Starting to look for a smaller venue for your wedding and considering Airbnb or VRBO? Well they are both great options for your more intimate wedding but there are some things that make it easier to do it at each one of these sites. So let’s go over some of those things!

Getting Married At An Airbnb – How to find one?

Airbnb is usually the first place someone will think of to look when finding a smaller venue since its more of an “all in one” platform where you can stay and hold your wedding/reception. There are a few things that make it a little more difficult when looking into an Airbnb though.

Yes, you can host an event or party at an Airbnb

It’s not necessarily right in your face when you look on their website but Airbnb does allow small parties or events but it’s really up to the discretion of the host and the ordinance surrounding the home you choose. As of the time of writing this, you are only allowed to have “gatherings” of the same amount of people as there are in the listing for number of people it can hold.

Will probably spend more time looking here

Airbnb does not really have a system or filter in place to help you look for venues that allow parties or events. There are a lot of hosts that do not allow these types of things to go on in their venue. When you search in their filters, there is no option for “allows events” or anything similar. Because of this, you may find yourself often messaging each individual host to see if they would allow your event or wedding.

Not every host that allows parties or events, allows big ones. Some may only allow 10 to 15 people, whereas others may allow 30. This can be due to noise restrictions, Airbnb host policies, etc. And oftentimes it costs a little more to host a party or event at their space due to extra cleaning, etc.

Having to message each host to see if they will allow you party can get a little annoying since it can take quite a bit of extra time.

Easier to use

Airbnb is generally easier to use and a more trusted brand (not saying that VRBO is not trusted), just due to it’s size and popularity. They do have quite a bit of filters that help you find the perfect place and honestly, when you are paying a good chunk of change for a large or good sized home for an event, they are likely to allow small parties or events like a wedding.

Airbnb has a nice app, nice filters, and pretty good customer support from my personal experience. I have talked to many brides who did not really have many issues finding a host willing to accommodate their request for a wedding.

Airbnb summary

Airbnb can be a great choice, it just may take a little longer than normal due to not having a filter for events. Generally pricing is similar to other platforms unelss the host raises the cost for an event.

Going with VRBO for your wedding

Choosing VRBO is a great option for finding an event space because they make it just a little bit easier and it may save you some time.

VRBO allows parties and events

It’s no secret that VRBO allows events or parties on their platform since it shows up straight in the filters section when you search.

Faster and easier to find event hosts

It is definitely easier to find a host or property that allows events or parties. You can even filter when you are searching by “allows events” which can make your life a little easier to find the right space.

The cool thing about this feature is that when you go onto the actual property listing and scroll down to the policies section, it will even tell you sometimes what types of parties/events and even how many people are allowed at the event or party.

Some properties like the one above may say it allows events but has a max of 4 people allowed which, let’s be honest, is not a party. But you can easily search around and figure out which property works for you. This filter in the search settings will definitely speed your search up to not have to contact each host individually.

Summary

Honestly, it does not matter too much which one you go with for your event. They each allow events and it just depends on the individual host for the rules and amount of people. I find both sites just as easy to use as others, I just like Airbnb a little more as it’s the more popular one. I say above it is easier to use since I have more experience in that space with claims, geting help, etc. and have not quite used VRBO enough to say how good or bad it is with these situations.