New Venue Search

shano06

..so if yu remember, a few weeks ago I had the venue issue with our venue having a hidden 29 tax and gratuity..which jacked it up past my venue budget. Then we had the place that is 45mins away and I was worried about my family not wanting to drive that far. A few of them said its far. Jerks Anyways..now I'm having thee hardest time trying to find a venue. I like places that are inclusive. Includes anything..open bar, Tablecloths, tables, chairs, centerpieces, something. Not just a space to rent. It was easy to find my first expensive venue, but if I go with that one I'm gonna have to cut a lot of cost elsewhere. With taxes it ended up being about 7580 for the place for 100 ppl..without food..but with open bar, tables, Tablecloths, dinnerware, chair covers and sashes, four appetizers for cocktail hour, cake cutting, and champagne toast..am I overreacting on the price.?? Do you think its a lot..remember that's without food.

mymissingpuzzlepiece

Mine ended up being $6200 after everything for 60 ppl. So if yours ended up being $7580 for 100 ppl, I'd say that is pretty good.

To look for venues, why don't you try the DC Area board? I'm sure they would be able to help.

ChefBride524

What is your budget? I'm sure you can find something that works. Almost $8,000 just to step into the space not including the entree seems, to me, to be rather expensive, but then again some people spend $30k on their weddings.

Also, what type of venue is this? It seems a bit nickel-and-dimed to price linens and everything separately from entrees. We've been engaged awhile I've seen lots of venues and have worked in the restaurant industry - from my own experience there's sometimes a room rental fee which includes all the linens, china, tables and chairs.

Then there's the entree fee (which is priced per person), and usually the entree price includes the salad or appetizer course too.

Hors d'oeuvres for cocktail hour are usually priced separately - priced per 25 or 50 pieces is normal but sometimes venues offer a "cocktail hour package" which is another per person price (like say $17 pp) which includes 4 or 5 selections.

Liquor is almost always priced separately as well, open bar sometimes based on consumption only (bartender keeps a tally and you get a bill afterwards for what was actually purchased) or another per person price (don't let them charge you for guests under 21).

Fees like cake cutting are normal as well, sometimes negotiable, but just read all the fine print. Most places also require a food or guest count minimum, also normal.

In my personal opinion, your venue might not be the deal of the century.  If I read what you shared correctly, it sounds like you're paying almost $8k for the room rental/set up, some passed hors d'oeuvres, and booze. I'm not sure Charlie Sheen could drink $8k worth of liquor in a five-hour reception!!! Hahahaha.

In my humble opinion, if this venue is a full service all-inclusive venue like you stated (like a country club or hotel) and they host lots of functions (or hosting functions is their sole business) and they have all the tables, chairs, linens, and a full kitchen and kitchen staff right in the building, there is zero need to itemize and charge separately for these things. At a full-service location like that, basic white linens, china, etc should be included in the entree prices. But seriously, $8k for booze and a room with tables in it? My entire final tally - including an on-site ceremony, a per person priced open bar, and a make-your-own ice cream sundae bar - is significantly less than that (at a country club).

Personally I agree with you about the ease of finding an all inclusive venue as opposed to just renting space and sourcing out every other vendor. For that I suggest looking at venues who do a lot of functions and have all the necessary things on-site - places like hotels, country clubs, and big restaurants.

Also, is May non-negotiable for you? I don't know the DC area but I'm up in Boston, MA and we're getting married a few minutes from Cape Cod and although I had my heart set on late summer (August), that's high wedding season in venues around here and our country club gave us a significant discount on everything from the per person entree price to the food minimum to host the wedding in their off-season (before May 31st). And a co-worker of mine got her dream venue at a historic hotel that she wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise except that they offered her a discount to have a January or February "winter wonderland" wedding. Maybe you could look into whether venues will offer you off-season discounts?

SSaltzman87

I'd ask your local board too about this. Compared to what venues here charge, it IS high- but I'm in the midwest ;-)

SRRL18

I think that pretty high. We will be paying a few hundrer more than you were quoted, for everything you said, plus a 5 course meal, candy buffet, and our cocktail hour isn't passed hors d'oeuvres but stations.