Why do venues cost so much?

Because without a venue you're looking at flooring, tents for rain, bringing in power, electric, all vendors, parking, portapotties, usually a coordinator, need other places to get ready, etc etc. That's why.

From someone whose venue is a field and it f*cking sucks.

My best suggestion is to look at alternative venues. Banquet halls, parks, historical sights. Those have been the most affordable in my area because they are non-traditional wedding venues who do not constantly do weddings. Also try looking out of town.

Why? Insurance, taxes, maintenance of building and grounds, staff, utilities, etc., etc., etc., etc.

I was blown away by the cost of them too. Mine was $3000 and that was super cheap compared to most!

Mine is a historical site that is owned by a historical society, they have weddings there all the time. i would look for those. my rental fee was $1150 wich is super cheap for my area but i need to bring everything except chairs and tables in and i needed to rent a tent for cocktail hour which was another $400 with a discount

$3000 is a steal where I'm from.

Have you tried any community parks or community centers? They often have very beautiful sites for very inexpensive! =)

Early on in planning I decided I would not choose a venue that charged more than $1000 for us to simply use the space, especially if we had to pay for tables, chairs, linens, etc on top of that. I also compared costs by itemizing catering, rentals, etc. For the type of venue and party we wanted to have the best deal was to choose a venue with all inclusive catering, alcohol, and rentals. Look for a space like that for the best value, or think way outside the box and cut your guest list.

@Emily, supply and demand is why.

Lets break this down though. Your venue is expensive because the venue has to pay the staff (at least 75 people to pull off a wedding), they have to pay the electric bills, they have to pay the heating bills, cost of water, insurance, and building upkeep. They also have to make a profit.

A lot of affordable venues that are cheaper you have to rent linens, tables, and chairs. That adds up. Most of the time, the venue is cheaper.

NancyT hit the nail on the head. They have to pay their overhead first: Paying for the building, to maintain the building, taxes, insurance, utilities, landscaping, staffing, advertising. Then they have to make a profit, otherwise what is the point of being in business? My venue is an golf course that included a lot of the basics in our package (ceremony cite & set up, food, cake, bar tables/chairs/linen) and was pretty affordable. Look into venues that may be operated by your county/forest preserves. I found many things like that to be affordable in my area, and just because the venue is operated by the forest preserve doesn't mean you have to have your reception in a pavilion. At least in my area most of the forest preserves have very nice venues, even a couple of golf courses are operated by them and do multiple service included packages.

What Nancy said.

I did an historical site. Church and historic home together cost $1000 with a returnable $200 deposit. They set up the reception area, and will have two ladies on site to help out with vendors. They also remove or place out anything they offer for the chapel.

Also try parks, botanical gardens, museums.

I'm from Indianapolis also is 13,000 just for ceremony? Also there are many places around that doesn't even have a rental fee where have you looked where are you looking or want to stay? We went downtown and for venues we spent 950 for ceremony and only had to meet the minimum for the reception, which means no room rental only had to meet the food and beverage minimum. If you want to look where we went I'll let you know!

I just love that people come on here like "We're paying for our wedding entirely by ourselves" like we are supposed to feel sorry for them. You should be paying for your wedding by yourselves. Its YOUR wedding. Have the wedding you can afford, push back the date, save money, cut your guest list, find alternative spaces like community centers, and that's all I got. Good luck.

3 grand is not that much over here...

FH and I had sticker shock when we started looking too. At the beginning, we were like, we can do this wedding in the bay area for 10K easily! ... Um no. It was a rude awakening. Yes, you can do a smaller budget wedding, but it means sacrificing something, and we just weren't willing to compromise that much. Does the 3K get you anything besides a space to host your event? Tables, chairs, etc?

How about in your backyard or the backyard of a friend's house? Those weddings are very romantic and you're surrounded by your loved ones without the (possible) institutional feeling. Community centers (each city has one here), fraternal lodges (you'd really have to look at those to see how updated they are). Buffets are cheaper than handserved. Caterers that come with venues are not inexpensive. Try to use your own caterer, drop off or even taco cart which is very popular here. Hire some staff to serve from the buffet, buss, and clean up.

I am just a few hours north of you in South Bend and I am newly engaged as well and was blown away by the prices of some of these venues. I also am looking at spending about 3,000. I had no idea venues cost this much until I started doing my research and boy was I blown away. If I want to spend less everything else around here looks like crap or has to many restrictions and negative things about them so I feel your pain I guess this is something I'm going to have to "splurge" on.

Venues cost so much because vendors know they can charge more for a wedding because of the market.

Well if it makes you feel better 3K for a venue is pretty unheard of here in CA. Our venue alone is over 16k ... super ridiculous!! It is not extravagant neither, just an old school house/vintage garden in San Diego, but thats San Diego for ya!