All Inclusive or a la carte?

sahex · July 2011

Hello all!

I've been snooping around this board for a while, but finally decided to post. We are still in early stages. Currently thinking October 2012 or March 2013 or even later if things just aren't coming together in time.

Both of us are in law school (I'm going to be a 2L this fall and he'll be a 1L even though he's 5 years older. ha!) So we are trying to get a head start on planning by looking at venues this month.

Our budget for reception/ceremony (including tax and service) is around $10K but could go MAX $15K. This is for 100-125 guests.

Right now, we are butting heads about the type of place we should be looking for and sort of looking at a mixture.

I like modern/unique venues and we have a good friend who is a caterer but a lot of them are really expensive or have exclusive catering agreements. There are a few I think could work but...

My fiance wants a traditional place like a banquet hall with everything included. One place with all the standard trimmings.

So far we have appointments set up to view the Downtown Club and the National Museum of American Jewish History (however we don't keep kosher and my guess is that it'll be too inconvenient/expensive to work around kosher catering).

But this is less of a "what venue" question than a should we do all-in-one (convenient) or a la carte (potentially more interesting)?

p.s. its ok if you agree with my fiance...i love him too

Thanks!!

jelybeancg · July 2011

Hello & welcome! I am an attorney and my suggestion is to not get married when either of you are taking the bar exam. I know several people for whom that did not work out. March would probably be your best bet if you do get married the year you take the bar exam.

That being said I am getting married at The Down Town Club this March. Even with the incentives they give you for March it might be hard to do it for under $15K on a Saturday night. I know they discount Fridays and Sundays more than the discount for having it in March. But they are great. Kelly is very nice and helpful. We have not had our tasting yet but I do hear great things about the food.

So I guess I agree with your fiance. I priced out doing everything seperately vs. a package and the package was by far the winner. When you are thinking about a la carte in your head there are a ton of things they actually nickle & dime you for that you are not even aware of. And I don't think you have to choose interesting over convenience. I think The Down Town Club is both interesting / unique and super convenient. They seriously give you a lot and good quality. Their alcohol is all top shelf. Your guests get free parking. In center city that is unheard of. Sorry to have to side against you

Hope this helps! Good luck! Any questions about the DTC let me know.

lauren123455 · July 2011

Congrats and welcome! I'll second the above statements. I'm also a lawyer, and several of my friends were in the planning stages during bar prep, and it got to be pretty stressful for them. (I was stressedhaving to go to the shower two weekends before the bar, and that was my only inconvenience!) A friend of mine got married October of 3L year, and that worked well for her. But I think March of 3L would be even better....you don't do as much 3L year, so you'll have more time to plan!

As for the all incluive vs not, I tend to agree wiht all inclusive, just so you know what you're getting. Friends who have done the a la cart said that it unexpectedly added up, to the point where they could have gone somewhere nicer and all inclusive for a lesser price. But I didn't look into any a la carte stuff, so I don't know how accurate that info is!

rachelk456 · July 2011

<-- not a lawyer

I agree though about the all inclusive. One thing I loved about my venue is that there weren't any hidden charges. And I wouldn't worry at all about it being less unique if you do a package. There are still soo many options in terms of food, linens etc. that it really doen't make a difference.

[Deleted User] · July 2011

I had an all inclusve as well. Our venue was really flexible and we created our own package, we came up with the menu with the venue, brought in things like the candy bar and such and made it our own.

I think as long as you don't have a venue which does not allow any thing to chage from their program you can have an amazing wedding at an all inclusive.

We live in London and there was NO WAY we could have done a la carte. It was hard enough dealing with the vendors we had, my parents met with photogs and chose.

RecoveringActor · July 2011

I also agree with all-inclusive. There can be hidden charges with a la carte venues. But also because you're on a limited budget... don't forget to include tax. A lot of the time, when a venue says "our price is $xx per person" that price does not include tax or gratuity. It varies by state/venue, but my venue (which was in Delaware, so I didn't have the 6% sales tax) added 21% for gratuity.

All Inclusive or a la carte?

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