Having a Home Wedding? Get It Insured!

- Lisa of ElegantEventDesign.com

I received a question on wedding insurance and home weddings, and I thought I would address this issue in this week’s blog.

As I stated before, home weddings are a bit different than weddings taking place at a more “established” wedding venue because your guests are coming directly onto your property. Because of this, you may be opening yourself up to a bit more liability, not just in the event that one of your guests is hurt during your event, but also for the expensive rentals, tent(s) and equipment that may be left on your property over several days and nights.

For a Saturday wedding taking place at your home, the rentals arrive on Thursday or Friday and the tent is erected on Wednesday or Thursday. In one case, the band left their equipment overnight. What is your liability in the event that one of these items is damaged or stolen prior to the event? What about if a rental item is damaged or a guest is hurt, during the event?

Traditional event insurance companies, Like WedSafe (www.wedsafe.com), might not be enough to cover your home wedding. They are really great for cancellation insurance (to cover your deposits in the unfortunate event that you have to cancel your wedding). They are also good for liability insurance, in the event that something is damaged during the event itself. But, be careful, they will only cover loss/stolen items if the items are lost or stolen during the event (with the exception of photography issues). So, if you think that during the wedding, one of your guests will sneak off with some of your rentals to have as mementos (not sure how you would go about proving that it occurred during the event and not prior) than this type of coverage may be for you.

Call Wedsafe (or web chat, like me), as well as your home owner insurance company, and ask lots of questions. Make sure you fully understand what each covers so that you can determine the best solution for you. Speak to your home owner’s insurance company about adding a rider which would cover you, your guests, and your rentals for the entire weekend – which you may need in addition to a traditional event insurance policy, depending upon your needs. To insure a stress-free event, and to get the best use of your money, make these calls as soon as you begin booking your vendors. Remember, “Traditional “wedding insurance policies must be underwritten at least 24 hours or 15 days prior to your event, depending on the level of coverage needed

As a side note, to keep you and your guest’s safe, make sure to contract a licensed and insured caterer. Make sure that they have up to $1,000,000.00 liability coverage and also possess a current caterer’s license.

What do you think? Was this post helpful to you? Give us your feedback by clicking on comments.