Venue only vs all inclusive

We kept going back and forth too! We chose all inclusive because they had more options venue wise and the provided and wedding planner. They have amazing reviews on their wedding planners too. So the main thing is the set up and take down and organizing things. With just the venue we would have had to do all that ourselves.

I hope it'll save you money in the long run. We are going the all-inclusive route just because I think it seemed easier and less stress on me.

We went all inclusive and it was AMAZING. I'm so glad we could do so, we could really enjoy the day and rest easy that things would be taken care of. Going ALL DIY Is a LOT of work for you and others (like your grandparents doing the catering). Good luck.

We went venue only because everything can be outside catered. We paid a premium price for the venue but figured choosing our own vendors would offset the costs a bit and I think it did. The only downside is that you will be doing A LOT of contacting vendors. I had to find a bartender, catering for food, catering for alcohol, provide plates & forks for cake, and ask a family member to cut cake - all of which an all inclusive venue would have provided. It's been kind of a pain, but I get to choose EXACTLY what vendors I want to use & not be told who I can & can't use. It's probably a little bit more stressful in the long run but I am happy with our decision!

The venue we initially wanted was just the venue. Once we started looking at rentals (tables, chairs, dinner/flat/stem/glassware, linens and set/clean up, we decided on an all inclusive. The original venue did not include a DOC which meant we would have to either do it ourselves or hire someone. With the all-inclusive, all these items are taken care of.

We are going all inclusive, when I weighed the pros and cons and we knew this was a better choice for cost and value. Not to mention, also keeping stress levels down on the day of the ceremony.

I think my wedding WAS unique and personalized, thanks.

We're doing a venue only place. I would say just be prepared for rental costs that you may not think of. I didn't realize that we'd have to rent a kitchen for the caterers since they prepare the food on site. And since we can't wash dishes there, we have to rent enough glasses for the bar for the night. I would also say hire a day of coordinator. That will give you time to enjoy the wedding day while someone else executes your vision. My catering company also does DOC. For $900, they take over about a month before and my family, friends and I don't have to worry about setting up.

My wedding will be PLENTY unique haha we get to bring in anything we want and we can change any of the vendors if we decide we don't like them. It's really what you feel comfortable with. I didn't want my mom to stay till 1 am cleaning up and I didn't want my first night with me new husband cleaning up either. I think your wedding will be beautiful either way!

Well the place I picked has a kitchen, I'm pretty sure they can't cook there but they can bring it prepared. Also the grandparents offered to cater appetizers for us as a wedding gift. We surprisingly do get a day of coordinator that will be there until the last person leaves. Also there are people who clean up after! We just have to set up. Luckily it comes with tables and chairs and I found a company to do the setting up for $100.

Yay for having a venue!! Just ask them what is not included and focus on that now :-)

We did all inclusive for reception. It was a breeze. Just told them what colors for linens and they do it Catering too. They even offer the use of things like uplighting and centerpeices.

All inclusive with a doc! We get to do the unique and fun things while having a doc and less stress hopefully, for us it is the right decision

We are doing just venue. In fact were doing create a venue lol. Tented reception. We looked at all inclusive our cons were time restraints in our wedding city you get 3-4 hrs for a reception afterwards you pay pp for each hour. Our families are not the most prompt, and 100% of my family are driving 8-10 hours or flying. I dont think its right to have a reception where they have to be out by 10pm or we pay $1k+ for each additional hour. We liked the flexibility on being on our time schedule. As my fh is I incredibly picky about food, anywhere w/ a mandatory caterer or price penalty for not using preferred caterer wasn't going over well w/ him. Also our guest list is if-y. With all my guest oot & some if fh's theres no telling who or how many would actually show. We liked being able to decide w/o worrying about a minimum or maximum. The cons we need a planner ( extra cost) to help coordinate all the different vendors. But we needed one anyway were oot. But were def paying more bc shes doing more. Another con is worrying each vendor is just another thing that could go wrong. Again the importance of a good planner.

I haven't priced any wedding planners. I'm scared to lol

I did a (mostly) all inclusive so that I wasn't juggling a million people that day. My venue is doing ceremony and reception. I pay one fee for the ceremony which includes a grand piano to hire a musician for, chairs, and use of speakers.

My reception pp includes buffet, bar, linens, chairs, lighting, dance floor, etc. I'm not sure how it matches price wise vs doing this all myself but on top of all of this stuff I don't have to deal with, I'm not setting up OR cleaning up either.

And I'll take another jab at the "all inclusive being too cookie cutter" mantra. Pfft. You're not a special snowflake whether you do all inclusive or not.

All inclusive. We hired our wedding planner first and she helped us find our venue. We looked at both- all inclusive and venue only. For some reason the venue only options were extremely overpriced and she let us know it may add up more to bring in all of our own vendors. Well, we did end up all inclusive, we are still changing a lot. It's a gorgeous ceremony site and our ballroom is nice, almost like a blank slate. So, I think we were going to be screwed budget wise either way because I want bells and whistles! If we didn't have an amazing planner and florist, I would have probably regretted my decision because I originally wanted something with more character and reception outdoors as well, but the ideas for decor and florals are going to transform the space. Plus, I love how they are including passed wine for dinner and a cake from a very popular bakery with the cake cutting fees included. The food pricing isn't so bad, but our bar is going to kill us.

I think you should start with catering.. I looked at this gorgeous venue that came with a caterer that charged for each and EVERY item.. plates, forks, etc., I would just be prepared to do a lot of research to get the best price for catering since that will be a huge chunk of your budget.

If it's in your budget I would hire a planner to help with this. They may know of great caterers that can pass on discounts, as well as rental companies for your tables, linens, chairs, etc., If not a full service planner at least a DOC because they will save you sooo much stress on your wedding day!

Good luck and congrats on picking a venue!!

We are using an all-inclusive venue. It seemed way easier and less stressful to let them take care of everything. They've planned hundreds of weddings and I've planned zero.

We get a DOC in addition to a planner throughout the process.

Our venue is all inclusive, they are taking care of the catering, cake, photographer, flowers and a bunch of other stuff. I have been dealing with my coordinator from the start and I love him. it is so much less stressful

We went the venue only option (farm) because we get the venue Friday-Sunday. The people (husband/wife team) who own the farm offer some extras which we're taking them up on. The wife is going to be my DOC for a VERY reasonable price. The husband is going to be our officiant. I've got my rental company, caterer, cake, etc. It depends on your city and how you spend your money which ends up being left. Both lead to beautiful weddings