Help... I want to rent someone's land!

lizeepea

Hi Everyone

Today I went for a drive in the country to show my fiance where my Grandpa's cottage was. (My dad and his family built the cottage/house and when my grandma passed away in 2002 my grandpa sold it, 50 years and he couldn't bear to live in the same house without her).

We found out it was for sale. We are in no financial situation to be purchasing a house... not to mention it is about 45 minutes out in the country - BUT I had an overwhelming idea that maybe we could reach out to the owners to rent the land for a day or two and have our wedding there. It just feels so right, and I was in tears as I stood and looked at the place that was my second home growing up as a child - I can just imagine my dad's face when he hears we could get married there. It's a beautiful cottage with lots of land and a deck over looking the river... it really is PERFECT.  We'd only be having 12 guests - it wouldn't be a large party or anything - just a very simple day with our immediate families.

My question: How do I go about sending an e-mail to the real estate agent asking if he can pass along the message to the owners. What should I say? Should I immediately offer X amount of money? I wanted to attach a picture of me as a child at the cottage just so they know I'm serious - but does that seem desperate? I really need to make a good impression in this e-mail to make it a serious possibility, my heart is telling me this is right.

Thanks so much

JoanE2012

When is your wedding?  Unless your wedding is soon......it's not the current owners you will need to be asking.....it's the future owners.  This house could sell tomorrow.  I highly doubt the current owners are going to put in this stipulation in the contract to the future owners.

lizeepea

We don't have a set date. We are really just looking for the right venue - as we got engaged in Dec 2012 but had to wait since we couldn't find something for the right price. (We want only 14 people - but most places flat out refuse to host a smaller party or charge you out of the bum for it!). It will be a city-hall style wedding. Very simple. Just a intimate family dinner, so if it needs to be in the next 2 months, it might just be!

doeydo

You could just have a private room or something at a restaurant.  It doesn't have to be a typical wedding venue.

JoanE2012

I agree with doeydo......why not just have it at a restaurant?  Some have smaller rooms or more private areas off to the side.  I'm sure you can have something lovely in your price range.

lizeepea

Oops, I should have clarified - by intimate family dinner I mean more along the lines of something less structured - relaxing outside and enjoying the day together, maybe even a lunch time thing. Something romantic and simple... like lawn games and sipping on lemonaid.

*It's really important to me that our cats be there too, which is the clincher, it has to have somewhere outdoors*

tammym1001

Before you ask them about this I would make sure that you have all your ducks in a row. You need to let them know that you will have liability insurance and will sign a contract removing them from any responsibility if something should happen. You should also make sure you are having licensed vendors and I'm going to guess someone who owns personal property they are trying to sell isn't going to allow you to have alcohol or to use the inside of the home. They may even ask for a very significant deposit in case there's any damage. Since you said you want a very small wedding I think you may be complicating things by trying to rent someone's personal property.

carliealissa

It won't hurt to ask.  At least if it doesn't work out you can try to move on to planning another idea.  You have no way of knowing who the owner is, what line of work they are in, whether they are sentimental, etc etc.  It's possible that they would be happy to try to make this happen for you, and could come up with their own parameters for what they would require from you as far as payment, insurance etc.  My advice would be to write a heartfelt letter, similar to what you've posted here, for the agent to pass on to them.  Let them know your date is flexible based on what would work for them.  Don't offer anything you aren't prepared to give; maybe don't offer anything concrete but just invite them to contact you.  And be prepared that you might not receive a response.

And I don't think attaching a photo would hurt.  These people aren't in the business of renting out their property for weddings;  IF they decide to do it it's likely it would be out of kindness or sentimentality.  Good luck!

mysticl

tammym1001 said:

Before you ask them about this I would make sure that you have all your ducks in a row. You need to let them know that you will have liability insurance and will sign a contract removing them from any responsibility if something should happen. You should also make sure you are having licensed vendors and I'm going to guess someone who owns personal property they are trying to sell isn't going to allow you to have alcohol or to use the inside of the home. They may even ask for a very significant deposit in case there's any damage. Since you said you want a very small wedding I think you may be complicating things by trying to rent someone's personal property.

I would also think there might zoning issues.  It's one thing to throw a party on property you own.  It's another to rent it out for an event.

doeydo

What about someone's backyard, then?  Someone that you know, I mean.  
ETA My sister's upcoming wedding is being held in the backyard of her FILs' place.

emmyg65

doeydo said:

What about someone's backyard, then?  Someone that you know, I mean.  
ETA My sister's upcoming wedding is being held in the backyard of her FILs' place.

You should still check local zoning and ordinances. Depending on where the house is, there might be noise ordinances or limitations on parking. Chances are, it won't be an issue, but better not to risk your party getting broken up by the cops!

mysticl

emmyg65 said:

doeydo said:

What about someone's backyard, then?  Someone that you know, I mean.  
ETA My sister's upcoming wedding is being held in the backyard of her FILs' place.

You should still check local zoning and ordinances. Depending on where the house is, there might be noise ordinances or limitations on parking. Chances are, it won't be an issue, but better not to risk your party getting broken up by the cops!

I was at a backyard party once and the music had to be cut off at 9pm because at 9:01 the neighbors could and probably would call the cops.