$30,000 minimum for food?!

A lot of this is going to depend on where you live and how popular the venue is along with what season you’re getting married in. Our venue had a 10k food and beverage minimum, but there are plenty in our area that range between 20-30k minimums, especially if you’re looking for a Saturday night in peak season.

Unfortunately a lot of venues have minimus simply because of supply and demand. Many venues that we looked at had minimums, including the one we chose. But yeah $30,000 seems like a lot just for food. Is anything else included with that like liquor, linens, tables, chairs, etc?

You are not being ridiculous at all! $30,000 for just food is a lot! I wouldn't want to reach anywhere near $30,000 on my wedding day unless I was a millionaire. This isn't even taking into account floral, dress, decor, and everything else wedding related.

Are you sure that isn't the package minimum? (including food, linens, alcohol, etc.?)

Can you bring your own Caterer?

What Anna said. Double check and make sure this isn’t an entire package minimum. If that includes food, alcohol, tables, linens, flatware, etc., it maybe slightly more reasonable. But it is still expensive. Especially since you still have to pay for photographer, DJ, and other vendors!!!!

That’s crazy! I thought a $10K-$15K F&B minimum was high. If you love the venue, ask about a non-Saturday rate. Usually there minimum is a lot less on other days, or isn’t required (their non-Saturday site fee should be less too).

Our minimum for the whole event for a Saturday is $7,000 for Northeast Ohio, but I would double check to make sure that things like linens aren't included, 30K sounds a bit crazy!

No that is a lot! I could not justify paying $30,000 for just food when that is not the whole wedding. I would price other venues for food. Can you just do the ceremony there if they won't allow an outside caterer?

While I, like you, find that price point insane for a food minimum, I also l know it’s not unheard of. Before I had my cost-of-wedding-reality-check, I toured a few venues where I learned you were basically ‘buying out’ the night. So with a concert venue or bar they say they’ll bring in at least $x if they were to have a public event therefore you as an outsider hosting a private event need to meet or exceed that for it to make sense for their bottom line. I think a Kimpton hotel gave me that same $30k minimum for their rooftop bar. A small Live Nation owed venue required something like $10k beverage minimum and another $8k minimum with their catering partner, and then you had to bring in just about everything else (tables, chairs, linens, etc.). So yea... insane... but someone’s paying it I guess. 😂

I had a venue like that..unless they have a wait staff that wipes my mouth with $100 then they can keep their contract!

That's outrageous. How many people is this minimum based off of? Is this all inclusive (tables, linens, alcohol, floral, dj, etc)?

While that’s very expensive, it’s def not unheard of. We’ve ran into this issue plenty of times when searching for a venue. I’ve seen vendor minimums range anywhere from $10k-$30k. However, these were also Saturday rates. One venue we looked at had a $15k min in a Saturday, but $8k on a Sunday. So if you’re open to that idea, I’d ask about their non-Saturday rate.

Hi everyone! Thank you for all your advice and feedback! I extremely appreciated it. So after further emailing with the venue, I found out that the $30,000 is for food and drink alone. Nothing else. That is way out of price range, especially just for food. Soo, it looks like I'm giving up my dream venue. No happy ending here But thank you again for all the replies!