Don’t Be Venue Poor
What does it mean to be venue poor? To put it simply, it means that you’ve spent so much of your wedding budget on a venue that you don’t have enough money remaining to properly plan the rest of your wedding. Having the wedding you’ve been dreaming of? Not happening if you have invested too much on your venue. My dear engaged couple, you have unintentionally limited and compromised every element of your wedding spending plan. Listen, I understand the struggle. “But Kelly, all the percentages I have read online say you should spend 60% of your budget on the venue and catering.” It isn’t that easy. Here’s the truth. Planning your wedding spends based on percentages doesn’t make any sense if you are planning your wedding based on what the priorities are for you. No percentage model you can find on the internet factors what you actually want to experience on your wedding day.
Real life example: A mother and engaged couple called us recently to hire us for their wedding. They had already booked the venue (at $26,750). They loved this venue, it spoke to them and it was dreamy. I agreed, it was a great place for their vision and the number of people they were planning to invite to their wedding (100 guests). Then they told me their wedding budget was $60,000. Which meant that they had $33,250 remaining to plan the wedding with. Next, they told me that videography and the band were absolutely the top priorities for them as a couple and that catering was most important to their parents. Houston, we have a problem. Why? The venue they had contracted has non-negotiable requirements we need to bring in (power, lighting, parking, stage & tent, tables & chairs) that would easily total $19,000. So now they are down to $14,250 to cover everything they are envisioning. Could they accomplish the wedding with $14,250? Yes. Would it be the wedding they envisioned? Not by any stretch of the imagination. If you’ve done any amount of wedding research, you would know that catering, a planner, a band, a photographer, an officiant, floral & decor, a videographer, catering for 100, a baker, hair & makeup team, attire and rings, a stationer, and an officiant can not be had for $14,250.
The question becomes, “How could we fix this?” For the above example we could cut the guest list to 70, change the timing so that we wouldn’t need lighting in all of the planned spaces, have a friend officiate, skip the cake, nix the large wedding party and have a maid of honor and best man, go right from ceremony to the reception (no cocktail hour), digital invites instead of paper and then choose 2nd or 3rd choice band, photographer, videographer, and caterer. Based on price and not quality. Not cool. Not cool at all because now the wedding you envisioned is instead the one you settled for just to make sure we could get all the things. I call this the compromised wedding.
How do you avoid being venue poor? First, prioritize. Next, seek out what costs are for your priority items. Once you have those in place you’ll be in an educated spot to make good decisions moving forward. Be realistic about your venue options. Ask the venue sales manager for an actual estimate for your wedding and what amount the typical couple spends on their wedding there when all is said and done. You’ll likely hear “I don’t know.” This is because the venue doesn’t track this information. They’re typically only privy to their costs and not the rest of the spends. You’ve got 2 options.
Hire and get estimates from a wedding planner who has worked at the venue.
Do the research. Reach out to all the vendors and creative partners who you’re considering and ask them what an average spend is at that venue. Keep in mind that weddings with planners are typically going to be more cost efficient because they have the relationships and experience to know how to maximize your overall budget.
If you’re looking for more information on budgets and spending plans, have a listen to This vs. That Wedding Planning Podcast Season 2, Episode 5 Wedding Budget vs Spending Plan with Renee Sabo. If you’re ready to dig in and get the work done, we have the A to Z spending plan workbook available for you here.