Planning a Wedding Budget | The Venue’s Guide

Photo by Diana Coulter Photography.

There are a few questions we consistently get asked here at North Star Gatherings: “what’s your altitude?”, “is the venue really solar powered?” and “what should my wedding budget be?”

As fun as it is to design and style your wedding day (flowers! clothing! invitations! dance music!), pinning down a budget is the most important step in the entire process.

Here, we’ll say it again: pinning down your budget is the most important step in the wedding planning process.

Confirming your wedding budget will save time and a lot of unnecessary stress that should never be a part of wedding planning. At North Star Gatherings, because our capacity is 170 guests, we strongly recommend a budget of $35,000 or more.

Disclaimer: These numbers are suggestions, and can fluctuate greatly depending on guest count, decor, and overall wedding style

30%-40% of Budget - The Venue & Decor

Roughly 30% of your total budget will be spend on the cost of the venue and your decor. In some venues (like ours!), the rental price includes tables and chairs. Some venues do not include these items, and charge per item for couples to add them to the venue rental. Be sure to ask, and include tables and chairs in your “venue” price calculation!

Decor can get expensive depending on how much you want to design and create according to your wedding theme, so this can easily increase your budget dramatically. Remember that every vendor you book; florists, designers, printmakers, they all have highly valuable skills, and they are worth what they charge.

We love a good DIY, and while it’s tempting to DIY decor, especially in a world of Pinterest, you need to remember that DIY takes time and planning, and will require transportation planning. You may have to rent a shuttle or pay your planner extra to bring DIY decor back at the end of the night. We recommend limiting DIY to a few key pieces you feel are manageable.

Dessert by Biscuits & Berries, photo by Alyssa Carpenter Photo

30-40% of Budget - Food & Drink

Food and drink is going to be the biggest expense for your wedding day. It takes a lot of ingredients and manpower to feed 100-people, so be sure to plan for it! Guests spend 8+ hours celebrating on your wedding day, so they get very hungry, and very thirsty. You never want to run out of food or not have food for allergy-sensitive guests.

We love all the caterers on our list, and know they will do a great job ensuring your guests have enough food & drink to keep the party going all night long!

30% Of Budget - Photography & Your Planner

Photographers will say it all the time, but it’s true: your photos are one of the only tangible things you will keep from your wedding day, so you want to invest in them. We completely agree. Another item that is essential to creating an atmosphere and aesthetic for your dream day is decor! Florals are one of the best ways to make your day pop! Florals are also an art form, and creators charge accordingly.

And, it goes without saying, but a planner is one of the best investments you can make in your wedding day! They not only help the day run smoothly, handle messes and errors, and ensure you don’t have to lift a finger; they are a wealth of knowledge and can help you stay on budget during planning!

Photo by Jill Houser Photography

10% of Budget - Miscellaneous

Think of all the other items we didn’t cover: invitations, place settings, alterations, gifts… these items will round out your budget.

We hope this guide is helpful for your wedding planning so you can dream big and plan stress-free!