Money Problems

Do you have a venue chosen and date set for you to get married in 4 months? I’m confused by this post.

View Quoted Comment Our date is set, we are looking for a reception venue that will also cater.

It is very hard to find a venue with 4 months to go! Wishing you luck!!

View Quoted Comment So with 4 months to go you are not going to get many choices. Places around here we’re booking 18 moths out. I think first you need to see if you can find a venue that meets your needs

What is your budget? Generally 50-60% of your overall budget goes to venue/food/alcohol. Our venue rental was $20k and we paid $134pp for food and $55pp for beer and wine.

What does your FH think is a reasonable price? Has he given you a per person budget goal or does he just look at the total and say it's too much? Usually, food/alcohol will be most of your budget. Our's was about 50% of our $50K budget, for almost 250 guests.

I'm guessing a lot of those places haven't gotten back to you because they are already booked. If you and FH want to have a reception, he may have to be a little more flexible with the budget. It's going to be difficult to find a place with 4 months to go.

How many people are you having at the wedding?

I would ask him what he thinks is a reasonable price and task him with providing an option at that price by a specific date. The price of these things is difficult to gauge and I’d bet your FH has unrealistic expectations. And given your time constraints your options will be even more limited. You shouldn’t have to take on the labor of that. If he can’t find a cheaper option then you go with the one you found.

My reception is at a hotel and will only be $90/pp by the time tax and service fees are applied.
We were about to cut the price down $10/pp by limiting the open bar to a beer wine and soda bar. Maybe ask about things like thay as well.

Ours is 18k (venue min) for 170-200 people for the venue/food/6 hour premium bar. I think with our food choices it came to $75/person and anything left in the 18k minimum can be used for extra deserts, extra hors d'oeuvres, upgraded linens etc.

It really depends on where you are and what type of venues you are looking at. You need to get a deposit down soon though because being 4 months out your options are going to dwindle by the day.

Our venue costs $2,800, the only thing included in that is chairs and tables.

Our catering costs around $2,500 give or take including appetizers.

We are having around 160-175 people

How many guests did you invite? If under 50, can you look at a private room in a restaurant? If 100+ what about a church or community hall and get Mexican, Italian or BBQ catering which can run $10-$20 per person.

We are spending $9,900 on our venue and $15,000 on our food & linens/china rental. We are in Denver, so the prices may be a bit higher. We also have 175 guests.

After all is calculated, I think our venue (including catering and beverage) will come out to about $7000. That's for 100 guests, buffet dinner and open bar. It's also our ceremony location, so we actually are saving money by having ceremony and reception at the same place.

This is in the SF Bay area, which is generally very expensive. I researched dozens of venues and visited about 5, so this place had the most affordable rates. Ironically, it turned out to be the place that felt most "special" to FH and I, as it's very near where we both grew up, and we both have a lot of fond memories of the area.

View Quoted Comment We are sitting right at 50 guests. Luckily a few more vendors have gotten back to me today. Thanks everyone for your input!

View Quoted Comment

That's great! And with a smaller guest list, it should be easier to work with. Hope you're able to find what you're looking for!

Our venue was free (friends home). Food was about $85 per person, rentals were about $45 per person, alcohol was about $25 per person.

Hi! I completely understand the differing in opinions on what is "reasonable." It took us a while looking around to find a reasonable priced venue and caterer, but eventually found a venue for $2800 (for the entire day!!) and catering for $12.97 pp and apps for the cocktail hour for $2.97 pp. Good luck!