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Average Cost per Person?

fivefootbeautiefivefootbeautie
in California-Orange County
I recently started working with a coordinator, and she is having my fiance and I cut down out guest list. She indicated that when total cost is considered (from the venue, to cake, food, dress, flowers, everything) the average cost per guest is $250 - $350. This number seems really high to me.

My parents have scrimped and saved to get give me $20,000, which we thought was going to be pleanty to have a fairly nice event, with 120-160 people. However, she is telling that with my budget, I can only have 80 GUESTS!

Does that sound right to everyone? I have not yet her the final contract, and I'm wondering if I should get a second opinion.
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Re: Average Cost per Person?

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    ghattasweddingghattaswedding member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I guess it depends on how fancy the rest of your wedding is.  That seems insane to me.  We are having about 100 and our budget is only $10K.  We are looking good so far!  If you are getting married at the Montage and having surf and turf for dinner, then maybe she's right! If you want more people, then just figure out where you can cut back in other areas!
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    WEEZIE918WEEZIE918
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Like pp said...I think it depends on what you are having.  That sounded high to me when I read your post, but I just divided my budget by the number of guests I'm inviting and my cost (which includes everything: venue, invitations, cake, dj, videographer, photographer, flowers, my dress and FI's tuxedo, my hair/makeup, wedding favors, gifts for BP, and the rehersal dinner) is about $175 per person.  Still a lot lower than your $250 quote.  I'd bet my friend, who is getting married this fall, will have a higher cost per person than I do, because I know the venue she is using is much more expensive than my venue.  If I recalculate my cost just using her venue price per person, that would increase my price per person to $240.  That's a big difference for just changing the location.

    Keep in mind that I am NOT using a coordinator so you need to factor in paying her for her time too.  Get a second opinion.  Is there a reason you need to have a coordinator?
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    ESB102ESB102 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    You definitely do not need to spend that much per person, though it is definitely easy to do. So much of it depends on the type of wedding you want to have and what your priorities are. For my fiance and I, we wanted a beautiful location that didn't need too many decorations, delicious food, and our friends. That being said, my dress is affordable and we aren't splurging on decorations. 

    If you and your fiance decide together what your priorities are (and therefore, where you will spend most of your money) you should be fine. Don't let a coordinator limit you. 
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    alicia8338alicia8338
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Location and the quality of everything definitely affects the cost! When I first started scouting for OC locations.....I found that 15-20k for a wedding....not including dress costs....invitations....flowers.....or cake....is actually still not enough. All I was looking for was a nice place that had home cooked style food in a garden like setting....I ended up finding a place very affordable that included everything but the dress for less than 12k but it's in Hemet but that's for 150 people. Unfortunately OC can be very expensive. I love our little bubble here, but it is definitely pricey! Depending on your style, beach/garden/vineyard, i don't see why you can't find one of those hidden jewels in OC that can be affordable....that can even provide someone on site to coordinate the day so you don't necessarily need the added cost of a planner. I follow a blog on facebook for my local area in OC and reached out to her for location ideas and got great feedback from her followers....so you might even consider reaching out to your local FB blogger for insight. ;-)
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    jenbatjenbat member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Like others said, it's really up to you.  We spend around $24k total, $16k of it to the caterer for food and rentals for 85 people.  We dropped another grand on booze, but had leftovers.  That was our number one priority and we were in the position to do spend this money.  

    The rest of the budget was worked around those numbers.  Our planner, photographer and dj were another $5500.  Our planner was a good chunk of our budget all things considered, but we saved almost her entire fee on the catering bill (yes, it could have been higher).

    My dress/shoes/bridesmaid dress/evening bag and other things were purchased on ebay (reem acra dress = $450).  I did my own flowers from fiftyflowers.com.  Our venue was on the Cal State fullerton campus and a little "off the grid" and not found when doing most wedding venue searches.  My mom got a masters degree there, so we paid for her to join the alumni association and got a discount.  

    I sucked it up and found candles at Wallmart and paper lanterns from the dollar bins at Michaels (I had to go to many stores to find these).  My creative-professional-husband did the stationary & paper goods.  We ordered envelopes online.  We didn't do favors and a bunch of other cr@p that I didn't think was necessary.  I sold said candles/lanterns/misc items on craigslist afterwards.  I made all my money back on those lanterns that took so darn long to find.

    My advice is to focus on the very most important thing - lots of friends, really good food or entertainment, the "perfect place" and work around that.  Then if your budget is "low", you're going to have to be willing to do the footwork to save money.  Don't just focus on "the bridal industry" to answer your needs and don't be afraid to use craigslist/ebay/discount stores to fill in what you need.

    If you're not willing to do the work to keep the budget low, then you're going to have to reduce the size of your guest list to meet your budget.
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    ayreshotelsayreshotels member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hello!

    It definitely depends on the venue --- I've seen many guests have their weddings at a smaller boutique hotels and have reception ceremony, etc for under $80 per person inclusive.

    Try local area hotels if you're not set on your venue... it seems rather high for what you're trying to accomplish.

    Good luck to you!
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    LisaChris2011LisaChris2011 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Seems awfully high to me..maybe because she is factoring in her fee?  Don't finalize a guest list UNTIL AFTER you've booked a venue.
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    dg0299dg0299
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I agree with the others...that seems a little pricey but it can make sense since it includes everything from catering to invitations, cake, your dress, flowers, etc. But that's only if you go with the common cost in each area. If you cut costs in other areas like not spend $1000 on cake and have a friend bake for you or do your own invitations then you can probably up your guest list a bit.

    Even though your coordinator is estimating that amount for 80 guests it doesn't mean that she won't work with you with whatever guest count/budget you decide on. Just let her know that you're willing to sacrifice in other areas so that you can have more of your loved ones present. In all honesty, if it's important to have more of your loved ones there then you'll be able to find ways to make it work. The details are important for sure but I prefer being able to have our friends and family around us on our wedding day.

    Good luck!
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    ellie_spoutzellie_spoutz
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    To me it sounds right for OC, at least if you're anywhere near the beach. We originally were going w/25k  budget and realized that wasn't gonna happen, but we wanted beachfront locations and plated meals,etc. so now were working on our new "budget", which is for 100-120 guests. lol. One place we looked at(the was in Costa Mesa, not by the beach) had a $23,000 minimum on food and beverage alone, which didn't include gratuity or anything. She said "if you can't eat it or drink it, it's not in that cost". She was a total B****. If you don't mind being more inland, I'm sure you can do it though.
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