You’ve found it! Your perfect wedding venue!
It has absolutely everything you want and you can’t wait to book it! But hold on a minute – before you sign on the dotted line, can you afford it?
I’m going to show you a very simple way to do some quick calculations before you get your heart set on a wedding venue that isn’t within your budget range. Even if you hate doing math – here’s some simple ways to figure it out in a matter of seconds.
To illustrate the main points I want to make, I have created a few chalkboard images that will probably cause anxiety and stress as far as your budget goes – but don’t worry, I’m not going to leave you hanging. I’ll wrap up this article with a few thoughts for you and a resource you can take advantage of!
Here goes!
Considering that between 47% and 50% of your entire budget will go towards your venue costs which include: rental fees; food; beverages and gratuities AND which may or may not include audio visual items; parking; coat check; storage space and linens – this is a huge expense.
In order to look more closely at your budget allowances we’ll start here.
If you have a $10,000 budget figure in mind, for the sake of simplicity we’ll assume 50% venue costs and 50% for other items wedding related expenses like the photographer, videographer, DJ or band, transportation, flowers, decorations and the cake.
Here are two calculations based on a $10,000 budget.
Number One: $10,000 budget and 100 guests.
Number Two: $10,000 budget and 150 guests.
Keep in mind that this budget number MUST include all food and beverage charges as well as any added gratuities!
I’ve done the same thing with a $5,000 budget.
Number Three: $5,000 budget and 100 guests.
Number Four: $5,000 budget and 150 guests.
Okay – what does this do for you? Well, for one thing you’ll be able to determine very easily whether or not a venue is within your price range. If their starting meal prices exceed your total food and beverage budget you’ll need to keep looking for other option or seriously revisit your guest numbers; your budget or look at other ways to cut your costs.
There are some additional options to consider. You may want to look at off peak times of the year (anything from November – April); off peak days of the week (anything but Saturday); taking your entire event outside of a city environment (think cute country settings); format your wedding day around brunch, lunch or cocktails (move away from a seated dinner) or involve a lot of your family and friends to help make or supply food items.
Helping YOU get from “I Will” to “I Do”!
Lori x
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