Cheaper for reception venue: All-inclusive hotel or a la carte?

It really depends. Some all-inclusives are less expensive, while some a la carte options are less expensive. You really just have to go ahead and do the research and then decide what you prefer between the two, and see if you're even comparing apples to apples, or trying to compare apples to oranges.

It might end up being cheaper by a little bit to do it all piecemeal, but the added stress and value of your time should be added into that. Our venue was all inclusive - I added centrepieces and a few more decor bits and pieces but not much - and it was so nice to not have to worry about anything. Walked into the venue to drop the decor off, walked out ten minutes, then didn't go near the place again until our reception started.

I can't say for sure what it's like in your area. But when I researched using a venue that required everything, it was going to be crazy expensive. Tables, linens, chairs, catering (which required a tent and portable stoves), dishware, stemware, the list never ends.

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We went with an all inclusive hotel as well. Not just because of the price and the fact that everything was included but also because it will be less stressful to have one place take care of everything from prep to clean up.

Our all-inclusive hotel was $11 per person cheaper, than my sister's hotel/caterer. They charged them for each item/course, like each individual hors d'oeuvres, and we got a 4-course meal, plus cocktail hour/dessert bar, and open bar, at one per person price.

We did it ala carte. I wish we had done all-inclusive. We didn't save that much money in the end, if anything, and putting it all together was a pain in the ass.

I've actually compared caterers and a venue to an all inclusive venue and found that they are about the same (within $1000 of eachother). I chose an all-inclusive because its much easier.

We had an a la carte venue booked and ended up losing our deposit to book an all inclusive. So much easier and it was cheaper for more people at the all inclusive.

I was between 2 places. One was mostly inclusive, one we would have to do it all. It cam down to $1000 difference so we spent the money on the inclusive one. I would have needed a DOC so even that thousand was likely to be saved. I'm not craft or creative so coming up with centerpieces and decor would have been the end of my sanity.

I would do all inclusive because the stress free portion of it is so worth it

I am doing everything a la carte and it is a little more stressful but my wedding planner is awesome so it helps that she can research vendors and things like that for me and all I have to do is make the call for pricing.

We saved a TON of money by choosing a venue that allowed us to bring in our own caterer and alcohol. Buying our own alcohol we paid about $600 for 100 people...so $6 pp for open bar.

I think our overall cost pp was about $75 compared to at least $130 if we did all-inclusive.

Depends most hotels will not allow certain outside things, like catering, bar and staffing. Depends on what you value. We are doing "build a wedding." We got a venue and have to bring everything in ourselves. Stock the bar, catering, table/chair/linen rentals, set up & clean up. For us it's worth the time and hassle bc we have a big GL (expecting 250 guests) and FH didn't like some of the rules & restriction of the all inclusive venues (primarily the 3 hr limit which is customary in our wedding city). Paying per person would have cost us around $8,000 more. Our wedding won't be the fanciest but hopefully it will be nice, but it was important to us to have everyone there and to be able to party late into the evening.

I did all inclusive. It was cheaper, and I didn't have to worry I'd forget something (cause I know me-- I would have forgotten plates, or chairs, or something critical like that!).

All-inclusive will definitely save you money (and stress!!) in the long run!! Our venue was what I would consider all-inclusive. The venue space, ceremony chairs, cocktail and dinner tables, dinner chairs, linens, cloth napkins, all glassware, china, charger plates, silverware, etc. was included in the rental cost. Catering and bar was also in-house so all of the wait staff and bartenders was also included in the cost. The price also included a DOC and staff who set up and cleaned up everything!! I would not pick a venue that did not allow me to bring my own photographer, DJ, florist etc. though - I would not want to be limited by the venue's picks.

Piecemeal seems nice because we get to customize everything, but good to know it's not that much different cost-wise! Also didn't think about the stress factor. I appreciate the input, everyone!

All inclusive is definitely cheaper in our experience. Unfortunately we didn't realize how big of the difference it would be till after contracts. If we had done the all inclusive route everything for a wedding of our size (small) would be less than $10k. Doing the ala carte route we're looking at close to $25k. I would have hated the all inclusive and would have regretted not going with our current/dream venue but that's a good chunk of money we could have saved. It is definitely dependent on location. I'm in NY.

It can depend on the venue. Ours kind of was. It was a venue with a separate but exclusive caterer and venue included ceremony and reception as well as chairs and Tables and caterer included food, cake cutting, serving, linens and dinnerware. I have to book photographer, DJ, cake and Flowers. I wouldn't have minded if cake and flowers were included with venue but they were easy to find.

From my research, all inclusive was a lot cheaper, but they also allow you to bring anybody outside if you want (caterer, DJ, etc.)