Beach Wedding Rental House

If I remember correctly this is exactly what @VM did for her wedding. Hopefully she sees this and can help you out!

You can't require they stay with you but you can provide it as an option. I attended a beach wedding in the outer banks where we all shared a house. Pro: it was a lot of fun and super laid back. Con: the actual wedding was on a Wednesday and we felt like it was intentionally to make us stay all week (and subsidize their house rental)

I'm not sure what your budget is but www.twiddy.com has some BANGIN' beach houses in OBX

if you set the number of bedrooms to 20 you'll see some amazing places!

Callingggggggggggg VM!

I definitely don't plan on forcing anyone to stay together that doesn't want to however, it seems it would be cheaper to have everyone in one house. My fiance has expressed concern that he'd rather us stay somewhere else. It seems weird to me to have our families together and us somewhere else (also more expensive).

Thanks for the tips everyone! Keep them coming!

Sorry, not perfect on east/west however you understand what I meant. NC/SC/Virginia area. FIXED!

You mentioned more people makes it cheaper. Since you are choosing this as your wedding venue the cost should be on you, not your guests.

Oh hey! Okay, let me read hahah

Nope. Unless it's just my immediate family, I wouldn't share.

Sharing a house with 20+ other people sounds like total hell. It could work for some, but I don't stay up late, I'm not the partying/drinking type, I like my quiet and privacy, and I can't stand smoke (even outside). Then add the issue of providing/sharing/preparing food and it could turn into a real mess.

I'd find my own place to stay.

Hey there!!

I got married at the Outerbanks of NC in September. I rented a beach house and had 25 people attend. We had everyone stay at the house. We took on $1500 of the house, then split the cost between the other 10 bedrooms and our families paid per room. This way we weren't footing the bill for the entire house and also gave them a cheaper option than a hotel. This also gave my family time to have a vacation, most people stayed 4 days to a whole week.

We used Outer Banks Blue reality. I really loved them, unfortunately I don't think they do event houses if you are wanting a DJ and the whole shebang. I kept the number of guests under the max occupancy, got drop off catering, and no DJ and was able to have my wedding at one of their houses. I even got someone to bring lights and set up the ceremony space with no issues.

It being hurricane season has it's good and bad sides. We saved like THOUSANDS, basically $10k, by having our wedding in the off season. That was just on the house alone. The weather was a tad dodgy. It poured before the wedding, but the clouds opened up for us during the ceremony, but the wind was insane. I still wouldn't trade it. I LOVE the off season at the OBX.

My wedding was intimate, laid back, and everything I wanted. Having everything at the house was great. I loved it, wouldn't change a thing.

http://www.outerbanksblue.com/ -rental company

here's my non-pro BAM done immediately after coming back, might have had more info in it.

https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/bammmmm-non-pro-of-course/870ae87987b01745.html

Beach Babe- the house I had was 4 floors, our bedroom was on the very top and by itself basically. Each room had it's own bathroom, so it was basically a giant hotel. There were lots of balconies, decks, living rooms, etc. Also it was beach front. We had 25 people in the house and we literally would lose people. We never felt cramped. It was all family, but still, if we were cramped I couldn't have handled it.

Jeleebeenz- I see what she is getting at. Your guests normally pay for a hotel right? So in my case, I took on what a venue might have cost, then just divided the rest between the bedrooms. I made sure it was cheaper than a hotel. Most people stayed a week and at that price it was $50 a night. You can't find that anywhere at the beach. You would never tell someone to pay for their guests hotel right? Same thing.

I'm heading into class but just to verify, were asking for them to come as part of OUR wedding gift. We're not making a registry or asking for presents. They're all ok with paying with some of the house, were not asking for them to pay for all by any means.

VM- I have to read everything you wrote when I get done in class but looks super helpful. Thank you!

@Mandie, you can't tell people what your gift is or even ask for a gift. No one is required to give you a gift. Travel costs are a part of going to a wedding, and you are not expected to pay for those. I think VMD's approach is the right one to take.

I think a lot is being assumed here without everyone having the correct information. The main part of this forum is not about who pays what. That's worked out between us and all our family. I'm asking for logistics on the house/weather/area/vendors etc much like VM has shared.

The wedding is 2 years away. Both families go on vacation every year. This is acting as their vacation with a wedding thrown in. We're footing majority of the house and asking they pay some in lieu of any gifts or presents they were planning on getting. Whether this is the "right" way to do it I don't know and frankly, I don't care. It's what works for us and our families. In no way shape or form are they paying for all of it. They are also not expected to give gifts and that's what I'm trying to get across. Not that I want to "choose my own gift"

Mandie- don't worry about it. I did exactly what you did. Most did not bring gifts due to the travel and expenses of staying for the week. I didn't mind at all. That was kind of my plan. If you have any other questions, just let me know.

"Event" houses can be harder to find, you can't just find a big house on HomeAway and have a wedding there. So just make sure you look for one that will allow a wedding. Vm - didn't you end up with some issue related to that? Table rentals or something like that?

If you look in VA, try Sandbridge. It's so much quieter and nicer than Virginia Beach, and it's ONLY houses, no hotels. There is one condo building. But it's like 20 minutes from the boardwalk if people wanted hotels.

Stephanie- that is only because the rental company we used didn't do "event" houses anymore. We got around it by going and picking up the tables ourselves. They just didn't want delivery trucks is all they said.

Also, the OBX has a ton of event homes to rent. They say that specifically.

You may also consider doing it during May, or early June. You'll still get cheaper off-season prices that way, but you'll avoid hurricane season while still enjoying warm weather.

Also be aware with beach houses that some require an 'event home' fee for weddings depending on how many people you have and what kind of event you're hosting (if you want on location catering, dj/dancefloor etc, you'll likely have to pick an event home and pay the fee), which is generally around $1200. Some event homes come equipped with tables/basic linens/place settings, others require you to rent those things. All stuff to take into consideration.

Also worth noting - some of the very, very large beach house event homes (like wild horse in carova, black stallion on the currituck club, grande ritz palm in duck, Pine Island Lodge in Corolla) do allow you to reserve up to 2-3 years in advance, but the others only book at exactly a year out or less, which can be a little nerve-wracking.

We almost went the event home/beach house route too, but ended up going another route - still staying at the obx, but having the wedding at a venue that takes care of a lot of those details for us.

Also, be sure to visit the obx wedding associations bridal expo next january! Its one of the best expos i've ever been to, and was INCREDIBLY helpful in nailing down all the details.

Sugarunicorn- I agree, the expo is amazing! We went last January and got all of our vendors booked.