$30,000 wedding?

Hi Katie,

We're in the same boat about not wanting to spend a lot of money. So we have booked a restaurant as our venue. It is beautiful & modern. Only decor we would need is little center pieces. This will be for 60 people and will be about $9,000 for food and drinks. Ceremony will be in the park (across the street from the venue) and it's along the Lakeshore in Toronto. We have booked both of their private rooms to be combined). Venue said bride and grooms in the past have done their first dance, etc. We're also thinking of doing the shoe game, something a little fun. Only thing we would be missing is the dancing, but that is ok. Amazing vibe when I went in!

Hey Katie!

I'm assuming or you mentioned that your venue will cover:
* venue room rental / ceremony fee
* food
* drinks
* DJ
* Decor
* officiant

However, Don't forget to budget in these things as part of your "wedding costs" that you may / may not recover... This way you don't overspend if you're trying to save up for your future home. Obviously a lot of these things are optional, but just wanted to make sure you're keeping track!:

* gratuities
* cake
* sweets table
* florals
* photography
* videography
* hair & makeup
* your dress / his attire
* marriage license / certificate
* airbnb (if needed)

Have you looked elsewhere as well, and that's the one you've got your heart set on?

I would say do what you are comfortable with! If you're really not comfortable spending that much, look for something else - but if you are OK with it and love it, go for it!
I am doing all of mine separately with a full wedding planner, and I think mine is going to end up being closer to $40,000 (had a $30k budget at the beginning but welp lol) for 150 people. By the time we are married we'd have been engaged for 3 years so the weekly amount really isn't that much.

That being said, if you are thinking of this or just going to city hall, maybe you could meet in the middle - scope out some more venues and vendors with lower prices, do some DIY, etc???

I would contact decor companies and get some quotes for things you want. my decor is 3000 and we have HUGE backdrops, candles and 200 people, guest table, welcome table, fire place decor stage decor as well and djs are around 2000 or less. so if you take off 5000 from your 30000 quote that would mean for 100 people thats 250 per person which is HORRIBLE. most halls are around 100-150 ppl for food and booze. i personally would find a another venue. remember venue is just a space its the decor that will change it all and make it look nice. keep that in mind.

I also couldn't fathom spending 30k on one day. We decided to spend that money on renovations of our first home together. So we're spending less than 10k on a reception for 85 people at a local bar/brewery that allows us to bring in our own caterer. There are cheaper options out there, but you have to hunt for them, and you have to do a little more work. I'm sure someone's suggested it, but would an AirBnB work for something you're looking for? A conservation area? A ski club during the summer? A flower farm? Local coffee shop?

We ended up spending pretty close to 30K, and our venue was all inclusive.

We basically had to come with an officiant, DJ and Photographer, and they did everything for us. Our venue did all the decorations (welcome table, cake table, seating, linens), bar, food, and afterglow. We saved a ton of money by not having to worry about booking things separately.

We got wicked pricing on our DJ and Photographer because they were preferred vendors of our venue. But weddings are expensive, and many vendors are fairly expensive unless you negotiate a price.

There are for sure ways that you can do it cheaper than that, but you have to really be cautious of what you are spending

It all depends on what you want. When we first started planning i was like NO WAY NO HOW, and we ended up spending about $25k.

We could go to city hall, do a restaurant etc. and have it be less money but we WANTED the venue and all the things.

We are spending $5000 and it includes it all for 60 people. We are getting married in a little chapel, having dinner done by a local resturant and reception at a Legion. Buffet meal, dj, photographer ect decorating will be minimal at best. That also includes our hair, make up and wedding clothes. Save all that money. Do you want the wedding or the marriage?

For 30k$ I would go over -all- the details with them to make sure it's what I wanted. What if they don't have any deco you like? Or the colors you like? What about food options? Open bar? There are a lot of things I'd look at before spending that kind of money and if I was going to say yes, it better have every. single. little. thing. I want.

Our wedding is around 20,000 for 100pp.

Are they offering you that price as an all-in or did you calculated that price based on adding up all the items they offered? What's "all in?" I assume the groom's clothes, the bridesmaids' dresses, your dress is not factored into that price. Can you lower that price by not taking all the frills?

Also, there's a huge difference between 80 vs 100 people so you should check those numbers.

You can look at "rustic" outdoor or barnyard type of venues for that backyard bbq vibe but whatever you save on food costs, you are paying for in other costs to the catering like servers bussing tables and serving you plates, all the cutlery and plating you need for the meal etc.

If you go the City Hall route, you need to factor in their seating limitations. Most civic centre weddings can hold around 20-40 people max. You also get a strict time limit, usually 30 mins to one hour. They're not meant to replace the grand church style ceremony in terms of body count. It's very much an in-and-out kind of process as there are a dozen other couples waiting in line for their turn. But if you choose to go with this route, you can probably find a nearby restaurant to host your wedding. Assuming $50 per person for an appetizer and entree, you're looking at just under $7K including tax and tip. That being said, I'm assuming something fancy here but I'm sure you can find restaurants that do three course prix-fixe for around $30. You can serve your wedding cake as dessert. Double that if you want to pay for your guests' drinks.