Wedding costs

dh961182

Hello everyone,
I am located in the suburbs of Chicago and am currently planning a wedding with about 270 guests. My Fiance and I really fell in love with a barn venue( i found this place about a year before we got engaged and have been in love with it ever since) that was a little bit more expensive than other golf clubs we looked at. We both decided we would either want a barn wedding or country club wedding but after looking at a few country clubs the barn is our favorite it just seems like the cost of renting the facility is what makes it more expensive. Either way I am running into around the same number of over 30K no matter what venues we looked at with that number and I just don't know what to do. Ive looked into some banquet halls around us and although they are a little bit more affordable, neither one of us really cares for them we both agreed that if we are spending and big amount of money we want to be happy with the place we choose. I am just torn on what to do we both want the barn but we also know that it is slightly more expensive than other places we looked at and i am just wondering is that about average for a wedding with that big of a guest count I've asked around and it seems people with around 150 guest spent almost 20k on the venue, food and alcohol. Any suggestions or insight would be greatly appreciated

ILoveBeachMusic

DD got married in Chicago. We hired a wedding planner who told us the "average" cost of a wedding in the area for 175 people was $50-70,000!(that includes everything though not just the venue, food and alcohol) We managed to keep costs under that average but it wasn't easy. I think  for 270 guests, 30K is pretty good.

thisismynickname2

Chicago native here. It's hard to compare even around here- city/suburbs. We spent between $20-$25k and invited over 80 guests (final tally about 69). But, that's because venue, food, and bar were most important to us. We cut back in lots of other areas, for example, no centerpieces, fake flower bouquets, and my dress was like $350. 
I know other people who have done the banquet hall thing for anywhere between 200-400 people and spent $20-$30k. 

If this venue is really important to you, and 270 guests isn't negotiable, think about where else you can cut back. Simple DIY invitations, minimal decor, disposable flatware rather than renting silver, etc. Don't send Save the Dates, consider a limited bar (beer/wine) rather than full bar, DJ instead of live band, no string quartet during the ceremony. 
As long as you have a meal appropriate to the time of day, a butt for every seat, edit: seat for every butt, lol, good bathroom facilities, and air temperature regulation (just thinking about barns- might be stuffy in the summer!)- in other words, focus on guest comfort- you'll be fine. 

STARMOON44

Yeah, the number sounds right, even on the low side. 270 is a huge number of people to feed. 

stefuhknee

I agree that 30K doesn't sound bad at all for 270 guests. We are looking at 15k for 75 guests. 

dh961182

ok this makes me feel like the pricing isn't crazy thank you all so much!