All-Inclusive vs. House Ceremonies?

beachbride051516 · January 2015

We are planning our wedding in OBX for May 2016. We are on a budget (hopefully under $15k) , and are trying to figure out whether it would be cheaper to rent a huge oceanfront property to hold the ceremony and reception at, or if there were any affordable all-inclusive venues? Has anyone done either? And if you went with a venue, what did you do as far as accommodations for you and your guests?

OBX2011 · January 2015

Hello and welcome! There are lots of posts about that topic here.....more so between 2010-2013 time frame as there was a larger group here then. You'll find lots of info just scrolling through the pages. We looked into an OF event home and actually pre reserved one, but the owner increased the price by $2000 when the contracts went out, so we looked at venues. One of the best ways to determine this is how many guests will you have? The more guests, the larger the home, thus a bigger price tag. Sometimes a venue includes tables, chairs, etc which can help cut costs and it's less clean up afterwards. There are additional fees for event homes, and that's on top of the deposit, they can range from $1000 up to $2500 and more, all depends on the home and rental company. We went to the wedding OBX and toured several homes and venues and when I walked into 108 Budleigh, I knew I had found our venue. I loved everything about it! It was spacious, had a great patio area, a huge kitchen which meant we could hire any caterer we wanted and tables & chairs. You can easily do a great wedding for under $15K in OBX!! As far as accommodations.....my family, including aunts, uncles, etc. rented a home, which also happened to be where the ceremony was held. It was an OF home and we were married right on the beach. We just drove over to the reception afterwards. My husbands family also rented a home not far from us. My husband and I though, we rented our own little place, just the two of us. At first. I thought we'd stay with family, but I am thankful he convinced me to get our own place. I love our families and the time we have together, however, it was really nice to have a place to escape too when we just wanted some downtime. Trust me, it's a busy week and everyone wants a piece of your time, so it's nice to be able to relax together. We blocked off rooms at 2 hotels and our guests stayed there, we were married 9/16/11, so some of our bridal party and close friends rented a house for a long weekend. Easier to do that, and cheaper, in the off season. Our wedding was also on a Friday bc it allowed guests to have a long weekend and well, it was cheaper for us in the long run. Venues tend to have a higher price tag on the weekends, There are venues that are all inclusive. The Sanderling is beautiful and Kel & Rick were married there. She will pop up and give you some great info I'm sure. There is also Jeannette's Pier, The Kitty Hawk Pier, etc. The Outer Banks Wedding Association is a great site to use! It has a list of venues, event homes, caterers, photographers, etc. Sorry if this isn't formatted correctly, but my IPad likes to be an asshole sometimes. Let us know if you need anything

OBX2011 · January 2015

Really?!?! I need paragraphs here.....sorry!

daybreak0723 · January 2015

We are getting married in an OF home on May 1 of this year...only 92 days away!! We originally reserved a house through Twiddy. When the contract came, the price had jumped $2000 just like yours did. We canceled and found a bigger, and better, house for cheaper than our original house with Twiddy. We are using Station One with Brindley Beach. We are having the ceremony on the beach and the reception at the house, by the pool.

Staying with us are the bridal party and immediate family. They are all chipping in some on the house, depending on how long they are staying. Those staying all week are throwing in more towards the price. I suggested a couple of hotels/inns for guests and put it on our TheKnot wedding website.

Hope this helps!

ksj10032782 · February 2015

Hi and welcome! Originally we had looked at a house rental for the wedding, but once all of the costs went into it, it was going to be way over our budget, and we had several people who we thought would stay in our house not want to stay in the house, so we changed routes. Keep in mind time of the year, and you may want to consider semi- ocean front. Suggestion may be to look into Pelican's Landing. We had several stay with us in our house rental, some rented their own house, and we provided hotel suggestions.

beachbride051516 · February 2015

Thanks Ladies! I actually found The Koru Village beach club and fell in love with it! Got the contract and am thinking about putting down the $$ to save the date! Any body else get married at Koru? I'd love to hear reviews and/or tips from former Koru brides!

Knottie71688671 · March 2015

I am new on here and love reading everyone's thoughts/experiences in the Outer Banks. We are planning to rent a house on the beach and have a small ceremony and party. We're not having an "event"...just a few friends and family and having dinner. Was your rental fee raised when your contract came because of the event fee? We're trying to avoid that...we'll only be having about 10 people total staying at the house and about 20 total for dinner. Not sure what is considered an "event' at these houses...don't want to put all the work/time into picking the perfect place to have that happen.

ksj10032782 · March 2015

Hi- typically the rule of thumb is if your number of guests exceeds the number of people the house can sleep, then it is viewed as an event by the rental company. So if the house sleeps 10, and you have 20, you are technically in violation of the agreement and could be kicked out. It's up to you if you want to risk it. Another suggestion would be to go to a resturuant instead.

Knottie71688671 · March 2015

Thanks for the quick response! I don't want anything to go wrong so we probably won't risk anything. If anyone has had any experiences with this let me know! Thanks!

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