Finding Cheap Wedding Venues: For a Wedding on a Budget

Normally we try to avoid the word “cheap”. We’ll say we want an inexpensive venue. Or we want to be practical, thrifty, sensible. We want to stick to our budget! All true. But what it really comes down to: if you’re on a budget, you need a cheap wedding venue. The real trick is finding one that doesn’t look cheap. If you want a great wedding without spending a ton, try some of these ideas when you’re looking for an affordable wedding venue.

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The biggest expense when you’re planning your wedding is the venue and the food. The type of food you’ll be able to serve depends on the venue you choose. Some venues have in house catering that you need to use. Other venues have a list of required vendors for weddings. Only certain vendors are allowed to work in that venue and you’ll need to hire one of them.

If you’re planning to do DIY, ask a lot of questions before you sign your wedding venue contract. If you’re planning to save money by decorating the venue yourself, make sure to ask the wedding co-ordinator about their policies. Some will let you DIY to your heart’s content. Other wedding venues have strict insurance and won’t allow anyone except their recommended vendors to work on site.

If you’re thinking about self catering your wedding, make sure the wedding venue allows it. Some will only allow professional caterers with insurance policies of their own.

How Much Do Wedding Venues Cost?

Some venues charge a room rental fee and some don’t. When there’s no rental fee, you’ll usually have to sign a contract for in house catering. Traditional wedding venues, like ballrooms or banquet halls usually don’t charge rental fees.

But you will need to pay for a meal package and a bar package from their catering service. When you’re starting to look at venues, make sure to do the math before you sign the contract.

If you’re required to use in-house catering, they usually have minimum requirements for weddings. That means you’ll have to pay for a certain amount of guests or spend a minimum amount of money. The minimum is usually 100 to 125 guests or a dollar amount that starts around $12,000.

If you book a venue that charges a rental fee, you’ll be able to invite as many guests as you like. As well, you’re free to hire any wedding vendors you like. If you can shop around for your caterer, paying a rental fee for your weddings venue could end up being less expensive than all inclusive wedding venues.

How Much Should You Spend On a Wedding Venue?

Ideally, 40% of your wedding costs will go to your venue rental and catering costs. What type of venue and food depends on the size of your budget. If you’ve got a smaller budget, you’ll need to serve less expensive food as well as having an affordable venue. Start by thinking about the total amount you want to spend on your wedding.

If Your Budget is $20,000

Plan to spend $8,000 on your venue and food.
With 100 guests, you’ll be able to spend $80 per person (including tax and gratuities).
If your venue has a room rental fee, you’ll need to spend less per person.
If you can’t find a caterer for dinner on Saturday, consider moving your wedding to Thursday, Friday or Sunday for lower prices.

If Your Budget is $10,000

Plan to spend $4,000 on your venue and food.
If you invite 100 guests, you’ll spend $40 per person.
Plan a different or unique meal, like a taco bar, burger bar or afternoon brunch in order to lower your costs.
If you can’t find a caterer, consider hiring amateurs or doing DIY.

If Your Budget is $7,000

Plan to spend $2,800 on your venue and food.
With 100 guests, you’ll be able to spend $28 per person.
If you can’t find a catered dinner in this range, consider planning a cocktail party with appetizers instead.

If Your Budget is $2,500

Plan to spend $1,000 on your venue and food.
If you invite 100 guests, plan to spend $10 per person.
A great option for this range is a desserts only, or cake and punch reception.

Comparing Venue Costs For an Affordable Wedding

When you start to look at wedding venues, it’s hard to tell which one is the best price. Different venues set up their pricing in different ways. They may offer a free room rental for weddings, but the catering will cost more. Or they might have required vendors that could be out of your range.

When you’re trying to compare wedding venues prices, you’ll need to look at the whole picture. Add up the room rental fee, plus the catering costs. Then estimate how much you’ll need to spend for any required vendors. Once you have a total price for the wedding venues you’ll be able to compare them and decide which one you’ll be able to afford.

How Much Will In House Catering Cost?

If the wedding venues offer in house catering, you won’t have much wiggle room if you need to save money. With an in house caterer, the price is the price and you need to pick one of their packages. One way to save is by hosting a cocktail party instead of a full dinner. Serving cocktails and appetizers can be a lot cheaper. You’ll save on food costs and serving costs by offering this style of service. But before you decide on this route, be sure to check if the catering contract has a minimum dollar amount or number of guests written into it.

Depending on where you live, prices may be higher or lower than average. Average costs for a meal package is $70. Plus an average bar package is $20. If your venue minimum is 100 guests, you can do some quick math: your base price for catering will be $9,000. If that fits your budget - great! If the base price is close to how much you want to spend, make sure you include all the extras before you make your final decision.

As well as the meal and bar package, your caterer might also charge for a cocktail hour, corkage fees, slicing fees, set up or delivery fees, plus gratuities and sales tax. Once you find a caterer that’s in your price range, ask for an estimate or quote to see the final cost.

Questions to Ask When You’re Considering a Venue

Remember to get all the details before you sign the wedding venues contract. If your on site wedding planner agrees to any changes or substitutions, make sure it gets written in. There’s usually a year or more before your wedding date. What if the planner forgets? Or the planner could quit all together and you’ll be assigned a new one. Whatever is written in the contract will apply to your wedding.

When you first start looking at wedding venues, make sure they fit your guest list and your budget:

Is your wedding date available?
How many guests will fit in the room?
If you need a ceremony venue, is one available?
What are the prices for the meal and bar packages?
How much extra is a cocktail hour?
Is there a minimum number of guests?
Is there minimum spending requirement?
Do they have a required vendors list?

Finding a Cheap Wedding Venue Near Me

When you’re trying to find local wedding venues, the first place to look for is on the big wedding websites. They usually have lots of pictures, details and reviews of local wedding venues. But if you don’t find one that fits your budget, don’t get discouraged. Those aren’t all the wedding venues in your area - those are the ones that decided to advertise on that site.

There’s actually a lot more affordable wedding venues near you. But you might need to really search for them. If you’re not spending a lot, you might need to get creative and consider booking a non traditional wedding venue.

You don’t actually need a place that’s specifically called “wedding venue” in order to have your wedding there. You can have your wedding anywhere that people get together. When you’re looking for wedding venue ideas, instead of searching for a “wedding venue” look at some other types of spaces, like meeting halls, clubs or community centers.

How to Find an Affordable Wedding Venue

Google the name of your city and look for your civic website. Once you’re on your local site, look for links called “services for residents” or “facilities for rent”. Depending on where you live, you’ll find places that can be great wedding venue options, like nature centers, botanical gardens and historical homes. You can find some beautiful event spaces at great prices. And they usually don’t restrict your wedding vendors, so you can shop around for the best prices on all your services.

What Are Some Affordable Wedding Venues?

Start by thinking about your personal style when you’re considering the options for wedding venues. If you’re an outdoorsy couple, you might like a beach or park location for your wedding. If your style is modern, think about indoor wedding venues, like a brewery or museum wedding.

If you want to get creative, you can use your imagination to come up with different sites. Think about places you like to go and things you like to do. If there’s a local spot you love, like a restaurant, a hiking trail or a park consider if there’s space to hold weddings.

Outdoor Spots For Weddings:

State Park
Nature Preserve
Local Beach
Botanical Gardens
Campground
Local Park with a Terrace or Gazebo
Apple Orchard
Greenhouse

Modern Style Wedding Spots:

Wine Bar
Brewery
Restaurant
College or University
Theater
Nightclub

Vintage or Boho Wedding Styles:

Community Center
Church Hall
School House
Library
Legion Hall
Knights of Columbus Hall
Lions Club
Kiwanis Club
Coffee Shop

Elegant Spaces For Weddings:

Historical Home
Bed & breakfast
Private club
Air BnB

Rustic Locations For Weddings:

Cottage
Farm
Ranch
Barn

Add Up Your Weddings Rental Costs

Once you find a wedding venue that you like, make sure to check what’s included in the price. If you need to add rentals make sure to include it in your wedding budget. If you’re booking an outdoor wedding venue, make sure there’s a weather plan.

That could mean renting a tent, heaters or fans. A venue could seem cheap at first, but if you have to pay for tables, chairs and napkins, the total will add up fast.

If your venue doesn’t include it, you may need to rent for your wedding:

Tent
Portable Heaters
Portable Air Conditioners
Tables and Chairs
Tablecloths and Napkins
Dishes and Utensils
Serving Dishes
Microphones and Speakers
Portable Bar
Dance Floor

Affordable Wedding Venues for Your Ceremony

When you’re planning an affordable wedding, remember you’ll need to find a venue for your wedding ceremony as well as your reception.

If you want to plan a traditional wedding ceremony, at your place of worship, check their prices first. Sometimes they cost a little more than you’d expect. If it’s important to you, make sure to put that expense into your wedding budget before anything else.

If you’re not getting married at a place of worship, you’ve got a lot of other options for your ceremony. You can choose to have your ceremony at a local park or beach, then move to an indoor wedding venue for your wedding reception.

Some cities have dedicated wedding chapels for ceremonies only. A wedding chapel is usually non-denominational, so you can have the type of ceremony that suits you. The chapel will be set up and decorated ahead of time, so you don’t need to worry about the planning or expense. If your city has a wedding chapel, it’s a great way to plan an affordable ceremony.

If you’d like to keep your wedding simple, you can have your ceremony the same place as your reception. It’ll save time and expenses. You won’t need to pay for two separate spaces. Plus, you’ll save on transportation and wedding decoration costs. Check with your reception venue to see if they have space and request the prices.

City Hall Ceremony With Restaurant Reception

Another option is to pick up a marriage license and head to city hall for your wedding ceremony. The prices vary, depending on where you live. Typically, a city hall wedding starts at $60. This is a great choice if you want to have a smaller, more private ceremony. Once you’re married you can plan any type of reception, at any location.

If you don’t want to put together a whole wedding with catering and decor on your own, a great option for a planning a small wedding is a local restaurant. If you don’t like being the center of attention, a restaurant wedding reception is a fantastic option. There’s no room for dancing and no one will expect speeches.

Lots of restaurants have private rooms for 25 to 50 people. You can select a set menu ahead of time and host a fabulous wedding dinner for a fraction of the cost of a banquet hall.

Tips for Finding Affordable Wedding Venues

If you can’t find an inexpensive room or hall, consider booking your wedding for the off season. Sometimes you’ll find a wedding venue that will offer a discount or waive minimums if you get married in the winter instead of the spring or summer.
The most popular, and most expensive day for a wedding is Saturday. If you can’t find affordable venues on the weekend, think about hosting your wedding on a weekday instead.
You’ll be able to save money on your venue, and you might get discounts on all your services, including your wedding photographer, your officiant and your DJ.

Choose a More Affordable Meal Service

If you can’t afford a traditional Saturday night dinner, there’s other options you can choose if you’re looking for cheap wedding food:

Breakfast or brunch is a bargain when you’re hiring a wedding caterer. They can serve a fantastic breakfast for a fraction of the cost of dinner. Plus, you don’t need a full bar. You’ll save a ton of money on alcohol. Best of all - no one expects to drink on Sunday morning, so you won’t get the side-eye from any of your guests.
Think about having a cocktail party wedding. If you want a night time party, with dancing and drinks, a cocktail party is a great way to stay on budget. You can offer a full bar or beer and wine.
For the lowest costs, consider a desserts only reception or a cake and punch wedding.

Self Cater Your Menu

If you’ve got a wedding venue that doesn’t have in house or required caterers, think about doing DIY for your wedding menu. You’ll need to be organized and have lots of help from your family and friends. But if you can pull it off, you can save a ton of money.

If you’re a great cook, you can make the entire meal from scratch.
If you’re not great in the kitchen, or don’t have enough help, you can plan a semi DIY for your wedding meal.
You can find a local restaurant or deli that you like and order catering trays. Most will deliver it to your venue for you. You’ll just need to have it set up on the buffet on your wedding day.

Use Your Own Property as a Venue for Your Wedding

The most inexpensive wedding venue of all - your own property! Lots of couples host their weddings at home or on family property. If you’ve got enough space, you can plan a backyard wedding ceremony and reception.

You’ll save on rental fees, plus you’ll be able to shop around for the best prices on vendors. If you want to do DIY, you won’t have to worry about sticking to a venue’s schedule for set up and clean up times.

Consider planning your wedding:

In your homes backyard.
At a family home or cottage.
In the community room in your condo building.

Whether you call it inexpensive, thrifty or cheap - if you’re willing to get creative, you can find loads of fantastic wedding venues. Keep searching until you find the that fits your budget and your style. Take your time choosing and you’re sure to find the one that’s perfect for you.