Tres Belle Weddings & Events Blog

Everyone knows that planning a wedding can be challenging and stressful, but an even greater challenge is paying for a wedding. Below, there are a few tips from some planners on a few ways to save some money when you choose a full-service hotel as your reception venue. If you still need some help with a tight budget and planning your wedding, feel free to contact our site. Our event planners know how to work with your budget to try and get you what you dream of having for your wedding day.

• Time of reception. Most hotels tend to book receptions from noon to 5:00pm of from 6:00pm to midnight. An extra charge may be charged, if your reception time over laps these two time segments. In order to save some money, you should plan your reception in one of the two time segments. To help you save even more money, we suggest you plan your reception in the earlier time slot.
• Date of reception. The date of your wedding will have a significant factor on the cost of your reception and your wedding in general. The peak wedding months are April, May, June, July, September, and October. During these peak months hotels will typically not negotiate any prices and many will require a minimum budget to reserve the venue space. During other months of the year, hotels are typically more willing to negotiate pricing for brides.
• Selecting your menu. The most budget friendly menu option is typically a sit-down meal, when compared to a buffet, heavy hors d’oeuvres or a station reception. Most brides think that the cocktail hors d’oeuvres hour will be the least expensive, but typically it turns out to be the other way around. You need more food per person which tends to drive costs up.
• Let them drink. One of the biggest factor that impacts your wedding budget is the type of bar you have at your reception. A bar for a full reception can equal or even be more expensive than the cost of your meal. Many hotels offer an “open bar” price package. This package is based on the cost per person per hour of your reception instead of how much alcohol is consumed. The great thing about this option is that this is a fixed costs to factor into your budget. Brides like to think that just serving beer, wine and soda will save them money. This is not the case. Many people will drink more beer and wine rather than mixed drinks. If you are questioning the open bar, you can close the bar during dinner and then open it again after the meal. By doing it this way, you will have the bar stocked more for when the most of your guests will head to the bar.

Written by:

Barbara Frazier

Assistant Planner and Coordinator|Barbara@TresBelleBeauty.com