All-inclusive Venue vs. DIY Venue

It’s entirely dependent on your venue, your location and what you’re looking for whether you will save money going all-inclusive vs DIY venue.

I kinda found a comprimise and got married at a semi-all inclusive venue. All my catering, rentals, staff, wedding cake etc were all covered by the venue and their onsite restaurant and pastry team. I brought in my florals, photographer, DJ, officiant and any other decor or extras

On site catering tends to be more expensive on the whole than bringing in a caterer in (you simply have more options and can choose a lower priced option if you choose), but the food at my venue was fucking fantastic and was one of the reasons we went with them over other venues.

The biggest thing for me was not having to worry about coordinating a bunch of different companies, and in my case, having semi-limited options actually helped me make decisions more definitively.

And i didn’t want to do full all inclusive (even if it was cheaper) because I didn’t want to be stuck with their florist and DJ. I did my research and found the best my money could buy, which I’m almost positive were many times better than anything that would be included with an all inclusive venue.

I did a lot of research online about venues to get an idea of what their pricing was like and what they offered before I narrowed down to what venues I wanted to tour. Pricing was a huge factor in deciding on a venue so I made to really focus on what was within our budget. Some that I looked at online you basically built a package by choosing a menu style, then adding a bar style, and then whatever additions you wanted like hor d'ouevres or special linens or whatever. Some had pre-built packages that had different levels (like a bronze, silver, gold).. and then some included everything (menu, bar, linens) and was a priced-per-person.

Our venue that we chose was a priced-per-person which included plated dinner, hor d'ouevres, champagne toast, a basic open bar, chair covers and table linens, and cake cutting/serving. They also offered a packaged deal which included some upgrades like a premium bar but it had buffet style dinner which we didn't want. I have my own photographer, DJ, and officiant but my venue also offered day of coordinating.

We have saved a ton of money going the semi-all inclusive route.

Our venue is a golf club in a pricy suburb of Kansas City. We decided to go with the inclusive package at our venue because it would save us $5,000. We are paying $80 pp which includes the room rental, all linens, chairs, tables, silverware, plates, glasswear, food (3 passed apps and a buffet), bar (4 hours of a standard bar), tax, and gratuity. It also includes centerpieces that we can choose to use and some room decorations. We have the option to add on food/bar extras to our pp price, which we will likely end up doing. At the end of the day, we will probably end up closer to $90 pp for all of the above.

Since our venue has a wonderful reputation, wonderful food, great coordinators, it's beautiful, and is extremely convenient, it was a no-brainer for us. It was the best price we came by and it was/has been very hassle/headache free. As of now, I would make the same decision again in a heartbeat.

Depends on the location, definition of "all inclusive", the look you want, and cost comparison.

We chose an "all inclusive" that has a minimum food and beverage cost of $5k for 130 people. We're easily going to hit that. It includes: indoor/outdoor space, day of coordinator, set up, tear down, linens, dishes, servers, and one candle per table. We wanted something more elaborate for the centerpiece, so we provide the items and they set up the tables according to photos/description, we give them. This was worth it to us, because we both work full time and didn't want to be chasing down every detail. If we don't meet the minimum, we pay an extra $1000 for all of that.

Honestly from what I've seen on here and local facebook pages, I think we got a great deal for prime wedding season. I don't think I would have been able to match it, doing it all myself.

I'm not paying for venue, hotel night of, set up, clean up, tables, chairs, linen, bartender service, cake cutting service, and centerpieces. We have to have a minimum of $4000 in food and if we have 200 guests (which we are), we get $500 off of his bill, a complimentary keg of beer, wine and chocolates to our room, and a dinner for two at their restaurant up to the first year anniversary. I say we got an amazing deal!

Thank you all for your input so far. I'm feeling like I should look into the inclusive venues a bit more! They seem to be a good idea.

I priced both, (temecula, CA area btw). The non-inclusive venues meaning I still needed to bring in food, alcohol, decorations, bouquets, were still about 13k. Food, and alcohol would have been 7-8k, (on the CHEAP side) that puts me at about 20k or 21k. I still needed a cake, decorations, centerpieces, (some offered a few *old centerpieces that people donates) bouquets, and potentially plates and silverware depending on the venue.

My all inclusive venue is about 22 thousand, it includes everything that I need. I'm able to customize whatever I want, I can upgrade and spend more money on items if I wanted to, or make it as cost effective as I'd like.

I did not include photography when I compared places, even though my all inclusive came with my choice of a photographer for an extra 4K. I found separate photography for about 3k.

I say my venue is all inclusive, same deal as Nikki, but she is saying hers was only semi. So maybe mine is semi-inclusive? They do include EVERYTHING if you want it all. I personally wanted my own photographer and officiant.

We also get to do cake tastings, food tastings, decorate how we want ( but they will decorate for us. And tear down. Some venues didn't do this.)

They also give you a free night at a hotel near the venue.

I'm planning my wedding out of state and it's so nice knowing I don't have a TON to do. I need to do the wedding attire, chat with the florist and schedule tastings and do any DIY things I need like a card box but other than that, I'm DONE!

ETA- my venue also includes invitations and save the dates! Ugh just so much yes to all inclusive.

We saved money by going all inclusive. In Chicago the cheapest DJ I could find was $2000. With the venue we are only paying $200. Florist is $50 an arrangement ($550 for centerpieces, cake decorations, bouquets, and sweetheart table) when again, it was hard to find anything less than $1000 for a florist. Cake is going to be $150 where as if we were to go with the same baker but without the venue it'd be $700.

We had an all inclusive (or maybe semi-inclusive). We had to hire the photographer, cake, and DJ. other than that everything was included.

Personally it was a life saver to me. I didn't worry about anything, they had contact with the bartenders, caterers and all other staff. So I just had to talk to one person and not 100! If anything went wrong it fell back on that person and not me or my H.

They had the tables, linens, bartender, and whatever else you may need. Personally I loved it, but I can't speak for the other end of things.

All / semi? inclusive is cheaper in my area.

We are paying $49 (before tax and service charge) per person. This will include our ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, 6 hour premium bar, late night pizza and all cake cutting, valet, table linens, champagne toast included.

All I had to worry about was finding the photographer, dj, cake and some decor.

In my research and after getting pricing from tours, I found the package deal to be convenient, but its absolutely more expensive. Its a great deal- until tax and gratuity is applied. you end up spending between $2-3000 just from tax on the in house catering services. I've also noticed outside caterers tend to be a bit cheaper in general as far as the Per per person pricing. Bottom line, if you are concerned for budget BYO a venues allow you to control pricing a lot more. If you have the extra room in your budget and can spend at least $10,000- for just the venue & Food then it will be a good deal for you. If you want alcohol add atleast $1, 500 to that.

We went with a semi inclusive venue because it meant a lot less stress for us and we felt as though we were getting a lot of bang for our buck.

Our venue is includes Ceremony Site (outdoor or indoor), Reception site, full five hour reception, full cocktail hour, full open bar, choice between plated dinner (4 course) or buffet dinner (we chose plated) by the attached restaurants award winning chef, private bridal suite open to us all day (meant somewhere to keep our belongings and get ready),All tables, chairs, and linens included (including a free linen upgrade because of when we booked), DOC and wedding planner, All set up and break down by Venue staff, as well as being the only wedding on site for the day. All for one per person price. We could totally justify spending 100pp when it included so much

We still had to bring in our Baker, Florist, DJ and Photographer - but we were happy about that.

Honestly - I cannot imagine a completely DIY venue where you have to bring in EVERYTHING. trying to price out tables, chairs, linens, and everything else felt so over whelming on top of trying to budget for the other vendors. Plus thinking about having to hire someone to do set up and break down? Or worse having to think about doing it ourselves after the reception?? No thank you!! I am so glad we did it this way. I feel so taken care of and like we will have an amazing party with the minimal amount of stress!

Look around at the general prices for the various services to see if you would come out ahead. It is very dependent on the venue and area.

I honestly think that I will save more money with my inclusive venue versus a DIY venue. Depending on which meal choices we choose, the price per person is about $75 and up. However that includes appetizers, full course meal, tiered wedding cake (from a good company too), open bar, champagne toast, served wine during dinner, simple floral centerpieces, a few candle votives per table, tables, chairs, linens, colored napkins and probably even more that I can't think of right now. Plus I've been working with the coordinator already and she's there with her team to handle everything the day of.

I agree with PP, for the most part in my area a semi all inclusive venue not only saves you money, but stress! That is not the route I went though, haha! I really wanted a unique space for our wedding, we are getting married at a former watch factory turned into an innovation museum, and everything I found that was all inclusive was either way too expensive or really just did not fit our tastes (ballroom with ugly carpets and chandeliers ).

The venue I booked basically provides tables and chairs and thats it. BUT, they have an awesome list of preferred vendors and my caterer is full service so they take care of ALOT of things (food, bar, linens, and any rentals). IMO, the florist, DJ, officiant and photographer were not at all stressful to find and once I had those things I felt pretty stress free. The only thing I would caution is you NEED to have a DOC if you go the non-inclusive route.

I loved having a mostly inclusive venue but I’m not picky and I wanted my wedding planning to be easy which it mostly was. I recommend. Mine was $65/person and that included food, cake, alcohol (beer and wine- full open bar would be $85pp), servers, set up and tear down, a coordinator, staff to move things around if needed, bridal suite, linens... it was awesome I loved it

We did a ton of research online with locations and pricing and then narrowed down the ones we actually wanted to visit. The one we loved was actually all-inclusive. With them, they had tons of options, but we could also customize it as well. If we wanted to get our cake from somewhere else, they'd deduct that cost, or if we'd rather have our own photographer, the same thing. I believe it is a cost saver for sure.

And, it is a big stress reducer! We had pretty much everything set there before deciding on a DW and this is so much more work. Thankfully, we have a good amount of time, but the all inclusive local venue would have been a breeze!!

We went with all inclusive. I wanted a total DYI. My FH was against it. Cost would've been about the same. Our venue included ceremony, food, open bar, tables/linens, cake,DJ and photographer.

We were able to choose from a few DJ's and photographers so we weren't just stuck with theirs. My FH explained that if we did all inclusive that we for one know they will show up, will do a good job because they want to keep the contract of the venue. We don't have to clean up or set up majority of room. I'm doing my own centerpieces because I didn't like theirs so that's my only set up. Venue doesn't fit my original theme idea but I'm happy with our choice. Planning is stressful as it is. I can't imagine if I had to do the entire thing myself.

We are doing a package(venue, catering, open bar) for $96 per person. We provide desserts/cake.

We're doing flowers and DJ.

I don't care about saving money. I want it all done for me, I don't want stress. We looked at a venue that was 100% DIY and I left there with a huge NOPE.

We're saving more money with our diy venue. The venue included tables chairs, kitchen, linens. Photo booth, farm, outdoor ceremony space and indoor reception area. Where bringing in everything else and it has saved us a ton of money. I'm also getting married in Monroe NC.