Venue & Fair Pricing?

There are different types of models. The one's you always hear about are the runway girls because they get picked up by fashion houses to walk the catwalk in whatever the designer puts them in. They can easily make $10,000-$25,000 per show. But the requirements are steep. Kate Moss pushed the envelope by being 5'7.'' Ideally a runway model is as tall as possible, preferably 6 ft.

But if you're photogenic, have great measurements, yet lacking in height(like me) you can still build a reasonable modeling career with all your work will being print. That means, you may not ever be in a fashion show but you'll be in a magazine or a catalog or some other publication. I took it up because it was a quick way to get substantial cash without working too hard. And for someone who was teased for being a fat child, it's a great confidence builder. It also opened the door to other things like acting. I did a Siemens infomercial once where all I did was walk around a studio from 7 am to 4pm(we were scheduled to end at 5pm but everyone took direction so well that we finished ahead of schedule). Only my legs made it into the final video, but I still got $500 out of it. I teased my FI about it. "You're marrying the most expensive set of legs in St. Louis!" It's kind of funny because I hate my legs.
Your photographer is everything in the entertainment industry. I only trust one photographer with my head-shots and he's amazing(enough for me to fly to St. Louis to get them shot if he isn't in Los Angeles). He's also very honest and transparent with his fees. You got to think about your wedding photographer in the same way.

I interviewed 5 different people before I stumbled onto my team. In my search found a great photographer that I was sad not to hire, but he wouldn't have been compatible with my wedding party. It's not just about the photographer's skill(as I have also learned in film classes) It's also about having a personality that puts you at ease. They need to be honest and tell you when you need a make-up touch up; they also need to have the sensitivity to know when a photograph is not appropriate.

Hey there! Cali native bride here. Know that 5 regions of California take up the top 25 most expensive locations to get married in the US alone. Most of the other's are East Coast states or cities (Manhattan, D.C., NY alone, NJ, etc.). Forbes and The Knot just wrote articles on it last month. The number you're sharing of $15K sounds pretty accurate for CA all-inclusive to what I had been quoted for all-inclusive's here. I've also had a handful of friends that went with all-inclusive for 120 person wedding for anywhere between $17K-$20K done, paid, out the door. However, this included EVERYTHING minus the clothes on their back and any other decor you personally wanted to bring in. Side note: We didn't end up choosing any of these venues and opted for a local winery for many different reasons. But, we knew we had to add more $$$ to our budget, which we were comfortable with. Best advice, as exciting as it is, ask every question and see everything with a clear mind. We almost put a deposit down on a venue that gave me anxiety at night because something just didn't feel right. Turns out when we got the final quote before putting a deposit we saw the nickel and diming and that was enough for us to say no.

Also, someone above said they are paying $4900 for an all inclusive wedding. But it's for 50 people so when you think about your numbers being a little over 100 to 150 it would end up pretty close if you tripled it so those numbers and your numbers end up making sense for the amount of people and cost.

Venuti's in Addison, IL. They have a small patio space that you might be able to do a small ceremony on but I don't think they had any real outdoor space for the ceremony. You can ask though, Ciara is amazing and will do anything she can to help

What venue are you looking at? This sounds like a place I may want to see.

If you don't mind me asking what venue are you looking at?