Wedding Blog

That’s normal charges for renting the venue. That’s great that they’re providing chairs. Some places don’t even offer that. If you don’t like the arch, you can always do something to make it pretty or look for an alternative setup on the site which my friend did using the trees instead of the arch.

We had our dj set up outside for the music and our harpist had her own portable speaker. Just make sure the ceremony site has outlets.

They can charge whatever you are willing to pay… because its A Wedding. You can try to bargain with them… if you have not already signed a contract. Or if you are seriously considering having the ceremony somewhere else. All these little details are part the package, part of what you should consider when you choose the venue. $1k sounds like a fairly standard ceremony fee, but I’ve seen a fair bit of variability in what all you get for paying the fee. Are you at least getting extra hours at the site?

i was able to negotiate free use of an indoor ceremony room with my venue (just chairs no decorations or aisle runner). they were going to charge $500 for the room. they don’t have a sound system, so i’m paying my DJ $150 to deal with that aspect. try to bargain with them if the contract isn’t signed yet.

mine was $500 with chairs, arches, table, and sound system.

I looked at places in California that were charging around $1500 for a site fee and all it included was chairs. So sorry but I would say that’s an average cost for a ceremony fee, and yes without a sound system.

My friend had an outdoor wedding and the charges that you had were almost the same as hers. The outdoor ceremony did not provide a sound system, so she hired a DJ would do both - the ceremony and the reception.

What do you mean $1000 extra? I’m assuming that you’re having the reception there and want to have the ceremony there as well. Do they do it for free if it’s inside? I guess it depends on how much you are paying total. If it’s 1000 for inside and another 1000 for outside, that’s a lot. But just 1000 isn’t so horrible. You could always do the ceremony somewhere else (public park nearby might rent out for less $$)

Anyway that 1000 doesn’t sound too bad, my reception site is charging $1100 (normally $900 but extra for a holiday weekend), and that is without any chairs ($4/chair on top of that).

mad bride, what city is your ceremony being held in? I’m paying $650 for my on-site, outdoor ceremony in Long Island, w/ furniture, sound system- even flowers! Though I supsect it’s because it’s primarily a wedding hall and they don’t want to deal with multiple wedding parties setting it up and taking it down multiple times in one day.
I’m actually surprised that other ppl have commented saying $1000 is average~ I was quoted $750 at other places, w/o decor, and I thought that was too much! =P

It all just depends on where you are, how nice the place is, things like that. I wouldn’t pay $1000, but I guess I’d consider it if I really wanted it. I woudln’t expect a sound system to be included, but I would think it should cost less to stand on their grass.

I am paying 1000 for the ceremony location even though I am also having the reception at the venue as well. The 1000 includes the chairs and a sound system (if you have 100+ people)

I’m paying $1000 additional to have my reception outside. This is because they will have to bring the 150+ chairs from the upstairs dining room and set them up outside and then bring them BACK upstairs while we’re at dinner so peeps can sit while the eat. I’m pretty sure I don’t get a soundsystem or an arch, but it’s still worth it. Plus if I just wanted to set up shop there on my own, between the city permit fee and renting all those chairs it might cost me $1k anyway.