Welcome week three (3) of our seven-week series on Weddings on a budget! This Saturday-morning series is written by Rebecca Grant owner of New Creations Wedding Design & Coordination, one of Seattle’s Premiere Wedding Coordinators. She’s filled with a wealth of information and she’s a good friend of mine – so I know you’re in good hands.
If you’re joining us late, don’t miss our first week when we discussed Wedding Invitations on a Budget and Wedding Flowers on a Budget.
This week we will be covering everything you might want to consider when planning for wedding venues!
We’re almost halfway through our seven-week series on getting married on a budget, and this week we’re tackling a big topic – VENUES. In fact, it’s so big, and there’s so much information to share that we are devoting this week and next to cover this topic.
Your venue can often determine the size, style and feel of your wedding day. Whether it be from a hotel to a barn to anything in-between, there are ways to cut costs when you begin looking for you perfect wedding venue.
Here are some tips and tricks to saving money for your venue on your wedding day:
Chose an off-peak wedding season
Obviously here in Seattle, we are fairly limited to the seasons if you want that full-sunshine, outdoor wedding. However, if you are willing to take a gamble, or looking at having your entire wedding and reception indoors, you will get a lot more bang for your buck. Consider having your wedding from mid-September to mid-April. This is a general range where most venues would consider your wedding to be off-peak. Because you are picking a date that is less popular than the masses, and the venue would rather book that day then lose any potential business, they offer you substantial discounts for booking with them during that time.
You never know, even if you are looking for that outdoor venue, you could be pleasantly surprised by lucking out and having a beautiful, warm, sunny day in the middle of April. It has happened. 🙂
Pick any day but Saturday!
We are all very well aware that Saturday is the most popular days for weddings. So are venues. They significantly mark up the food and beverage minimums along with the room rental fee for Saturday weddings. Picking a non-traditional day such as a Friday or Sunday will save you a significant amount of money for your wedding. Venues tend to drop down their food and beverage minimums by at least 50% when picking an off-peak day. They will drop it down even more if you can swing a mid-week wedding. Destination wedding in the San Juan Islands anyone? Look at making it a vacation for your friends and family as well by planning a mid-week wedding and having everyone stay in a B&B for the week.
Again, consider what is most popular, and do the opposite. I cannot stress enough how much venues would just rather have the date booked than lose money by not having any event booked.
Consider having a morning wedding
Opting for a morning brunch instead of a formal evening dinner is another great option for keeping money in your pocket for your wedding day. Not only will the venue offer your room at a discounted rate, they will also more than likely not commit you to any food and beverage minimum, as your menu will generally be of lighter fare, therefore you don’t have to provide as much of it. The other great perk for having a morning wedding is you can get onto your honeymoon faster. 🙂
Generally speaking, morning weddings are much more casual, just having a smaller ceremony and reception with light brunch foods and great conversation. Dancing is generally not done. Allowing for a much shorter timeline allows you and your new husband to scoot out early and have the rest of the afternoon and evening together. It also requires less photography coverage saving you a bundle!
Pick a venue that fits your guest count
One of the common mistakes that many brides make is to fall in love with a venue that is way too large for your guest count. Keep your venue scaled to your head count. Paying for a larger venue than what is needed is a huge waste of money. The venue cannot rent out other parts of the building because technically it is just reserved for you. This creates a tremendous amount of wasted space and wasted money for square footage that was not used.
Choose a non-traditional venue
Take a look around your community and see what it may have to offer. Is there a community center or a park that may be able to accommodate the style and guest count of your wedding? Using a non-traditional venue is a great way to save money for your wedding. Look away from the popular hotel or country club weddings, as well as away from the big city. The outskirts offer some amazing venues on beautiful property at MUCH cheaper rates. Here in Washington, there are hundreds of beautiful venues located up north in Arlington, Snohomish, and down south in Des Moines, Sumner, and Puyallup. Getting even 15-20 minutes away from the city will save you significantly in the pocket book.
Shop the wedding shows
One of the largest vendors to have booths at wedding shows are venues. They are hoping to capture your attention with their beautiful decor and amazing views. If you have your sights set on one of these venues that you know will be at the show, do not hesitate to ask for a same-day booking discount. Do play it smart. Attend on the less-popular day (typically a Sunday if the show goes over the weekend), and wait till the end of the show when minimal people are at this booth so they can’t overhear you negotiating. By this point, venues have seen thousands of brides, they’re tired, and looking to have something to show for their time and money spent at the show. Decide between you and your fiancé who is the better negotiator, and go for it! Be kind and respectful saying something like, ‘I love your venue, and my fiancé and I have been looking at having our wedding here for awhile, but it’s just a bit too far out of our price range.’ Then move into something like, ‘I would be willing to sign a contract today if you could drop the price by X amount of dollars.’ Have 2 or 3 venues that you are seriously interested in booking with, so if one says no, you won’t be devastated and give in. Instead you can just move onto the next venue. One is guaranteed to say yes.
Check back next Saturday when we will be covering:
- Cash Talks!
- The Pro’s and Con’s of using a private home
- Benefits of bringing in your own caterer
- Cut your menu- Full meal vs Heavy Appetizers
- Saving money on your alcohol
- Looking at public parks
Again, please pop on over to New Creations Facebook page to leave your comments and tips!
How did you save on a venue (or venues) for your wedding? Do you have questions or suggestions about flowers? You can leave a comment on this post or contact Rebecca through her New Creations Wedding Design & Coordination Facebook page and I definitely recommend following her Wedding Pinterest boards – they are amazing!
If you’re joining us late, don’t miss our our previous posts: Wedding Invitations on a Budget and Wedding Flowers on a Budget.
About Rebecca
Rebecca Grant is owner of New Creations Wedding Design & Coordination. She has been in the wedding business over eight years now, beginning her career in Honolulu, Hawaii, then moving back home to Seattle and launching her business Seattle Wedding Planning business in November 2009. She’s now one of Seattle’s premiere wedding planners. Because of her experience in Hawaii, her specialty is working with Asia-Pacific Brides; specifically, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hawaiian and Samoan weddings, however, she also does work a good portion of the time with traditional Western couples. Rebecca would love to help you with your wedding.
Learn more about Rebecca and what she has to offer at New Creations Website! And seriously, check out her Pinterest boards – amazing ideas!
As you are planning your wedding, don’t forget to sign up for your registry! Most stores offer registries and many have online options, making gift giving easier for out of town guests.
These are a few of our favorites:
Amazon Wedding Registry. With an Amazon Wedding Registry you get:
– 10% off most products on Amazon for a savings up to $100
– The World’s largest selection of items – register for all the items you both want.
– Plus keep track of what you want from anywhere. Add items from other websites to your Wedding Registry with the universal button.
Target Wedding Registry. Some of the great perks of a Target Wedding Registry:
– One year after your event date to return or exchange items from your Registry
– Easy to share with friends and family
– 15% coupon for items remaining on your registry.
Hailey says
I absolutely love the idea of a morning/brunch wedding! We are starting to plan our small, low key, intimate wedding and doing so on an extreme budget is going to be the goal. Doughnut wedding cake anyone!? 🙂