Venue Prices Increased overnight.

Keep looking and stick to your budget. You'll find another place that you love just as much. If you're already dead set on this venue and put a deposit down, decide what elements of the wedding are most important to you. Allocate funds accordingly and go bare minimum on others. There will be ups and downs to wedding planning. Focus on what really matters and that's celebrating your love for each other with your closest friends and family.

If you love the venue can you ask for their off-season and weekday rates? We saved over 50% on the site fee by doing that. If you do a Sunday brunch the food cost should be cheaper too.

View Quoted Comment Pirate Bride has a great suggestion! I’d go to the event coordinator you’ve been working with at the venue and tell them that you really really looooove their venue and were so excited that you actually increased your budget just to have your wedding there. But unfortunately the increased prices are out of your reach, and are there discounted rates for weekdays or off-season dates? Seeing as how they quoted you incorrectly, I’d be inclined to think they’d be willing to help out.

First off, I'm so sorry you were given misinformation which led to some huge unexpected expenses. I can only imagine how frustrating and disappointing that is The ladies above have been some amazing advice so far. If you're set on increasing your budget, my only encouragement would be to make the experience for you and your guests special. 60 people is a fairly small wedding, so if there are ways you can add unique touches to things (that you usually wouldn't be able to with a larger wedding) have fun with that

View Quoted Comment Excellent point! When my fiance and I went into this we focused on what's important but got lost in our fairy tail wedding. I read this reply to him and he was super touched - as I am! You make great points! We learned a lesson here and I'm confident this is only the first down in a bunch of ups and downs lol. Time for us to regroup and prioritize. Thank you Candace!

View Quoted Comment Great suggestion! Personally, I love the idea of an off day wedding. (Anything to be non-traditional lol). I'm going to suggest this to my fiance and see how he feels.

View Quoted Comment Yes! I agree, this is a wonderful suggestion! Off season will be peak summer in a woods outdoor wedding. But maybe I can make some cute citronella candles, get some fans going. The ideas are pouring in now lol if there's a will, there's a way, right?
We have a call Thursday with the venue, I'm hoping that we can negotiate something. If not, I'm digging for a similar, cheaper back up plan.
I appreciate your suggestions Cece!! Super helpful!

View Quoted Comment Good luck girl, I’m crossing my fingers for you! I know what it’s like to fall in love with a specific vision for your wedding.

View Quoted Comment Oh great idea! I think the tiny details make the wedding and this venue is a little more all inclusive than the normal weddings. That extra energy I can use to make the tiny details incredible. Thank you Jessica! Also, I super appreciate the acknowledgement regarding how frustrating it is.
I feel like i can envision a wedding anywhere. My fiance, not so much. He was really excited and I can feel his disappointment. It's rough. I'm going to take all of the ideas on this tread and see if I can either, make this venue happen or find a great backup that's similar.

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Absolutely girl! I hope everything works out in your favor for you both. I know it'll be a beautiful day!

I find it odd that pricing tripled in a week from $3000 to $9000. Okay, the venue is in high demand, but tripling? That’s excessive. Businesses know when they are going to put increases through and typically have much more notice. Someone dropped the ball when they quoted you. I would ask that they work with you on pricing.

View Quoted Comment Agree with this.


If you love the venue and aren’t open to looking elsewhere, see if off season is cheaper. As for other expenses, do you need overnight lodging at this location? Will a regular hotel in the area suffice? Cut out extras: favors, ceremony programs, champagne, photo booth, welcome bags. I would reconsider cutting guests. There is a huge difference between a random stranger plus one and a significant other, and not being married doesn’t make their relationship insignificant. Anyone who is in a relationship and is not a chronic Tinder dater needs to have their partner invited because you can’t ask them to celebrate your relationship while discounting theirs.
If you want to cut guests, see who you are inviting out of obligation and you don’t care if they attend: parents’ friends, friends whom you don’t currently interact with, coworkers, etc

View Quoted Comment Hi Michelle,
When I stated 'unmarried guests' I meant that super broadly. I apologize if that suggested judgment outside of marriage. I promise you, that was not my intention. My parents aren't married.
By unmarried guests, I actually mean people who are not in a committed relationship AND will know other people at the wedding. People being offered plus ones up front are people in relationships or people who won't know anyone. My friends and family who are single but know enough people to not need a plus one, I plan on explaining to them that initially we will not be offering a plus one, but once we have a final RSVP count we will extend our plus one if available.I've ran this past a few people who are on the "no plus one list" and they were completely understandable and supportive of this idea. To expand on this, my spouses list with all of his friends and family is 17 people total. With my immediate family (parents, siblings, nieces and nephews) the number is 42. I had to uninvite my aunts, uncles, cousins, coworkers, etc. I'm only inviting about 5 friends on top of immediate family. And I have a pretty large circle of friends and coworkers who I have been very close with for years. The decision to cut the list has been hard, but sadly if I go any further, I'm uninviting it will be siblings or nieces and nephews at this point.

View Quoted Comment I agree. I actually had to reschedule our meeting because the increase caught me off guard and I was worried I may get mean. The jump is unobtainable.
The manager actually just emailed me that they want to work with my budget to make this work. It seems they are acknowledging their mistake and trying to fix it. Fingers crossed!!!

View Quoted Comment Awesome that they are trying to work with you on pricing!! Fingers crossed that everything works out!

View Quoted Comment That’s great news! Good luck. I work in an industry where we’ve seen 10-30% increases in the last 2 years. 200% is unheard of.

View Quoted Comment Agree with This! Explain nicely and calmly that the error was theirs, not yours, and you’d love to still make it work on your preferred date if they can meet you in the middle or closer to the original quote.

View Quoted Comment Sweet! Hope that helps and you get the venue you love.