Finding a venue

Pricing is going to depend on your area, the type of venue, what is included in their packages, your budget, etc. Only you can decide what’s a “good price” for your budget. We only paid $3500 for our venue, but it was a completely DIY venue and all it included was tables, chairs, and linens.

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Were you able to bring your own catering company? A lot of the venues that I found want you to get food through their venue. I want a wedding but I’m starting to feel like I can’t afford it.

View Quoted Comment Yes, we hired all of our own vendors.

I honestly let the venue availabilities decide our date 😊we narrowed it down to our fav venue then from that we chose what dates they had.

We paid $2500 for our venue, which is a very good deal!

View Quoted Comment I think that’s what I’m going to have to do give up the date I want and just visit the videos and possibly get married during the week, it’s so much cheaper.

View Quoted Comment There were some venues I saw that it only saves like $200 to get married on a Friday instead of Saturday. If it’s a drastic cost difference then yes I agree the week would be perfect 😍what kind of venues are you looking at? We found a beautiful barn and lake venue outside of the city.

View Quoted Comment I’ve been looking at barns too. They are just so cute. The one in particular that I like is 2,500 on a weekday compared to 6,000 on a Saturday/Sunday.

View Quoted Comment Oh wow yeah that’s a BIG difference in price.

I agree with pp that said maybe let the venue decide availability if you find one you like but I guess This also depends on if there’s a date that’s special to you that you want

Venues can get very expensive. The first one I wanted was about $4500 but it included tables, chairs, and decorations. It also had a place for ceremony and reception. Unfortunately it shut down.


The new venue is $1347 which includes an amphitheater for the ceremony, a cabin style venue for reception, and a cottage to stay in for the weekend. The reception venue only includes tables and chairs but we have all 3 locations for that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!
If you're on a tight budget look at state and national parks - that's why my new one is so cheap!

Depending on where you live and if you want the venue to take care of everything, will depend on the price. I'm having my wedding in Tahoe, on my friend's family property. It's 17 acres of land, all I have to do is get everything, but I have it all budgeted out for under $7,000. I would ask friends and family if they have property or work at a place that would work for a wedding. Also, think about what time of day you want your wedding. Ours will be around noon, maybe a little after, which means that we don't need heavy alcohol or a full on dinner.

Venue search was confusing for me too. I reached out to a few vendors and they all came back with different packages. Didn't know they would all have different terms. To make things a lot more clear, I made a spreadsheet of all the items and compared all the offerings, prices, min charges, etc. When I visited the venue in person, I also made scored each of them by the same set of criteria that mattered to me. I ended up with a clear winner that way.

If interested, here's something that I made https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/776797835/

Good luck in your search!

We saved 3k by changing our day from Saturday to Friday so that is something for you to consider. We also negotiated a 1k discount so we are paying a total of 4500 in VA. This includes coordinator, lighting, linens, table settings, and a few other things. We do have to use them for food which is a bummer, but I think it will save me a bit of headache having most of the items we need included in the package.

Prices and venues vary greatly. Where are you considering?
When we first started our planing we also knew we wanted a small wedding (no more than 25) and we initially thought to rent out an B&B - it was perfectly cost effective, that was a fall wedding in Bar Harbor.
Due to some hesitancy from family we decided a warmer location would be better. We’ve since decided on the Upper Keys (Islamorada). The overall cost is roughly the same, but the amenities are different. Definitely look at all your options, don’t rush, but don’t hesitate either. We almost lost our venue, our luck was we are doing a sunrise wedding followed by an early brunch.

Where are you getting married and how many guests?

View Quoted Comment We are currently looking at venues but we love in VA. we are planning to have no more than 200 guest

View Quoted Comment We live in VA as well we are going to look at venues this coming weekend.

View Quoted Comment I'm waiting on some messages, but you might be in luck! What about a garden wedding and reception? Well, it looks like it's free!
https://eventplanning.odos.virginia.edu/gardens

Whoops, you have to be affiliated with the school. Maybe you can take a class there. Seriously though, it's probably only a couple hundred bucks.🤷‍♀️