All Inclusive Venue vs. Everything Separate

I went “all inclusive,” as in they handled food, alcohol, cake, DOC. I found my own photographer, dj, and florist, which allowed me to negotiate and find vendors who fit my style/personality. I did my own centerpieces, and the DOC and I went over the set up, they set up and tore down. I did look at some venues where I’d have to get all my own vendors, including catering and doc/set up. It just didn’t seem worth it when I added all the costs together and then divided it per person (since that’s what the all inclusive was) it wasn’t cheaper and felt like more of a headache.

I think venues are the way to go,plus so much easier to let someone else do the hard work. I hired out my own vendors but budget wise in the end it was cost efficient.

All-inclusive are absolutely less expensive and easier, most of the time. I could probably rent the banquet hall at my local Elks Lodge and get catering through my favorite bbq place for next to nothing.
I'm team #IwantwhatIwant. I wanted a casual style wedding at a local park. I wanted tables and chiavari chairs rather than picnic tables. I am ready and willing to pay for it.
I know that sounds spoiled. I'm not a terror running around yelling, "Daddy, I want an Oompa Loompa!" I'm researching prices and figuring out how to fit things into my budget and whether or not I'm willing to do the work it takes to keep prices down.
I still look occasionally at an all inclusive venue online. The day may come when I decide to abandon ship and go the route of getting more for less. Just not today.

I’m doing an all inclusive. I think it’s just easier than having so many separate vendors to keep track off.

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Same ^^ Only difference is that I do have to pay for alcohol.

The biggest price difference I've found in things is alcohol. The venue we have is half-inclusive in that is already has tables, chairs, linens, and a lot of decor, but we get our own caterer and purchase our own alcohol. I will probably end up spending $900 on alcohol for my wedding, I'm also over-spending so I can have enough of everything and return unopened bottles. To do the same "hosted" (e.g., beer, wine, and signature drink) bar at the all-inclusive venue option, it would have been $6,700 including gratuity. The food also was more expensive, but the venue did not charge an event fee, so I was just paying PP for food and drink. So for food, I think it evened out as I'm paying a few thousand for my venue. But the alcohol definitely was a dealbreaker for us.

I've found them to either be more or about the same. Just more work doing it on my own then the venue. It can be cheaper though because some packages are inflated by days of the week or seasons and with caterers that their every day price.

It's way more expensive and a bigger headache to do everything a la carte, vs. a place that offers everything. Our venue included all food, alcohol, ceremony site + chairs, all rentals (linens, dinnerware, tables, chairs, etc...), wedding cake, serving staff, and a full-service wedding planner to guide me through the process, coordinate with all my vendors, and manage the event on the day of. I only had to separately hire entertainment, photography, florals, and an officiant, all of whom we'd have wanted to choose ourselves anyway. But if you have to bring in separate companies for catering and rentals, that's where it gets crazy. A venue that already employs their own staff and owns their own tables and chairs can subsidize that cost for you. You're not paying the premium price that you'd pay to rent those things separately. Plus, the more vendors you have to wrangle, the more annoying it is for you.

We have a blank slate venue. It is considerably cheaper and more personal since we can do our own research and pick our vendor of choice everywhere and decorate whatever way we like. My fiance did not want to have a cookie cutter wedding. However, there is a LOT more legwork.

Tradeoffs. Do you have more time or money?

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But come on, you don't think Oompa Loompa waitstaff would be awesome?

I am doing all/semi inclusive, where I only have to pick vendors like photographer, musician, and florist myself. I originally was in talks to book a venue where they only provided the space, but once I started calling local vendors that I liked it added up quickly. I really think it depends on what you want. If you are looking for a more low key wedding then I think you could probably bring the price down not doing all inclusive as you could save money on cutting out certain things. From my exeprience and pref., I am getting a lot more for my money by going to an all inclusive. I have the place for 2 nights and can party til 4am. My package below plus welcome dinner, rooms for us and family, all meals for the weekend for 60 , and all my vendors and gifts is under 25k for 60 people. 16k if you exclude photographer, cinematographer, entertainment, and our wedding attire. Our photographer is what I splurged on. Finding a venue was the hardest part for me. Good luck!
Magical Markree Package

• Exclusive use of Markree Castle and grounds for you and your guests, including our Grand Hall and reception rooms
• Stunning setting with mature trees, a rose garden and grounds along the river Unshin, including a boathouse and woodland walk for unforgettable photographs
• Personal planner to help and advise you on every aspect of your day
• Red carpet welcome upon arrival, including Champagne reception for the bridal party
• Personalised menu cards, choice of cake stand and sword

Arrival Reception

• Selected Markree Castle canapés
• Our home-made summer punch or mulled wine
• Tea & Coffee with homemade shortbreads and biscuits

Dinner

• Five Course Meal and half bottle of house wine per guest to include:
• Starter
• Soup
• Choice of two main courses
• Dessert
• Tea/Coffee with handmade chocolates
• Sparkling wine toast for each guest

Evening Reception

• Evening food with Tea & Coffee for half the number of final guests

My venue was somewhat inclusive-they had their own china and silver, and it was a historic mansion so beautiful already that it needed very little in the way of florals or décor. Oh, and they didn't even allow DJs. However, I had outside caterer (from their approved list), baker, etc. It was perfect for me, even if it cost more. I didn't like the all inclusive venues I saw because I found them to be way less accommodating and customer service oriented and much more "this is how we do it." For example, one told me they only do tastings twice a year and all their clients attend at one time, not individualized at all. They also wanted me to book in October with a hefty non-refundable deposit, but I wouldn't be able to taste the food my guests would be receiving until January. That was a deal breaker right there.

All inclusive is way easier, within 16 months before my wedding I had wedding ceremony venue, cocktail hour, reception place, choice of linens, china, caterer, alcohol, a place to get ready in & stay the wedding night for in one booking. Because we got everything in one a lot of things were waived like the venue costs because the cost of food per person was more that all of that. Only things to really worry about after that was photographer, florist, cake, attire & decor so it was less stressful choosing that route.

*than
& I forgot to add dj for things to worry about 🤓

After picking a place that everything is separate, I wish I had gone with more of an all inclusive. I like that my wedding is personal and has our feel. But it would be really convenient when it came to the hotel block and shuttle service and bar. It's not cheaper.

We had one all inclusive venue (a restaurant) and one definitely DIY venue. The restaurant was definitely easier. The DIY one was less expensive.

However, many of our cost savings came from the fact that the DIY one was incredibly laid back. They let us hire a friend to cook, rather than requiring a licensed caterer. NotFroofy made our wedding cake. We brought in spotlights for our uplighting, and paper lanterns with DIY lighting for stringing, and they let us come in a day early to decorate. I suspect the cost difference for a more formal wedding venue would have been a lot less.

We had the option of a full all inclusive venue where all I had to do was show up in my dress. They did food, drinks, music, cake, photos everything. But the package kept growing because of the amount of guests. I went and toured a semi inclusive that has the DOC, food, drinks, table settings, arches and lighting and I fell in love. We will end up only saving roughly $1000 to $1500 going semi inclusive but I got to pick out more vendors and make it more personal. Oh and as Aliah said...one signature and I was done even with the room we stay the wedding night.

FH and I went for an all inclusive venue. They do food, cake, ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, after party, 5 hour top shelf open bar, over night accommodations, a brunch the next morning, and DOC. The only things I needed to bring in was DJ, Florist, and photographer! Along with attire and things like that. That costed us I think 11,000 or 13,000, (can't remember) for basically everything!

To us it was a no brainier to do it there. We looked at a barn that was 7,800 dollars to rent the property, but had to bring everything else in. Food, bartender, DJ, photographer, plates, sliver ware, cups, and the list goes on. (not florist, they were also a florist right on the property.) If we went with that place it would have been way over budget!

With the venue we chose we are actually staying well within budget! They also have an arch there but FH is going to make it and then we are going to keep it in out garden!

I would have given anything to find a truly all inclusive venue close by.

You really should weigh each option. I made a spread sheet listing all things you might have to pay for (ie: venue rental, dj, photographer, food, linen, floral, other décor, etc) then I made a column for each possible venue and put in the price for each. if something was included in the price of the venue (for instance one venue included the dj) it would get an x rather than a price. the more x's it seemed the cheaper the price but not always.

also for me, not having to decorate at all was worth paying a bit more. I really don't want to deal with all of the little details.

Our venue is somewhat inclusive. We are required to use their caterer and they provide alcohol, wait staff, tables, chairs, glasses, silverware, and china. We did look at a few venues who included the cake and centerpieces but we felt like the price difference was ridiculous and that they didn't have as many dates available. My venue also provides a preferred vendors list that you don't even have to look at but we're choosing to at least check the vendors out. I'm more comfortable spending a little bit more money on vendors that have worked at my venue before because they know what they're doing and know the day of coordinator very well.