Updated December 2021
How to throw a small wedding at an Airbnb
Due to COVID, engaged couples have some difficult decisions to make with regards to how or when to throw their weddings. Many already have deposits paid and have their hearts set on a big wedding – but are unsure when they’ll be safely or legally allowed to do so.
Others, like us, were recently engaged before COVID, and decided to wait to book anything until we had more information about the pandemic.
Weddings during COVID
Fast forward from March to July 2020, that “more information” on when we could throw the wedding still has not materialized. Thus we started planning a micro-wedding for our immediate family members, totaling us and 10 other adults. It ended up being the most incredible and intimate wedding and our family was so excited to have something to celebrate this year.
We wanted to share our successes and learnings with our ‘Scribers in hopes that we can inspire and help other couples in a similar situation.
How to select a wedding venue
Figure out what you value most and organize them. Some of our most important requirements include:
Location
Convenient enough for our attendees to drive, so that no one had to fly. We narrowed down our location to Central California and chose the Paso Robles wine region.
Activities
All wedding activities needed to take place on property in order to limit any unsafe travel. We found a large estate that could house 8 of the guests, and had the two other couples stay nearby in Air BnBs. We wanted vineyards in our photos and to have nearby wineries available for wine tasting the day after our wedding.
Kids and pets
Small weddings mean you can accommodate these otherwise controversial invitees. We found an incredible vineyard property on AirBnB, but it would not allow pets. We messaged the property owner explaining our intentions and they made an exception for us due to our positive AirBnB reviews about having pets stay. We suggest you’re upfront with your host about who is staying on site, and if you have vendors coming on site as they might have special requirement or fees.
Planning
We chose to rent the property for three nights (Wednesday – Saturday), which allowed us to have a welcome dinner on Wednesday, wedding on Thursday, and wine tasting off property on Friday. Our house had a pool and many activities on site such as bocce ball and cornhole, so guests could choose to comfortably opt out of the day after wedding activities. This also allowed us to get great vendors without much notice, and often at better prices than if we hired on the weekend.
Do I need a wedding planner?
Hiring a planner ended up being one of the best decisions. Even with a small wedding, there are so many little things that you don’t think about. Ours helped in so many ways we didn’t expect including:
- Coordinating Vendors. Getting the best names in town, handling the quotes, helping you design your dream.
- Ceremony Site. This is difficult at an Air BnB to know what’s there for your use, the lighting, etc. We switched our ceremony site a few times, and ultimately decided the day before our wedding where it would be due to the weather. Our planner visited the Air BnB ahead of time to help me scope these out, which gave me so much more comfort that we’d have a great spot on the wedding day.
- How to keep your guests safe. Getting COVID tests was relatively easy, and all guests took one in the week leading up to the wedding to have the safest (though never 100% risk free) wedding as guests were staying in a shared house. All activities took place outdoors to minimize the risk further.
Bottom Line on Wedding Planners: Having to do all of the coordination on your wedding day really takes away from you enjoying time with your family and friends. A local planner will also be the most up to date with COVID requirements and ways to make your guests feel safe. While a wedding planner may not be in everyone’s budget, we can’t recommend having one enough — or at the very least, a day-of coordinator.
If you’re throwing a wedding in the San Luis Obispo / Paso Robles area, we highly recommend Brooke Nicole.
Other things to consider
- Food. Besides the catered wedding meals, we wanted to keep everyone well fed without leaving the property. Assign out meals and a grocery list to let your guests help with this piece. Or, see if a delivery app like UberEats or DoorDash will deliver.
- Weather. We had our wedding mid-Oct in Paso Robles and were mortified that it was 92 degrees the day of our wedding. Luckily it was a dry heat, and we found a gorgeous spot in the shade for the ceremony, but have backup plans ready for whatever could come along!
- Fire danger. The West Coast fires, particularly in wine regions has our hearts heavy. Be sure to think about this when planning your wedding, as if there’s smoke you’ll want to have an indoor option for your ceremony as a backup.
Best regions to throw small micro weddings
Here are a few of our favorites in the western US:
- Hood River, Columbia Gorge OR/WA – some locations with vines have views of Mt Hood in the background and have us absolutely swooning. Great beer and wine scene along with numerous outdoor activities to keep your guests entertained.
- Paso Robles – we found an Air BnB that looked straight out of the Mediterranean / Italy. Paso is really well accommodated to have estates and wineries that are friendly to small weddings and gatherings. And plenty of great wineries to visit the day after your wedding.
- Los Olivos – There are some gorgeous estates in the surrounding areas. Hotels are difficult so you’ll want to look for ones that could host most of your attendees. Downtown Los Olivos and the neighboring, up and coming Los Alamos serve as great day-after wedding activities.
