wedding, on the other hand, I believe I should have been asked first. I feel used!
Has anyone had a similar experience? How would you respond?