DIY - Baller on a Budget VENUE S/O

Finding money for a bar - wine, beer and cider. I hate that it's so expensive to serve alcohol. We don't even drink so it's for our guests. I guess we have to lube them up some to get them on the dance floor. LOL

Yep, it can be shocking to learn what even the most modest of venues charge...and get. The venue is one of your biggest expenses. Even if you try to get around it and do a wedding in your back yard, you're still going to spend thousands on a tent (you have to have one -- if it rains and you don't have a tent, you don't have a wedding), the endless rentals of everything from tables to dessert forks, etc. It's just a massive expense.

Putting more of your budget into décor than a venue that can, say, seat everyone seems like misdirected priorities.

Accepting the prices for the bar and catering! HOLY MOLY! I stroke out almost everytime I start to research.

I'm sorry OP but you are all over the place. You just made a post about an hour ago about the venue not having enough chairs to accommodate all your guests. Now you're talking about your original idea was to put more of your budget into decor? In what world? No no NO. Most of your budget goes into the venue/catering. You should be concerned about hosting your guests properly (food, drinks, etc.), which doesn't mean having fancy decorations. That is what you can scale back on. That and favors, photobooths, fancy invites and programs, etc.

Take this one thing at a time. Did you create a budget first? Do you know how much you and FH can set aside each month between now and when you'd like to get married (5/2017)? THEN work on a rough draft of that guest list. Do you REALLY need 150-175 "close" family/friends there? Next is to research your venues. Maybe find a semi or all-inclusive venue - it may or may not work out in your favor. Also consider having the ceremony and reception in one location.

Figure out what you can afford and secure a venue and that will have enough chairs to seat your guests!

Venues can get pricey! Usually that and catering/alcohol are the biggest expenses. You can have a beautiful wedding with minimum decor. And your guests are likely to remember if they don't have a chair vs. the centerpieces weren't as detailed.

We had the most awkward cake testing with our former favorite bakery. The owner left and the new owners didn't exactly advertise it on their website and fb page. It was bittersweet because we went there on our first date and FH doesn't like a lot of other bakeries in town. We eventually found another place and had an amazing cake tasting there.

I think the venue and food are way more important than the decor.

My biggest shock was the cost of just renting a place and that the catering is completely separate from that. Like hearing that a place was $5,000 to rent a place and $150pp for catering made me feel light-headed.

Not sure why the app is not allowing my previous comment to post.

Basically we secured the ceremony location due to it being $250 and most of the places that we called were booked. Luckily we are able to get our full refund back if we decide to go with something else. The ceremony Site doesn't allow outside rentals for chairs and she didn't give a clear reason why. Our budget has been set but seems impossible with the prices that we have received. Life is going full speed now with purchasing a home and planning a wedding.

My biggest stress is finding a venue that's affordable. Either the price of catering is low but the venue it self is really expensive, or the venue is reasonable and the catering attached to it is out of our budget. We haven't seemed to be able to find a place that fits our budget.

So either push the date back so you can save up some more money or cut the guest list. You don't have to divulge what your budget is if you don't want to but kudos to you for being able to save money for a wedding and purchasing a home - we live in NYC and we can't do both at this time.

This is why you do your budget first and then a rough draft of the guest list. They should have asked you how many were you looking to invite and once you told them, they should have told you to look elsewhere because they wouldn't be able to accommodate all of your guests.

If you are dead set on inviting that many people just give yourself more time to save up more cash.

My biggest shock was the cost of photography. I'll admit that photography is not that high on the list of priorities so there was a lot of struggle when hiring one.

I'm in central California, my parents built their backyard into a wedding dream. We had 200 guests. It was DIY.

Photography is a major. I would definitely find a great photographer and make sure to provide a list of special photos you want taken.

Your best bet is a restaurant. That is how you can usually avoid venue rental fees due to food and drink minimums.

I didnt like knowing I had to pay $5000 on a venue plus $5500 labour before food/drinks.

Id rather soend that extra $10,500 on food and drinks for my guests and have a beautiful restaurant (specializing in exceptional food) that also required less decorating.

So I have to agree yes venues can be very pricey but that's why it is important to set your budget first then make decisions later on what venue works best for you.

Location makes a difference I know. I live in small town Ohio. So our venue is only 500$ for all day. Our biggest expense so far will be catering, followed by photography. Cannot believe how much we are spending on photos. I want them of course. But to me, paying 1500$ for 200 edited images is crazy. I will pick 5 or 6 that I like to print and show off. Nobody is going to want to see 200 pictures of our wedding. -( Catering we stayed under budget. We chose a local caterer. BBQ style. Some of our favorite foods. (spring wedding). Biggest suggestion: Make a reasonable budget. And STICK to it.

My biggest expense is my venue--but it also includes food and alcohol. The place where I REALLY wanted to have my reception would have cost me the price of my whole wedding (including gown, flowers, photographer, etc.) just for the venue, food and alcohol. It is so beautiful and romantic, but I just couldn't see spending that much for "atmosphere". By going with the less expensive option, we will be flying first class to Hawaii for our honeymoon. And we are still serving great food and plenty of drinks in a nice hotel ballroom.

My biggest expense so far which really isn't that much has been the food next would be the photographer