Site Fee?

Um, I'm in TX, but I was finding some for around $500 or up to $1,000. That price you have listed is INSANE!!!

I feel it would vary from venue to venue. Like does that $18,000 include food, tables & chairs, linens and things like that? Ours did not have a fee like that but a per person charge and includes everything. Dinner and cocktail hour, alcohol, cake/dessert, all rentals and servers. But if it’s $18,000 and you still need to get all those additional things, that’s crazy in my mind.

Whoa! I am unfamiliar with venue costs in that area...but that about made me fall out of my seat!! Our venue is costing $2,600 for the entire weekend with $200 of that being returned to us as long as the site isn't damaged. This is in Virginia though.

I think it definitely depends on what that fee includes...do you get an entire 10 acre property to do with what you please for 48 hours? Is it just a reception room in a hotel? Very big difference.

My wedding is in small-town rural Indiana and our reception hall was about $1,500 and church was about $300. Unfortunately for a place like the Florida Keys, that price doesn't seem that extravagant - I would definitely figure out exactly what your friend wants out of her wedding and have those features quoted.

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I double checked because I thought to myself "18k must include TONS of things" but NOPE, it includes NOTHING. And yes, it is crazy. Just making sure that I'm not the only one that finds this INSANE. I wonder how they even book a wedding with that cost. Its a beautiful property but its all outdoors, there isnt even an indoor option if it rains.

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Nope, you dont rent the property for the weekend, it doesn't include lodging, its just for the one day. You can rent the house on the property for $1400 per night.

View Quoted Comment Omg that’s nuts. And $18K that will be going to some other site in my mind. 😱

$18K is the highest I’ve heard of yet! When we first started venue tours in Napa, many charged $5K-$10K for the site fee. I cried.

FYI, don’t despair! Ask about weekday and off-season rates. We saved more than 50% off the site fee by choosing a weekday, off-season (and negotiating)!

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Agree with this - what does that fee include? Just the location?

Dang you must’ve reached out to one nice venue lol. That’s crazy that $18k doesn’t include anything! Not even chairs?

Wow that's A LOT! The highest I have seen is 10k and I thought that was astronomical! Our venue does not have a site fee. The catering is in-house so I think that's where they make their money.

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Oh boy, in that case it seems super high! I can't believe they get anyone to book them

Omg that's crazy! When we were looking for venues I found one place that charged $12k as a site fee and I almost passed out. Needless to say, that was the last time they heard from me haha! The venue that we ended up going with has a site fee of $2k, but $4k peak season.

Omg that's crazy!! I live in Southern California and our site fee is 3500, with tables and chairs included. In the LA area I have seen cost up to 10,000. I say next!!!

Our venue charges $11,000 for 12 hours of use and it includes use of the venue, bride & groom suite, and tables and chairs for 200.

Holy crap and I thought 7500 in DFW was insane! I’ve found everything from 3K on up. Having to get creative!!!

Our site fee was $20k and that didn’t include anything, just the property buyout in Carmel, CA. That price is pretty normal in my area though.

$18,000 is crazy! Ours is in Northern California and is about $6000 after taxes (and we could save about a grand if we choose to hold the ceremony off-site or more if we weren't doing a Saturday in peak season) but it includes chairs, linens, china, set-up, clean-up, etc. as well as a day-of coordinator. And it was the cheapest we saw compared to other wineries in the area.

It really depends on what it includes and where it is and what your date is. Mine was $3000 not including anything.