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Dedicated October 2021

Price of a wedding in ca

C, on January 16, 2020 at 11:52 AM Posted in California Planning 0 12

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CA brides, have you been surprised by how much weddings cost? FH and I are getting married on the central coast. We are having 100 guests. We are at $32,000 for venue (includes tables, chairs, utensils, glassware, etc.), day of coordinator, catering, and alcohol (beer and wine only). We still have to get flowers, decorations, hair and makeup, DJ, and photographer. Luckily I found a wedding dress for under $1,000 but it will likely need alterations as the bust will be a size or two too big. Has anyone else had this issue?? We calculated out prices and all our choices would be around this price - we only found 3 venues in this price range - couldn’t find any cheaper when you add in all the necessary rentals (chairs, etc.). Maybe that’s typical for CA?

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12 Comments

Latest activity by Jill, on May 2, 2020 at 9:38 PM

Champion October 2018
Kelly · on January 16, 2020 at 12:07 PM
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Unfortunately that is normal. We got married in Carmel and just our venue fee not including food or alcohol was $20k.
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Master October 2021
Sexypoodle · on January 16, 2020 at 12:45 PM
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Pretty normal in Cali.
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Legend July 2019
MrsD · on January 16, 2020 at 2:46 PM
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We paid 60k for our wedding in Denver, so more formal weddings across the country now cost 40-70k typically. I was in two weddings in CA, one spent 20k and one spent 3k but both were small weddings that skipped a lot of things.
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January 2019
MOB So Cal · on January 16, 2020 at 4:01 PM
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Yes, this was EXACTLY our experience. Daughter's wedding was in So Cal (Orange County) and we visited 10 venues and she did a DETAILED spreadsheet controlling for all costs (even though different venues charged for things in different ways), and 9 of the 10 were within a $1500 range when she accounted for everything in the projected totals. She decided "wedding price fixing" was absolutely a REAL thing (the one venue outside of the "range" would have been at least $2500 more than the next highest estimate). All the "what does an average wedding cost in So Cal" calculators said ~$32,000. When we started, we thought that was CRAZY.... With VERY carefully planning and always comparison shopping, for 100 guests in the off-season, the cost was????? $32,000.... Yep. You're not crazy.... Good luck!
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VIP September 2019
Lauren · on January 16, 2020 at 5:36 PM
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Totally normal. I posted my full breakdown in my BAM. We were just under 60k for 250 people not including alcohol (gift from parents), transportation (gift from husband), and rehearsal dinner (gift from my parents).
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Devoted June 2021
Theadra · on January 17, 2020 at 3:28 PM
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Our venue is in SoCal (Newport Beach) and it’s around 15k. Don’t get me wrong it’s still expensive , I just think it depends on guest list and what you want at your wedding too. But of course it’s Cali.
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Dedicated June 2019
Ocbride2019 · on January 20, 2020 at 12:24 AM
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Yup...my OC wedding ended up about $25,000 for just under 100 people using mostly budget vendors. There were definitely places I probably could have cut the costs more, but it came down to things like not wanting to compromise on food quality and wanting a specific venue. It’s expensive here for sure!
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Legend March 2017
Pirate & 60s Bride · on February 1, 2020 at 4:58 PM
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Sad, but normal. We saved over 50% on site fees by having an off-season wedding on a weekday (but we only had 15 and checked that a weekday wasn’t an issue.

A weekday night (Thur or early Sunday) or a brunch wedding can save you a lot if you’re determined to have 100+ guests. Is that an idea to consider?
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Savvy June 2020
Michelle · on March 2, 2020 at 4:34 PM
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My FH and I REFUSED to pay that much since we're trying to save for a house (and we all know how expensive real estate is here in CA). We are having an intimate wedding (about 40 guests) with only the people that mean the absolute most to us (yes this meant excluding some family members we never see) and our price is coming in around $7,000. We're getting married at the Mural Room at SB courthouse (pic below) and then having a restaurant reception. I think it really depends on what you make a priority. A beautiful wedding on a budget can be done, even in CA!!
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Savvy May 2022
Katie · on March 6, 2020 at 4:19 PM
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Yep! CA is just super expensive!! We priced at least ten locations in Southern California for 200 people on a Saturday in September and not a single one was less than $45k. The venue we went with ended up being even more expensive than that, but it was a serious sticker shock when we started planning.
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Devoted April 2025
Brianna · on March 7, 2020 at 3:26 PM
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No duh. Weddings are expensive and so is California. That's no shock
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Jill · on May 2, 2020 at 9:38 PM
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My daughter's wedding will be $15,000-$20,000 in Northern California (Bay Area winery) but its a brunch buffet (including Deluxe Coffee and Mimosa Bar).
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