Comparing Wedding Venue Pricing – What To Look For

Gorgeous photo of our ceremony area taken by Molly Quill Photography!

​Let’s face it, weddings can be expensive, and venue pricing styles differ greatly, making it hard to compare. When putting together your wedding venue budget, here are some things to look out for.
 
Service fees: Most venues tack on a 17-22 percent fee on top of the rental fee. Often this is disclosed only in fine print, or couples aren’t made aware of the fee until they are presented with a contract. Ask during your tour what the service fee is! (P.S. – Barn at Bradstreet Farm doesn’t have one!)
 
Add-ons: Often, venues price individual components of a rental separately, drawing you in with a relatively inexpensive entry-level rental fee, which quickly climbs as you add things that you thought were included. For instance, the base rental fee may include only the barn, and then there are separate charges for use of the field, or the dressing suite, or the ceremony area. They may upsell you on features like tables, linens, chairs, lighting, setup, breakdown, cleaning, parking staff, or décor. Ask for a list of what’s included, and what the typical total rental fee is for clients.
 
Food and beverage minimums: Most venues impose a food and beverage minimum for events – it can be a dollar amount, or it can be a minimum number of people. If your guest count is on the smaller side (under 150), you may end up paying for more people than you’ve invited. Ask what the food and beverage minimum is before you tour, to make sure you understand the total potential cost.
 
Bar fees and alcohol: Bar fees and alcohol costs can add up quickly, particularly if you’re doing a consumption bar (where you are charged per drink, often the retail cost – which can be $8-10+ per drink). Look for a venue where you have flexibility on what goes on the bar, and where you can source alcohol inexpensively. (It also helps if you serve beer, wine, champagne and signature drinks rather than having a full bar – this is common, and a great way to keep your bar costs down.)
 
At Barn at Bradstreet Farm, we have no service or administrative fees. Everything we have here is included – ceremony fee, indoor and outdoor spaces, bartending, décor, tables, chairs, linens, lawn games, outdoor fire pits and furniture, whiskey barrel tables, dressing suites and more. Our caterer Woodland Catering has no food or beverage minimums, and we have partnered with Kappy’s On Call for bar items – clients pay Kappy’s retail prices and can choose exactly what goes on their bar.
 
All of this means our total cost is often lower than neighboring venues at the end of the day. To learn more, email us at [email protected].