Venues that Doesn't do everything?

My brother and sister-in-law had to hire vendors that provided those items. They didn't have any issues. They read reviews of different companies to determine who they wanted to go with. My mom and sister-in-law also attended a bridal expo so they met vendors there as well. Our venue provided the chairs, food, tables, chairs and linens, but we had to locate the rest of the vendors ourselves. They did have a recommendations for vendors, but the only one I used off that list was our DJ otherwise I hired vendors that other people recommended to me or that I found on my own.

Our venue is a "blank slate" venue, aside from tables and chairs. They have a list of vendors that they have worked with in the past, but you're allowed to hire whoever you want. In our area, it's been much cheaper this way. The all-inclusive venues we looked at were a lot more expensive and also didn't give us the freedom we wanted in choosing things like catering or our cake baker. If I could go back and re-plan my wedding, I still would've chosen to hire all of our vendors ourselves rather than allowing the venue to make those choices for us.

We used a DIY venue that only provided tables, chairs, and linens. This wound up being much cheaper for us, but it really depends on your area and guest count.

I'm doing a DIY venue that only provides tables and chairs. I have to bring everything else in. That is the way that I wanted it, but I'm not going to lie, it has been a little more stressful trying to coordinate everyone and everything. I'm going to say the price is probably going to end up evening out to what it would cost if the venue provided everything. So I guess it's your personal preference.

Our venue provided bridal & groom's suite, venue use for 12 hours, and tables & chairs for up to 200. That's it. We paid $9,900 for our venue (normally $11,000 but we had a military discount). We hired an outside caterer, photographer, DJ, florist, videographer, baker & bar.

It tends to be cheaper I think when you diy. But I do think it saves you the hassle when finding a venue that does it for you.

I see this debate as a Catch-22. If you DIY you're more likely to save a bit of money whereas if you go with an inclusive venue you're paying more but you have no worries.

We debated the DIY route, but honestly did not have the time to make it all work (I was going to make my own centerpieces and decided to pay for flowers just to save on the time aspect). If I were in more of a money crunch or if I had more time, I definitely would've gone DIY.

The venue my FH and I have gave us the option of them taking care of everything, or us using outside vendors that they have approved. Our venue does provide all tables and chairs. We chose to do outside vendors b/c it's so much cheaper than having them do it. Our venue cost would've been an extra $5000 for them to do our catering and decorating. Our caterer is only charging us a little over $2,000 for a huge buffet and full service by their staff. We are decorating ourselves and have saved so much money by paying for the stuff ourselves. I bought our tablecloths when they were on sale from the tableclothfactroy.com website. Our serve-ware for the wedding is coming from Amazon and our cups for drinks are coming from Costco. A lot of our decor I made and I did purchase a few things but everything looks amazing.

For our bar, we are going through Total Wine to stock it ourselves. They have a coordinator for you to sit down with at their store and they will go over how much alcohol they think you will need for your guests. They also give you discounts when you buy in bulk and you can return any unopened bottles after the wedding.

Daughter visited 10 (yep...ten...) venues when she was looking. She set up a spreadsheet and then entered the cost of everything for each (some were 100% inclusive, some semi-inclusive, some nothing was included) to make sure she was doing an "apples-to-apples" cost comparison because all the venues priced things differently on paper. When she was done, NINE of the ten were all within a $1500 range (not a lot compared with the relative total cost). The ONLY one that was outside the range was at least $2500 more than the next highest and it was the least inclusive. Once she figured all that out, it was clear the costs were so consistent that they weren't really an issue to consider in making a choice, so she went with the venue she absolutely LOVED and had always known was what she wanted (SIL didn't care -- if she was happy, he was happy... ). It's been a year and as far as they are concerned, their wedding was perfect. I'd be very thorough in figuring out the true costs of your options, because the venues don't always make it easy and sometimes doing everything yourself is both more expensive and a LOT more work to coordinate. Good luck! (Once you figure out venue, it gets a lot easier! )

Like Karen said, it's a catch 22. The DIY route is possibly cheaper, but it is SO much more stressful. Not necessarily for you, but for everyone else who has to help you. My Brother and SIL got married last summer and we spend 12 hours the day before decorating, putting up tables, scooping ice cream, putting up signs, making spaces more wedding-ish. It was EXHAUSTING. My side of the family came in from out of town and had to bring speakers, a keyboard, food, their outfits...etc. You get the idea. Not having a venue that provided anything, was a lot. I'm sure they stayed inside their budget, but they were relying on a ton of people to be in the right place at the right time. A bit of a logistical nightmare.

When we got engaged a few months later, my FH and I decided that going with a venue that had a lot of what we needed (caterer, tables, chairs, linens, day-of coordinator, tent, lights, bathrooms...) was critical. We are getting married in NY and live in MI so everyone has to travel. I didn't want my family running around the day before trying to make sure things were in order. I still hired outside vendors (baker, florist, DJ, photographer, salon) but my list of vendors I have to coordinate is short. It will make the day of, much easier. I don't want to get to Jamaica the next day completely burnt out. I want to enjoy the day and know that my family is enjoying it too.

So, you just have to decide how important your sanity and time are worth financially. I'm sure you'll make the right choice for you in the end. Every couple and wedding are different.

View Quoted Comment Do you think it would be worth it to invest in a wedding planner if I do it the DIY way?

View Quoted Comment

I think wedding planners are personal preference. My FH and I decided not to hire one because I felt like we could do everything ourselves. I'm an extremely organized person and love interacting with people so I loved calling and emailing all of our vendors. If you don't mind calling/emailing people, I'd say you'd be fine to do it on your own without a wedding planner. The only thing I will caution you on is that you will have to do a lot of research to find the best deals if you have a specific budget in mind. Often times wedding planners have vendors that they work with on a regular basis so it's easy for them to connect you with vendors in your price range. If you don't mind doing the research, you'll be fine. My FH and I are getting married in 46 days and we have no regrets with our decision not to hire one.