Things to Know Before Booking a Private Estate Wedding Venue

Things to Know Before Booking a Private Estate Wedding Venue before you sign on the dotted line.  We receive several calls a day asking about having their wedding or special event at a private estate.  Here is a list of 10 important things to know before you book a private estate for your event.

What to ask and know before you book a private estate:

1. Is the home for sale?  If you event is a month out, then this probably won’t impact your event. However, if your wedding or event is more than a few months out, this could spell disaster if it sells. Ask the owner or location company if it is for sale and be proactive and look-up the address to ensure that it is not for sale.
2. Are the owners planning on a major renovation or putting in a pool where you plan on saying the “I do’s”.
3. What is the plan for inclement weather?  If this is an outdoor only property with no inside access and your weather during winter months like November, December, January or February, etc., you may wish to rethink booking it until you have a rock solid contingency plan in place and it is affordable. Tenting a property can be very expensive and usually requires an additional setup day.
4. Are there any legal issues with this home?  Once again, we recommend looking up the address to make sure that there are no neighbor or legal issues.  We do everything we can to be respectful of neighbors when we have an event at a private estate, such as not blocking driveways, crowding streets with trucks. However, if a homeowner is not respectful of his or her neighbors, then you will want to avoid the property for your event.  You are only asking for trouble.
5. What is included in the rental fee?  Access to inside to get ready? Bathrooms?  Our properties include access to the property.  Inside access is based on the homeowner’s comfort level with the event.  Everything must be spelled out in an agreement.
6. What are the additional fees?  Our homeowners ask for a cleaning fee and our office requires a refundable security deposit to work with your certificate of insurance (we guide our clients so it is easy to pull an insurance policy).  We require site reps – usually one per 50 guests or more if there are circumstances that require we have reps placed through-out the property and many times security if they are required by the owner or if the property is challenging.  If there is swimming, we require a licensed and insured lifeguard per 20 guests in the pool and some events require a licensed medic.
7. What is the parking situation?  Uber and Lyft are a huge lifesaver.  However, you still need to know if your guests can valet and where your event professionals can park.
8. Does the owner allow usage of the restrooms or do you need to bring in the bathrooms?  People still have a bad visual of what the rental bathrooms will look like.  We work with reputable portable restroom companies and many are beautiful with hardwood floors, tiled vanities, built in sound systems, attendants dressed per your wishes and wood doors to each individual bathroom stall.  Definitely not something you would see at a construction site. Pricing for nice bathroom suites start around $1300 and go up.
9. What are the rules for amplified music?  Normally, 10 pm is the end time for amplified music. However, some homes are more isolated and they may be able to go later if your speakers are facing the house or mountains or the ocean.  Additionally, some owners have ballrooms or large rooms that can allow the party to be inside.
10. Can you use your own catering company and event professionals? You will definitely want to confirm this before you sign the location agreement.  Our homeowners allow our clients to use their own event professionals, as long as they are insured and licensed and they have a good track record working at the private estates.

Here is a link to our location rental page with hundreds of beautiful homes in the greater Los Angeles area –https://www.giannaandcompany.com/estate-location-rentals-greater-los-angeles/

There are additional questions that you might want to ask and our office is more than happy to chat with you.  Our office number is 310-994-7789.

 

Have a great weekend. XO, Gianna