All-Inclusive Packages or DIY??

Mine is going to be all inclusive. It's so much easier and I'm already stressed out enough with everything else going on, I figured it's worth it even if we have to pay a little more.

Where I live unless you want a very cookie cutter country club wedding or you have a minimum of $20k to spend, you have to DIY. Honestly, it was not that big of a deal given that my mom and I planned everything. I went to bridal shows and picked my vendors that way. Honestly, I felt like I had a very personal experience in doing this and I have been able to get exactly what I want for less money. I liked meeting people in person and getting a "vibe" from them. Also, many of the people I met were able to offer things that exceeded my expectations and certainly were things an all inclusive would not do.

Our venue's cost pp includes the catering (1 hour of passed hors-d'oeuvres, salad course, and entree) and 4-hour open, premium bar. There is a champagne toast and no cake cutting fee. It also includes tables and chiavari chairs, linens (for sweetheart table, guest tables, cake table, cocktail tables, and veranda tables), and china and charger plates. We will have a day-of coordinator from the staff.

I think this makes things SO MUCH SIMPLER. I could not imagine trying to buy or rent all of these things separately and then try to coordinate vendors, hired bartenders and servers, etc.

I picked an All-Inclusive Venue and it literally was the best decision I have made through my planning. With my venue, I can choose what I want included, or if I want to bring in an outside vendor. I have weighed all my options and I have in 95% of the situations picked the vendor that the recommended. I am really comfortable with the knowledge that my vendors are familiar with my venue and do weddings there every weekend. And best of all, I have until 10 days before my wedding to make as many changes as I want to.

I am also planning my wedding from out of state. (Getting married in Colorado but live in Texas) and my venue has made it so easy. I email the girl in the office if I have questions or want to change prior decisions and they take care of all the coordination with the vendors. I also only pay the venue a lump sum, and they take care of paying all the vendors.

I also found that this option was cheaper than DIY for everything that I wanted to do, but that information has so many factors. It takes a lot of research.

I did the all inclusive thing at my wedding (so easy, make a few choices, show up, have your reception, don't worry about a thing, party, and go home). We did the all inclusive at my daughter's wedding as well (except the flowers -- I did the flowers, which I will never do again if I am a guest at a wedding). They handled everything. We even used their preferred caterer for the cake. We chose our own DJ and photographer, but at the end of the night, the newly married couple went off to their honeymoon suite, and we hobbled to the car (in a great mood because the party was fantastic).

I am honestly thinking, depending on budget, that is the way to go! And all of these comments are really helping me to know that I am making the right choice. We already have a vendor to DJ for us (a friend of ours) and I wouldn't mind picking out vendors the venue selects.

I know that we have set a date, but I think we can be flexible on the date depending on the venue and if it's what we want. A lot of the places that I am looking at are over an hour from where we live and it would just be so much easier to have the venue take care of that stuff.

And besides, how much does a full wedding planner cost?

We did DIY. Our venue only offers the space and tables/chairs. But when we hired our vendors we included delivery, set up, and clean up. So we don't have to do anything lol.

MrsPope, I thought about that too! Some of the venues, even if was just to rent the place, tables, chairs, and linens, also included the wait staff too. I don't know with places like that if I would still need a Planner if they have one for the day of. But, those would be good questions to ask if we do decide to go that way. (and I think some caterers can have their own staff that we can hire too, right?)

Ours is sort of "all inclusive", venue includes setup/breakdown, tables/chairs/linens and all that good stuff.

We are choosing to bring in our own caterer and other vendors.

After reading some posts from Bride-to-be's on their dilemma's of "who's going to do the clean up"..I am soooooo glad that we chose "all inclusive", it is okay to have a partial cash bar but it is NEVER okay to ask your guests (including family and bridal party) to do any sort of clean up!

Pros and cons of going each way.

All-inclusive means you have to use all their vendors. You just show up.

DIY you get to choose your vendors. You can pay the caterer to clean up the catering, pay extra for the floral/decor person to come and do tear down, and pay a planner/coordinator for assistants to make sure the venue is "broom clean" so you get your deposit back.

Is it cheaper one way or the other? Meh. It can go either way. I think it's more about creative control (whether you want all the control, or you just want to show up and party). And where you get the best vibe.

Remember, when the venue has an included "planner/coordinator," they are not your personal assistant like when YOU hire a DOC. They are coordinating for the venue, not necessarily for you. Check to see.

I agree with Julie, you really don't want to ask your guests to clean up. Hire people to do that. Best wishes to you!

This is a very important question. We are leaning towards all inclusive but originally wanted the DIY mostly bc my FH is picky w/ food & we are having a huge wedding making the pp bill expensive. What killed or DIY (at least for me) was the additional cost an extra 20% for delivery & set up & breakdown, the planner bc w/ diy unless your work schedule is flexible I don't have time to do it all. But like above w/ all inclusive the prices are blanket for our wedding location 15-20k and you still need dj & florist so its a battle you save in some areas but extra in others