Wedding Hive Podcast
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Wedding Hive Podcast
Venue Shopping: Your Wallet's Survival Guide
Wedding venues come with hefty price tags for good reason - covering essential services like climate control, landscaping, and maintenance that benefit your big day. We tackle a listener's question about finding affordable venue options while explaining why DIY alternatives often end up being more expensive and stressful than couples anticipate.
• Set your venue budget before touring to avoid falling in love with spaces you can't afford
• Look for hidden costs like required vendor lists, outside vendor fees, and setup charges
• Consider flexible dates - weekdays and off-peak seasons offer significant savings
• Limit your venue search to 5-7 options maximum to avoid decision paralysis
• Ask about discounts for military, teachers, first responders, or off-peak dates
• Don't be afraid to negotiate pricing or payment schedules with potential venues
• Consider guest convenience factors like travel and accommodation when selecting locations
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Hey Queens, welcome back to another episode of the Daily Buzz. Kelsey and Grace are here today and we are answering one of our listeners' questions. So a listener sent in a question and it says help pick a venue. They are so expensive. First and foremost, we completely understand where you are coming from. Venues are not cheap. When you are looking at venues and you're looking at costs, keep in mind it is not just the cost to rob brides and grooms. These are also costs that are, you know, to keep the air conditioner on, keep the landscaping going, things that are going to serve you on your wedding day, and that is why venues are expensive. Also, another piece is a lot of people, especially post COVID, decided to do, you know, backyard weddings, or they'd have a friend with property and so they would get the big tents, lights, tables, chairs, all of that come in. And let me tell you I've spoken to so many people from firsthand experience that said it was so expensive and there was so much work that went into it that they regret not going the venue route. So if you are having questions on budgeting, we did an episode I believe it's episode two on budgeting that Grace Knight did. Go, take a listen to that. That will give you some tips in the savings planning and that overall budget piece.
Speaker 1:So, getting into your question in a little more detail, the first thing I would suggest is set your venue budget before touring so you can decide on the max you can spend on the venue before falling in love with a space and you can't afford it. This helps avoid that heartbreak and wasting your time. Don't forget to factor in things like rental fees if they have a required vendor list. Some venues make you use their experienced and internal vendor lists and if you choose to go outside of that, what do they charge? Some venues do charge you if you are bringing in your own vendors. You want to look at if there's any hidden fees and if there's any setup or teardown fees. Another thing I would suggest is to be flexible with your date. Saturdays are always the most expensive. Fridays and Sundays typically come in next. Also, weekday weddings are usually the more affordable ones. And then look at your on-peak and off-peak dates. Grace, when you were doing your venue shopping, were you dead set on your wedding date, or how did that go for you?
Speaker 2:For me. We kind of went and maybe it's backwards we picked the venue and then we chose a date, you know. We decided, you know, okay, this is the one, and then we just kind of sat down. It's hot in Arizona, so you know, of course, no summer, I hate the winter, so I didn't want it to be cold and then so we kind of just set on a September date. It was about 85 degrees that day, so it was nice and warm, but not too bad.
Speaker 2:But I think too, when picking your venue just like we've talked about really budget and what is the most ideal for you, and if you think about it too, picking a venue, I kind of also felt like I wanted to consider my guests as well. Are they going to have to travel there? Are they going to have to pay for hotel rooms? Is that something you're going to want to pay for? If you're getting married, you know, if you're the bride, getting your hair and makeup done, those are things that usually you know, vendors pay, yes, for travel fees. So I think also to don't look at too many venues. I don't know how you think about that, but I think once you look at too many, then you would just forget and they collide. It's almost like picking your wedding dress looking at too many, and then you know it's just like well, this had this and it's just too much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree. I think when looking at venues, picking your venue should be more than the norm. Usually I tell clients we're not going to look for more than three quotes for whatever section it is. So we will look at three florists, three videographers, three photographers. We'll collect those and we will go from those three. Three is kind of my happy number. Uh, we'll see what's out there, what they have available, and we can get an idea of what that budgeting looks like. Venues I would say probably five, no more than seven. When I talk to couples who have done like 15, I that's insane, absolutely panic, because I'm like do you at that point, like, have you even like, how do you? A, how do you keep all of them straight? B, how do you remember the emotions that went into each of those venues? Um, and I mean 15, what are you? What are you looking for?
Speaker 2:Like, that's like at that point I feel like you're wanting every single aspect to be perfect. Or it's like oh well, I don't, you know, like the bathrooms here, and it's just like. Then, if you look at that money, that's when you get way too nitpicky and then it's just going to ruin your day, in my opinion.
Speaker 1:Yep, I completely agree. Some things when you're looking at your venue, see if they have any like packaging, any discounts, things like military discount, first responder discounts, if they have discounts on peak dates or, you know, like off peak season, teacher discounts, I'm trying to think and also find out if they have a flexible payment schedule. You want to make sure that you don't have to pay all of that money upfront and what that payment process looks like. So last thing I would say is don't be afraid to negotiate. Ask if you are able to negotiate any of the prices, if there's anything that you are able to do to help lower those costs. I don't know, maybe you have a large Instagram following and you will do some promoting for them, or I don't know. I think that's like the biggest one that I can think of. But talk through negotiating. You know venues should be people first and not um chasing the dollar. But who knows, it is tough. So good luck as you pick your venue and that is your daily buzz.