Grr...I need to vent...
We are getting married in about a month and a half at a lodge in the Canadian Rockies. After lots of searching around, we found a place that was beautiful and would be just the type of wedding we wanted. The fee for the venue is $2000. For this we get an outdoor ceremony space (or indoor if weather doesn't cooperate), a barn for the reception and reception tables (a limited number, but will be enough for our modest guest list), and use of the space for the whole weekend (we have the lodge rooms and cabins booked for our guests). We have to bring in our own caterer, liquor, bartender, rent chairs, basically everything to fill the empty spaces. We knew all of that upon signing the contract. We thought the rental fee was a bit high, but expected that because of the location.
As we get closer to the date and we are finalized more details all of these extra costs keep popping up. Examples: Seating for the outdoor ceremony - I had been asking about it lots, size, how many, how we could cover them... then casually the vendor mentions while we were visiting that they are $2.50 per seat to rent. Future in-laws are hosting a welcome BBQ for everyone on the Friday night - we had lots of questions about equipment we could use... several months later I ask about propane, yep, there's a $25.00 fee to use the bbq. We get no assistance for the day of setting up or coordinating without an added fee. I asked about borrowing a small table from the dining room for a sweetheart table for FI and I... sure, but it'll cost $25.00 to bringing it from the dining room across the yard to the barn! (When we were visiting in March they said we could use one of those tables for signing the registry.. now I'm wondering if there is a fee associated with that too).
I get that they are running a business, and I get that they don't need to be helpful to us for our wedding. My biggest issue is that none of these extras were outlined in the contract, and I have asked countless questions about these things with no mention of associated costs.
Am I being unreasonable in my expectations? Do you think we are getting a bad deal, or does this sound about on par for venue costs?
ps: just to further my suspicions that they are stingy people, they used to charge $25.00 extra per day to use the second bathroom in a 2-bedroom cabin! I was not impressed when FMIL told me she'd read that online... thankfully they don't do that anymore!