Wedding Reception Forum

Reception fees??

My fiancé and I have been looking for venues in the VA beach area. We found one that we love but have found that there are SO many fees that add up. The main one being a 21% event management fee. Is this normal? Have other brides come across this type of fee at such a large percentage?

Re: Reception fees??

  • My fiancé and I have been looking for venues in the VA beach area. We found one that we love but have found that there are SO many fees that add up. The main one being a 21% event management fee. Is this normal? Have other brides come across this type of fee at such a large percentage?
    It depends, what kind of venue are you looking at? I do think some fees are pretty standard (service charges, day of coordinator fee, etc. ) and others are often wrapped up into the price of the venue. I do think the service charge on my package was 20% so that doesn't seem so crazy to me. 
  • Yeah those fees are very common. 
  • The venue at one point was a restaurant but now is only used for event space. There is a staffing fee which makes total sense to me, rental fee, taxes etc., but it was the event management fee that was interesting to me since I am not really sure that anything like a day of cordinator would be included in that. 
  • The venue at one point was a restaurant but now is only used for event space. There is a staffing fee which makes total sense to me, rental fee, taxes etc., but it was the event management fee that was interesting to me since I am not really sure that anything like a day of cordinator would be included in that. 
    You definitely can ask what the fee is for, but just be prepared that it might not be negotiable. They should explain all the fees and charges to you so you know what you're paying for, but they might be standard fees you can't opt out of. 
  • I would ask what it includes. And 21% of what? The space cost or everything (food, booze, rental upcharges etc.)? Then figure out how much 21% will be (ballpark) and decide if it’s worth it.

    in my experience, this cost is usually baked into the venue cost (so a flat fee vs a percent). As a percent, this could get outrageously expensive depending on the cost of the wedding.
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  • The event manager was very important at our daughter's wedding.  She coordinated everything and spent hours with DD making plans.  Our costs were broken down to the following:
    Use of building and ballroom (country club)
    Management costs
    Food and drink
    Buffet servers and bar tenders
    Taxes and fees (ouch!)
    Included tips for staff

    Tablecloths and decorations were included.  Parking was free and easy.  They actually threw in a few extras that we didn't pay for.  It was a very good experience because we knew what we would be paying for.  Everything was in the contract.
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  • Venues all list their prices differently--you need to talk to them to see exactly what is/is not included so you can compare it with other prices. When we were looking at venues we found a huge difference in the top-line numbers we were quoted, but when you dug into all the details they were really all very comparable based on what was/was not included. 
  • My fiancé and I have been looking for venues in the VA beach area. We found one that we love but have found that there are SO many fees that add up. The main one being a 21% event management fee. Is this normal? Have other brides come across this type of fee at such a large percentage?

    Every venue I looked at had a 23% service fee and a 8.75% tax - though some gave their per head "including" that and some didn't include it in the per head.
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