Guides

The national median is around $20,000 – $25,000 on roughly 117 guests, which works out near $290 – $300 a head. Build the budget per guest rather than as a total, because guest count moves catering, bar, rentals, staffing and transport all at once. Cutting the list is the only lever that moves every line simultaneously.

The venue, at roughly $8,573 on average, followed by catering and bar at about $6,927. Together those two typically account for close to half of everything spent. Photography, flowers and attire follow well behind.

Twelve to eighteen months for a full-size wedding on a peak date. That is set by venue and planner availability rather than by how long the work takes. A smaller wedding, or one on a weekday or in the off-season, can be planned well inside six months.

Venue, then planner, then photographer, then catering if the venue does not supply it, then everything else. The venue sets the date and guest cap that everything downstream depends on, and the vendors who take only one booking a day go earliest.

Cut the guest list, move the date, or change the day of the week. Those three move the total more than every decor decision combined, and none of them are visible to the guests who do come. Trimming flowers and stationery feels productive and moves very little.

Vendor meals, service charge and tax on catering, overtime rates, guest transport, tips, alterations, the marriage licence fee and the welcome event nobody planned. Service charge and tax alone commonly add 25% or more to a catering quote, which is why a per-head figure quoted without them is not a real number.

A coordinator is enough if you have the time and the interest to plan it yourself and your venue is straightforward. A planner earns their fee on raw venues, guest counts above 150, multi-day formats and planning from another state. The honest test is whether you have roughly 200 spare hours.

About 117. Guest count is the single most powerful variable in a wedding budget, because almost every major line is priced per head. Twenty fewer guests usually saves more than any single vendor negotiation.

What is the fee by day and season, what does it include, is catering exclusive, what time does music stop, what is the rain plan at full seated capacity, and do you require a coordinator. Every one changes your total, and none of them appear in the photographs.

Usually, and almost always less work. A blank space with a low rental fee needs tables, chairs, linen, lighting, a kitchen, restrooms and staffing brought in, and those rentals routinely exceed the venue fee. Raw spaces make sense when you want a specific look and have a planner to run the build.