General Wedding Reception Question

kaysee26 · September 2014

I am looking to see which way is the best and most affordable way about finding a venue for my wedding reception.

A) Country club or any type of wedding venue that has all the bells and whistles such as catering, linens, bar, flowers, etc. Basically one stop shop.

OR

Rent an empty barn and hire a caterer, rent tables/chairs, linens, decorations etc.

Which do you think would be the best route to go while trying to save money?

jenna8984 · September 2014

I looked into both of these options and found that they were very similar in price. Renting tables, chairs, linens, etc were a tad bit less expensive than a venue but not once you factor in the time and stress it puts on YOU to organize it all. To me if was worth the extra say 10% cost to just show up and not be the one dealing with it.

Don't forget to look at restaurants, not just "wedding venues". There are tons near me that have private rooms and allow a DJ and cost half as much as country clubs.

Maggie0829 · September 2014

Depends on how much work you want to do.

Do you want to organize every last detail down to picking out the silverware? If so, then go with the blank canvas. Or do you only want to worry about the large details such as what food you are going to eat and what colors you are going to use? If that is more up your alley then go with the all inclusive option.

emmyg65 · September 2014

It really depends. We did the blank space (backyard) and it was way cheaper than most traditional venues because we chose a really inexpensive caterer. But it was a ton of work to coordinate everything and manage set-up and breakdown.

kvruns · September 2014

I agree with the others that factoring in the "cost" of what it would take you to plan/coordinate/set-up/clean-up from the barn is important in deciding between the two. I would also add that there are big differences between venues, so an inexpensive country club or hall that requires a specific caterer and bar can easily drive the price up. You could end up with an expensive barn wedding just the same as an inexpensive traditional venue depending on how you do it. Research, run the numbers, and then let that guide you.

Not to mention what "vibe" you want. To me a banquet hall is different from a country club which is different from a barn so picking the feel of the wedding should be factored in too.

CMGragain · September 2014

If money is the most important thing for you, don't go with the all inclusive. Be prepared to spend a lot of time and energy planning and making it all happen. Do not expect your wedding party to help you on this. It is not their responsibility, it is yours.

If time and convenience is the most important thing to you, the all inclusive is perfect. I helped plan my daughter's reception. We had four days together to finalize it because I live 2000 miles away, and I was paying for it. The country club venue was PERFECT! She got everything she wanted, and all I had to do was to write the check. We looked at many venues before deciding, and since it was to be a church wedding, location and distance from the church was an important factor.

It all depends on what is most important for you.

koriemo · September 2014

I think it's much more difficult to organize everything yourself. It is potentially more expensive as well. Unless you have connections to get "deals", then it isn't worth it.

Our venue just comes with tables and chairs, but it's free. It's worth it for us to handle all of the details ourselves.

beethery · September 2014

kaysee26 said:

I am looking to see which way is the best and most affordable way about finding a venue for my wedding reception.
A) Country club or any type of wedding venue that has all the bells and whistles such as catering, linens, bar, flowers, etc. Basically one stop shop.
OR
Rent an empty barn and hire a caterer, rent tables/chairs, linens, decorations etc.
Which do you think would be the best route to go while trying to save money?

I considered both options. After getting quotes from LOTS of all-in-one places and LOTS of vendors and figuring out rental costs for places where I'd be wrangling all the vendors, I did a LOT of math, and we decided on what the plan was going to be.

That's the only way you're going to be able to figure this out. Get numbers from everybody, make cost comparisons, and go from there.

southernbelle0915 · September 2014

Maggie0829 said:

Depends on how much work you want to do.

Do you want to organize every last detail down to picking out the silverware? If so, then go with the blank canvas. Or do you only want to worry about the large details such as what food you are going to eat and what colors you are going to use? If that is more up your alley then go with the all inclusive option.

Exactly this.

I don't think the costs will be too different between a country club and an a la carte wedding, so I think it boils down to how much control you want to have/work you want to do. One of the huge benefits of a "one stop shop" type place is that the services of an event coordinator are usually included.

lyndausvi · September 2014

I went the blank slate route. It was far from cheap. We had a coordinator. Glad we did. So many things to think of. We had to rent salt-n-pepper shakers, tables, chairs and even extension cords. Crazy.

Would do it again, but it's a lot of work. Lots of little things you do not think of. Trash cans, tables for busing tables. Things most people do not think about needing.

holyguacamole79 · September 2014

My husband & I did the option A approach. My sister did option B. She had more say in the linens and flatware, but I wasn't concerned about that. My priority was low-maintenance.

If I had to do it again, I would go with Option A in a heartbeat, but that's just me.

[Deleted User] · September 2014

I think you need to price both items out. Once you're priced out all the details . Things to keep in mind with the barn idea

Parking for your guests (field versus paved parking at other option)
Bathrooms, if barn doesn't have proper restrooms facilities, you will need to rent
Decorations (if you rent the barn, will you have to spend the day before or possibly the morning of your wedding setting up the barn compared to what will you have to do if anything at country club)
Clean up - if you rent the barn, who has to clean up the barn?

I wills say that having a one stop shopping option is great. My venue did my linens, set up centerpieces & cake was included. It reduces my stress a lot. But a barn allows you to be a little more creative with decorations & show your creative side a little more. You need to way the cost & pros & cons of both types of locations.

julielux · September 2014

My fiancé and I are going the blank canvas route but we choose a more expensive caterer because good food is very important to us. We're probably paying about the same as an all inclusive place with not as good food and it is a lot of extra work.

graciegra · September 2014

I am kind of assembling everything on my own but purposefully am chosing a caterer that does coordinate almost everything. My caterer is doing my linens/tables/rentals, giving suggestions for a DJ, coordinating the wedding cake from a bakery (unless we just have caterer make small desserts), and doing day of coordination including set up and timing the on-site ceremony.

I could have also had them actually do the flowers but I already knew someone I wanted to do that (and their flowers would be fine but not the style I would have wanted.) And they would have recommended photographers but I had already researched that as well.

That said, I could have found a country club to do this all for what is probably comparable. I just loved a venue that is more of a blank slate type place. And I could have saved on a caterer but am making sure they can handle more than just the actual food prep/serving aspect.

Esther Morales · October 2014

Doing it in a venue is more impressive and less work. If you are a DIY'er, then that would help -- you can cut costs on flowers, invites, favors, extra table decor (like making your own runners or doilies). Besides, they have a lot of great photo backgrounds and you will feel like a star. Also, many of them give you options - just a champagne toast - beer and wine only (instead of a full bar) and you have a choice of buffet or sit down. The liquor is what really determines the cost - which usually alone, starts at about $15 and goes up to about $40 or more for top shelf.

An earlier event, say 12Noon-5PM is always cheaper (and a full bar is unnecessary) or a Thursday night usually saves you up to 40% off the weekend prices.

Viczaesar · October 2014

Esther Morales said:

Doing it in a venue is more impressive and less work. If you are a DIY'er, then that would help -- you can cut costs on flowers, invites, favors, extra table decor (like making your own runners or doilies). Besides, they have a lot of great photo backgrounds and you will feel like a star. Also, many of them give you options - just a champagne toast - beer and wine only (instead of a full bar) and you have a choice of buffet or sit down. The liquor is what really determines the cost - which usually alone, starts at about $15 and goes up to about $40 or more for top shelf. This is an international board. The price of liquor (and everything else) is dependent on where the person is located.

An earlier event, say 12Noon-5PM is always cheaper (and a full bar is unnecessary) or a Thursday night usually saves you up to 40% off the weekend prices.

A full bar is always unnecessary. Providing alcohol is never required. Just provide what you can afford and don't have a cash bar.

jenijoyk · October 2014

Before getting engaged we had our heart set on a DIY venue. But when we actually started looking into it it just became so incredibly overwhelming. We didn't ultimately go with an all-inclusive venue, but a middle-of-the-road one. We still get to pick things, but their list of preferred vendors all work together like a well-oiled machine. I STILL spend a ridiculous amount of time on wedding crap, but if we had gone with the blank slate venue I have no idea how it would have gotten done.

Also after paying for all the labor we would have had to hire (waiting, busing, washing plates, setting out center pieces, etc.), I'm sure it would not have been that much cheaper.

oxfordcomma14 · October 2014

It also depends on what you want. Our wedding was almost completely DIY, but since we didn't do a lot of decor and had an afternoon wedding without dancing or alcohol, it was much much cheaper than any all inclusive place. If we'd wanted major centerpieces, a full meal, DJ, etc it would have been a better deal to go all inclusive, but we didn't want to pay for things we weren't going to care about.

kaysee26 · October 2014

Thank you all so much for the advice! I think the entire empty rental barn would be a lot of work, as you all stated. I do want to make my reception venue my own, but not down the salt and pepper shakers. We have a few more venues to look at, but I am definitely loving the venues that have the wedding planner included in the price!

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