Why do weddings cost so darn much these days?! It’s hard these days to know why you are paying so much for your wedding. I get that. One of the main costs for a wedding is the wedding venue. I typically use a breakdown of 20% the overall wedding budget to go towards the wedding venue.

According to Wedding Wire the average ceremony and reception wedding venues cost is around $6,000 with couples typically paying anywhere from $3,000 to $11,000 for their venue. 

So here’s the question: Why do Wedding Venues Cost So Much?! 

You could say it’s because it’s the wedding world and wedding vendors get to charge whatever they gosh-darn want to these days. Unfortunately, that is the easy way out. Wedding Venues, like any other businesses, have expenses that they have to cover and you are helping to pay that price. Here is a breakdown of the costs that wedding venues have to cover in order to stay alive:

Personnel Costs

Most venues have at least 2 full time salaried workers and 2-3 part time employees. If your venue is well known or has more than 50 weddings a year, it would be safe to say that they have probably double that personnel. 

These are the people that are responding to you, answering all your questions and that of every other couple that is looking at the venue. They are the ones that are taking you for tours and the ones that are setting up the venue for your wedding. 

While most of these people are part time and typically hourly, there are employees that require health insurance and benefits. So their wages and the cost of their benefits like health care, dental, retirement, sick days, etc. have to be taken into account by the venue owner when deciding price.

Rent or Mortgage

Surprise! Just like us a venue has to pay to stay in a place. If they don’t, then someone, whether that’s the bank or the Rental Group depending on where they are located. They also have to pay for the insurance and any Association fees that may be associated. 

Utilities

If there are lights, bathrooms, central heating or cooling, or a place to throw away your trash at the end of the night, you’d best bet there are utilities fees! Just like us, businesses are required to pay the utilities companies for anything used like electric, water, sewage, internet, trash, etc. 

Advertisement and Marketing

How did you find out about the venue? Was it referred to you? Find it on Google? What about on the Knot, Wedding Wire, Eventective, Wedding Venue Map, EventSlayer, WedSpot, or so many more. Very few venues are able to get away without having any advertising or marketing costs. Those papers that they gave you to hold, those cost money. The website you found it on, that was definitely paid for. Did you get a pamphlet, folder or business card? You guessed it- those all cost money. Money that your wedding costs are going towards.  

Software and Business Expenses

Have you ever thought about how the venue knows who has signed contracts  or how they know when your wedding is so that they don’t over book? Well, most pay for a system of some sorts and sometimes multiple systems so that they can keep track of everything. They also have to pay lawyers to draft the initial contracts. Get business license. Have an accountant because it’s next to impossible to do your own business taxes without one. You have to pay for the website maintenance, email accounts (those aren’t free for businesses), and so much more!

Maintenance

What happens when a guest accidentally pulls a handle off the door, or swings the door too hard it makes a dent or whole in the wall? What about scratches on the wall from drunk guests falling over every night. There is always maintenance that goes into keeping a venue in top condition for every couple. And while not every wedding will cause damage, over time things need to be replaced or make new so that it doesn’t start looking run down. 

Venues also have to make sure that they pay for additional cleaning at the end of the wedding or before the next event or tour. Could you imagine not having a clean venue for your wedding?! That’d be horrible! So they may have a wedding ending at 2:00 am and the next event coming in at 8 am. They need to have cleaners come in at an ungodly hour to get that taken care of, and late/ super early morning cleanings come at a premium. 

Tax and Loans

Taxes and Loans are also on the venue’s mind. It’s not easy to start a venue. It requires a lot of capital. And while overtime they will make up the money to pay off their debt, venues have to keep it in mind when breaking down their venue prices. Taxes are a recurring thing, while big businesses get hefty write offs according to the news. Your poor hometown venue isn’t large enough to make that a possibility so they end up paying taxes like the rest of us tend to put those taxes directly onto you.

While this list is not all inclusive of everything that contributes to the wedding venue costs. I thought it might be helpful for you to know in order to understand where a wedding venue, or really any wedding vendor, comes from when setting their price. They need to first and foremost cover the costs above so that they can stay in business for all the weddings to come. And while your individual wedding won’t cover everything listed above, your money is going into each category with a little put into profit (hey it’s a business!)

Looking for more information on what to look for in your venue check out this blog!