Event FAQ

You should read the MANSION RENTAL FAQ regarding the actual house and house details as well as this event FAQ below, if you are interested in the property for an event. 

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Q. Are you a wedding/event venue?

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A. We are a short term rental for vacations and other travel purposes.

We are not an actual wedding venue or an event venue. Due to our size, water views, and close proximity to Destin beaches, we are popularly booked for event purposes with our permission, on a case by case basis. Renting our space means that you are booking a short term vacation rental that we are allowing you to host a wedding or event at. We do not provide catering, DJs, or flowers. We might have some recommendations for you for where to obtain those things, based on previous guest recommendations. We have more rules than a regular venue would, such as an occupancy limit, and quiet hours at night. Make sure this is a good fit for your event. 

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Q. What is attractive about the property for an event or retreat?

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A. Besides the 10 bedrooms and 9.5 bathrooms between the Mansion and Guest House, we can also fit multiple RVs and boats. Our formal living room, den/study, and 5,000 square feet of front and back patio space, and endless lawns (almost 4 acres) are perfect for having a multitude of wonderful gatherings. The water views are beautiful especially for breakfast, cocktails or dinner on the front patio. The enormous swimming pool is a great way for people to cool off and enjoy themselves, and being 20 minutes from the white sand beaches of Destin makes this place a great choice for a reception after a beach wedding ceremony. We have the indoor space to have a wedding reception should the weather not cooperate and have done so twice. 

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Q. Are there events which are not allowed?

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A. We do not usually restrict event themes/types, we have had everything from baby showers, to adults-only dinner parties. Events must be a good fit for our property and must be approved. The theme of the event might not be the concern, as would likely the potential for too much noise, underage drinking, a rowdy college party, or other concerns we would be weary of and end up turning the event down. 

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Q. What is the maximum allowed people for an event booking? What are the fees?

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A. Any gathering at the property over 30 people is considered "an event" to us, as the 2 homes sleep 26 people and a few more in extra requested beds.  

Event fees are affordable and go up depending on the size of the event. 

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40 people: $200

50 people: $400

60 people: $600

70 people: $800

80 people: $1,000

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We typically do not allow events over 80 people and we do not allow more than 30 people staying inside the Mansion and Guest House combined. Kids under 4 do not count as a guest head count. 

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Q. What does an event fee cover?

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A. DIY use of our folding tables/chairs and covers, additional meticulous trash removal from the property grounds (winds blow cups and things from patios to the lawn, etc). 

Additional remaining trash removal at the end of the rental stay, that occurs after the last trash pickup day, which can often be a lot with such large groups. Early check-in of the Mansion at 1pm and late check-out at 1pm. 

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Q. What additional services do you provide that might be helpful?

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A. My house cleaner can be hired (optional)  to set-up, breakdown, or setup and breakdown folding tables, chairs and wash all covers. Otherwise, that use is DIY and all items must be put back where they were found. She can also be hired to set-up additional beds in the home (see Mansion Rental FAQ). She can be hired to help during your event, such as to help clean, bring food out, and more. 

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Q. Can you tell me more about the folding tables and chairs at the property?

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A. All guests have free use of our white folding chairs (60) and 6 rectangular folding tables that sit 10 people each (60 guests) and their white covers. They also have use of our various other folding tables, such as our 4 cocktail bar-height tables for guests to rest drinks on, and other small rectangular tables in our storage closet. All guests must put those items back where they were found, and put the dirty covers in a pile for washing. 

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Q. Do I have to use your tables/chairs? 

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A. No you can rent from somewhere/bring in your own setups. 

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Q. Are we allowed to decorate?

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A. You can decorate as much as you'd like, as long as decorations are removed before leaving. Decorations must not cause damage to surfaces. 

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Q. Can we move furniture?

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A. Any furniture moved must be put back where it was originally found, and must be moved with care (lifted, not dragged, or they must be slid on furniture pads etc). This must be done with permission. 

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Q. Can I hire a DJ, caterer, floral designer, etc?

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A. Yes. Please ensure they or their crew take only their own items from the home when leaving. Frequently, our items go home with hired caterers, wedding planners, florists, etc, and it becomes a nightmare to retrieve those missing items; often we can't at all and end up needing to bill the guests.  ​

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Q. Do you offer any discounts?

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A. Yes. If 7 nights are booked, a discount goes into effect automatically, but in addition to this discount, in the off-season (Sept-March), a second week can be added for a very low price of an additional $2,000. This is by request, and is not automatically offered. We nickname this the "honeymoon week" as people often use it as a way to stay after everyone has left, and enjoy the home and area solo or with their kids, friends or family.

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Q. Do you allow 1-day events? Like a baby shower?

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A. Yes, we do on a case-by-case basis. Unfortunately, we don't very often because the cleaning fee for such a big space can be more than most people anticipate, not truly realizing the size and scope of what we would have to clean. We usually block off all bedrooms except by request. 

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Q. Do you rent for holiday use?

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A. Yes. We have had a Christmas wedding, and other holidays where families decided to do something special, especially Thanksgiving. 

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Q. Are you LGBTQ+ friendly?

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A. We are happy to host the event of any human being, regardless of the way they choose to live their lives. There's a reason we bought two "Mr." coffee mugs and two "Mrs." mugs from Target for the kitchen, and not 1 and 1. 

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Q. What are the house rules of the property?

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A. As stated in the main FAQ, this is a quiet place in the evenings and we cannot make exceptions. This means that events here can be lively in the day hours and dinner-time hours, but must wrap up and guests must be quiet and respectful after 8:30 pm outdoors weeknights and 9:30 pm weekends. Music and crowds must be brought inside after those times, and exceptionally loud music must be lowered a little indoors so it's not heard by neighbors. Any guests who continue to spend time outside must be very respectful regarding their noise levels. 

Always know that you, the booking person, are responsible for the group that is at the home and their actions. If you see someone who might have had to much to drink, or those who might become argumentative, please remember to take action and resolve the situation before it becomes a problem. 

We also cannot have very loud (think many speakers, loud, as if a DJ is playing at a venue) music outdoors for more than 4 hours each day. We want you to celebrate and have a blast, but also we need to give our neighbors a break too. Let me know what your plan is, and I will see how we can work with it. Indoors is a different story as long as it's not loudlt heard from outside. 

We cannot allow more than the stated number of guests agreed to, without permission. 

It is mandatory to keep an eye on children at all times. There is a busy road with speeding cars out front, a swimming pool with a deep end almost 9' deep, a bay with currents, etc. 

Events are DIY. You can hire my cleaner to assist in your clean-up, but you cannot leave a large mess from an event behind after. The state of the home must be reflective of a regular vacation stay, not a large event. 

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Q. Can I tour the property?

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A. Yes, we give tours all the time. Please message me to set up a tour. You can do it here through the website, or on Airbnb/VRBO. We are happy to give tours. Never show up at the property unannounced (trespassing) as this might disrupt/scare other guests, my own family staying, or hired workers. Trespassing is illegal and also a major liability. We have given people 2 or even 3 tours, we don't care, just please schedule them with us. Trespassing will lead to an automatic cancelation of your booking, and/or reporting to STR platforms. 

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Q. What if the rules are broken? What causes an event or any booking to be canceled?

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A. The following situations can and do lead to canceled bookings, with no refunds for unused nights if it's during a stay, and swift eviction from the property. You will be billed/charged for whatever the state of the home is, due to your swift eviction of the premises. 

-Fighting outside in the middle of the night, disrupting the peace.

-Disruptive, loud outdoor noise, either music or groups of people, past quiet hours. 

-Unauthorized events or parties

-Unauthorized extra guests over the number we discussed. 

-Trespassing instead of scheduling a tour, done by yourself or someone in your family or group. ​

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We really do not want to cancel your stay, but we are not kidding on our 0 tolerance policy for this. We truly feel that you were warned before booking and could have booked elswehere and are now being majorly disrespectful to the welfare of my business and peace of our neighbors. 

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Q. Do you take direct bookings?

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A. At this time, we are only booked via Airbnb or VRBO. We only allow direct bookings with past guests. 

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Please read the main FAQ for renting the property for more info.​​​​​

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