Congratulations! If you’re reading this, you must be searching for your wedding venue. Your wedding venue is usually one of the first things you’ll book, so it’s important you make a smart financial decision early on. This will also set you up for success later on so you don’t have to compromise when selecting your other vendors!
How much should my venue cost me?
The money you pay to your venue should be roughly 40 – 50% of your entire budget. The total amount should include most of the following. This list is most applicable if you’re choosing a hotel/banquet venue:
- The fee to rent the space(s) you will use
- Food
- Alcohol
- Serving staff
- House linens
- Dance floor
- Chairs
- Tables
- Serving ware
- Silverware
- Venue coordinator (not a wedding planner or a day of/month of coordinator you would hire yourself, rather someone to oversee venue related tasks on the day of)
- Cake cutting fees (if you’re having them cut and serve your cake)
- Parking (if you choose to pay for guest parking)
- Any additional gratuity, service charges, and/or taxes
For example, if you have an overall budget of $20,000, you want to aim to spend around $8,000 – $10,000 with your venue.
If you pick a blank space venue that does not come with much, the amount you pay the venue should be much lower than 40%, but then you will have to factor in additional costs for bringing in rentals like chairs, tables, linens, etc.
How do I know how much I’ll be spending?
Let’s do some math!
Let’s assume your venue includes all of these items below as part of the per head price and you have 100 guests:
- Serving staff
- House linens
- Dance floor
- Chairs
- Tables
- Serving ware
- Silverware
- Venue coordinator (not a wedding planner or a day of/month of coordinator you would hire yourself, rather someone to oversee venue related tasks on the day of)
Now, let’s say you pick the menu tier that is $35 a person, and the bar package for open bar for 3 hours that is an additional $20 a person. (P.S. if you’re looking for sneaky ways to reduce your bar tab, we dropped our best kept secrets here)
You choose to have cupcakes instead of serving a wedding cake so you can avoid cake cutting fees and parking is complimentary.
$50 + $20 = $70 per head so far, and they tell you the room rental fee is $1,200 for the ballroom.
Gratuity, service charges, and taxes
DISCLAIMER: Always ask if gratuity is included and/or added at the end! The service charge is often times not a tip for the waitstaff/bartenders so make sure you ask so you’re not surprised at the end.
Let’s assume they say service charge inclusive of gratuity is an additional 25%, and state tax is 7%.
DISCLAIMER: Always ask if the service charge and gratuity is applied to the room rental fee. In some counties it is only applied to the service portion of your bill, and not the flat rate room rental fee.
Let’s assume we’re in a state where service charge and state tax is applicable to everything.
$50 per head for food + $20 per head for open bar = $70 per head for food and beverage
Now, $70 x 80 guests = $5,600
Ready to add in the room rental fee?
$5,600 for food and beverage + $1,200 room rental fee = $6,800
Now, let’s add in the service charge and tax!
$6,800 x 1.25 (service charge) x 1.07 (tax) = $9,095
Going back to our original budget of $20,000, $9,095 is 45% of your budget so..you can afford your venue!
Food and Beverage Minimums
As you go through this math exercise, make sure you know what the food and beverage minimum is that your wedding venue requires you to meet. The room rental fee does not usually factor into helping you get to your minimum.
What this minimum means is, for example, if they tell you you have to meet an $8,000 food and beverage minimum, and you only spend $5,600, you are still contractually obligated to pay the full $8,000. If you love your wedding venue and need ways to meet the minimum, you could always order additional desserts or upgrade the bar, for example.
Hidden Fees
Even if you end up way under 40%, you should always ask if there’s any hidden fees you can expect after the wedding. Some common fees are coat check, room rental overage, room damage, and event insurance.
We know this can be A LOT, so if you’re feeling in over your head, you’re not alone. So many of our couples sign up for Salud as they’re trying to pick the right venue with the help of their virtual wedding planner. If we haven’t met you yet, click here to schedule a free consultation!
