Budget

No one can tell you how much is too much to spend besides you and your FS. We have no knowledge of your budget, location, guest list, etc. You guys will have to figure that out on your own.

I would compromise with my SO on a venue that we both agree on. It’s not just my wedding.

Like Caytlyn said, no one can tell you how much to spend or what items you will want to spend more on. You need to sit down with your fiancé and determine what you can afford. You will also have to decide what items are important to you. Venues greatly vary in cost depending on location, the type of venue, and what they provide. Food also varies depending on what type of food you choose to have and if you have plated, buffet, stations, etc.

You need to be on the same page as far as budget. Weddings are expensive, period. Before you decide your budget, you need to discuss what is most important to you. Guests only remember 3 things: were the couple gracious hosts (not rude, not making guests pay for food/drinks), was the food good, was the dj good? At the end of the day all you have is memories and photos so splurge on photography. Food and drink do not have to be expensive. Alcohol is not required for a good time if you can't afford it. Call up a favorite local restaurant to cater.


A blank slate venue where you bring in your own vendors is often cheaper because they don't have 5-6 digit food/beverage minimums and you can toss out the stuff that isn't important to you that other venues require and charge extra for.
Avoid anything labelled wedding whenever possible. You can find the same thing elsewhere for half the price and better quality.
Take a look at Eventective.com

Like others have said, there are so many factors involved in budget! What all is included in a venue’s price, location, personal finances, job security, etc. Also, what are the top priorities and/or most important parts of the wedding for you and your FH? Food? Music? Flowers? Location? If you are having difficulty deciding, have yourself and your fiancé list your top three priorities, or create a pros/cons list or price breakdown for each venue based on what all is included. Make sure to factor in hidden expenses (gratuity, etc.) and a little wiggle room. This will at least help you get a starting place or help narrow some things down!

View Quoted Comment Thank you ladies. I will talk with my fiance about what is most important to both of us and go from there.

Totally agree with everyone- nobody can tell you about budget as that’s a discussion between you guys. My fiancé and I low-balled ourselves & we’re in for a big shock when we started touring venues & getting the prices. We discussed our must haves & to keep it within the ballpark of our budget, we cut our guest list. That gave us the wedding that we wanted.

I agree to get on the same page as your fiancé. But I totally get wanting a romantic venue! That was my #1 priority. But we both decided on a small guest list to make that happen. Are you willing to cut your guest list?

Budget is entirely dependent on where you get married and your own comfort level.

DH and I got married in one of the most expensive places in the country, because we live here. What we spent on a modest wedding would have paid for the most lavish party for 5 years in other places... because things cost more where we live.

If you use the "planning tools" tab, above, you can get a good idea of what the average costs are in your area. From there, you can figure out what you can afford, and build a guest list and a vision off of that.

Good luck!

Budget is different for everyone. You need to come to an agreement with your future spouse on a firm number. Also be on the lookout for hidden expenses such as tipping or an overtime fee.

If it helps, I had no idea where to start with our budget so we sat down and had a talk about the kind of venue we wanted. I then went and researched online all the venues in the area and contacted quite a lot of them through email. Most of them responded very quickly with their prices and a breakdown of what was included in that pricing. That helped me to have a starting point because I could compare different places that were pretty similar. (For example, one place could seat up to 400 guests and a nearly identical place with nearly identical services could seat up to 200 but cost exactly the same.) We then sat down and came up with a guest list so that we'd have an idea of how large a venue we'd need (lol not 400!) And it was easier to come up with a budget from there, knowing around what the venue would cost. Stuff starts to fall in from there because you can look at their allowed caterers and their pricing etc and so forth.