STOP CHARGING ME FOR STUFF!!!!!

raeah219

Im still in the process of finding a venue and it annoys me so badly how places just love to charge you for things. I just looked over a contract for a space that holds 200 guests. The first 10 tables and 80 chairs are "free" (they come with the price of the rental) Every additional table is $20. Why?! Its not like the venue only has 10 tables and I have to rent the additional ones from somewhere else. No, they have them, they just prefer to make me pay for them. If I'm not using them they will just be sitting in a storage room somewhere. WHY?! And they have a dance floor that is required to rent for an additional $225. If its not optional then just include it in the venue rental fee! UGHHHH!!!  Its so annoying....thanks for letting me vent ladies. 

kmmssg

20 dollars for a freaking chair!!  You need to look somewhere else!

raeah219

lol oops. Thats my bad. It was $20 for an additional table. Still annoying but not as bad as $20/chair

tammym1001

That is really annoying. When we booked our venue everything was included, but I kept asking him, what about this, what about that. He was like seriously every. single. thing. is included in that price. LOL I had talked to too many people that nickel and dime you to death.

raeah219

I need to find a place like that! @tammym1001

Inkdancer

I would be out of there so fast if they charged me for tables they already have. That is bananas.

Chipmunk415

@raeah, come to Tallahassee. My venue was 1500 plus tax. (price has since gone up, but still not by much). That price got me an outdoor ceremony venue with chair set up, an indoor backup, reception space with all needed tables and chairs, verandah space with tables and chairs, table linens, chair covers, glassware, silverware, plating, front hall for decoration, library for cardbox, and room to change into my gown on site. They charge separate for a dance floor, but it's only something like 200 bucks. I'll be posting my reviews of my vendors on my local board, but I will put a link to it on the Snarky Bride board where I've posted a rundown of my wedding, with photos to come soon.

raeah219

Thats such a great deal! Since I have you here I had a question for you. Did doing your own flowers stress you? Im thinking about using costco or sams and I saw where you said your flowers were beautiful which made me feel a lot better about it. @chipmunk415

HisGirlFriday13

We only looked at venues that included everything, for exactly that reason. 

The country club we ended up going with included as many tables and chairs as we wanted in the cost of our 'rental' (I use quotes because there was no rental fee -- we only had to pay for food and beverages); all silverware and serving utensils; any table linens the club already owned, although we could rent others, in other colours, from another vendor if we wanted to; any charger plates we wanted from the club's options; etc.

We paid for food and drink (water, tea, and coffee included in the per-person buffet fee), we paid for alcohol (limited open bar) and soda (unlimited options), and we paid a $4pp 'convenience fee' that included the valet parking service.

CaitlinGriffin

I like when you ask them how much it really is per person and they say like 70 then you ask about taxes and gratuity and its really like 120. I asked how much it really was not what is your bs price to draw people in, thanks for not answering my question the first time.

sarahufl

Chipmunk415 said:

@raeah, come to Tallahassee. My venue was 1500 plus tax. (price has since gone up, but still not by much). That price got me an outdoor ceremony venue with chair set up, an indoor backup, reception space with all needed tables and chairs, verandah space with tables and chairs, table linens, chair covers, glassware, silverware, plating, front hall for decoration, library for cardbox, and room to change into my gown on site. They charge separate for a dance floor, but it's only something like 200 bucks. I'll be posting my reviews of my vendors on my local board, but I will put a link to it on the Snarky Bride board where I've posted a rundown of my wedding, with photos to come soon.

Chipmunk415 lol, I apparently rented the most expensive reception site in Tallahassee......damn, giant families and needing space! I think we are paying 3200 for the site, all tables and chairs, security, dance floor, etc. We have to bring in our food/beverages/decor. I love the place, though. Sometimes I do look at other venues and have this pang of "why didn't we pick a cheaper place?!"

Chipmunk415

I did get my flowers through costco. I'm so glad I did! They were absolutely beautiful! The majority of the work was getting them into water and stabalized in the vases- that's what decorative stones are for. Over a week since my wedding, and my bouquet is still alive, despite not getting properly hydrated when I was out of town. There are a few dark yellow petals, and yes, the flowers are slowly wilting, but overall, it looks pretty good. PM me with your private email address, and I will send all of the photos I took when getting the flowers set up at home, along with the loose stems that I personally arranged for the aisle decorations (took me all of 2 hours max).

For what it's worth, my sister in law, who is an event/wedding planner in Chicago for a swanky restaurant nearly shit herself when I told her I'd gotten all the flowers via Costco for under 900.

jennyleigh16

Charging for additional tables and chairs that are already on site is ridiculous but in their defense the fee for the dance floor may be an installation fee. Speaking from experience of someone who has set up dance floors in banquet halls, not only is it time consuming, but it's really physically tough and a giant PITA. You're winded and your back is killing you by the end.

FiancB

I hate the nickel and diming so much and refused to consider any venue that did it. I've had to set up dance floors and it sucks but it's kind of a given when renting a venue for a wedding, therefore it should be included. 

Like Jebus people, isn't enough that I'm grossly overpaying for the food and paying a rental fee and automatically getting charged for a rather high gratuity? Kiss my ass. 

fluteplayer247

This makes me glad for my venue that was $400 with all the tables and chairs. I have to find a caterer and everything else myself but the cost is just for renting out the space.

Amyzen83

I hear you on that one! We ended up going with a venue that simply provided the space and the bar because if we have to pay for every little thing, I'd like to at least choose my own vendors thank you very much Wedding Industry!

edandy

raeah219 said:

Thats such a great deal! Since I have you here I had a question for you. Did doing your own flowers stress you? Im thinking about using costco or sams and I saw where you said your flowers were beautiful which made me feel a lot better about it. @chipmunk415

I've been in 3 weddings now where we had a bouquet making party the night before in the hotel room. Get a bottle of wine and some art supplies and have everyone arrange their own flowers. SO much cheaper and you really don't need art talent to make flowers look good. Just make sure you put them in a bucket of water so they don't wilt before the ceremony!

edandy

ANd one wedding got the flowers from sams, and they were lovely and cheap! You will probably get a few flowers that are crap, but you are basically buying in bulk so in the end who cares? lol!

suburbanstepmom

OP ... I am so on board with this.

My big frustration is flowers. I am on a tight-tight budget but really want real flowers at the wedding. I purchase fresh flowers regularly and while they aren't cheap they aren't outrageously expensive either. HOWEVER, as soon as you say "wedding" to a florist suddenly a bouquet of flowers you'd be buying for your dining room table has tripled in price because it'll be at a wedding reception.

WHAT. IS. UP. WITH. THAT??

edandy

MissMaeisbeforeJune said:

OP ... I am so on board with this.

My big frustration is flowers. I am on a tight-tight budget but really want real flowers at the wedding. I purchase fresh flowers regularly and while they aren't cheap they aren't outrageously expensive either. HOWEVER, as soon as you say "wedding" to a florist suddenly a bouquet of flowers you'd be buying for your dining room table has tripled in price because it'll be at a wedding reception.

WHAT. IS. UP. WITH. THAT??

*cough*samsclub*cough*costco*cough*