Wedding Venues: Don't Let Hidden Costs Creep Up On You
When it comes to renting a wedding venue, you expect it to cost a significant amount of money. You expect there to be a variety of expenses tacked on to the initial rental cost as well. However, there are some that you will never even see coming your way. In fact, here are some of those hidden costs for two wedding venues:
Wedding Venue #1: The Rustic Barn
If you are going for a simple, rustic wedding, then a barn is the ideal location. However, if you are choosing a barn on a local property that has sentimental value to you or your significant other, it probably doesn't have modern amenities. Therefore, it can take a lot of work and money to get a barn in good enough shape for the wedding day.
- Bathrooms – Most barns aren't going to have nearby bathrooms, so you'll need to bring in porta potties. More than likely, you'll want something more sophisticated than the basic style.
- Generators – While barns have a natural charm to them, they don't always have electricity. This means you'll need to supply that.
- Climate Control – In the winter, you will need space heaters. In the summer, you will need fans.
- Lighting – Unless the barn has a significant amount of windows or your wedding is being held in the afternoon, you will need some light.
- Cleaning – Barns aren't known for their cleanliness, so a professional cleaning service may be required to eliminate dust, dirt and spiders.
Wedding Venue #2: The Exotic Destination
Destination weddings are fun and exotic, but they're also expensive.
- At Least Two Planning Trips – While planning remotely will work for some couples, others will want to actually visit the destination in person to take care of any preparations and fine-tune the details. So, you will visit the destination at least once before the actual wedding day, which means that you will need to pay for hotel, food and transportation twice.
- Transportation – Speaking of transportation, you will need to pay for your hairstylist, makeup artist and photographer to get to the locale – unless you're hiring locally. Even without these individuals, your bridal party may assume that you should pay for their transportation expenses. If you're not, you need to make this clear ahead of time.
- Regional Marriage Requirements – Some countries require that you and your soon-to-be spouse be in the country for a certain period of time prior to getting hitched, so this will need to be factored into your costs. Some aren't as strict as others. In fact, some countries don't have requirements. For example, in Jamaica, it's only 24 hours. However, in France, at least one of you must be in France for 40 consecutive days before the wedding.
- Second Reception – Because some people may be unable to attend your destination wedding and reception, will you plan a second reception to celebrate your marriage with your loved ones and friends who were unable to fly out?
While these costs may be worth it in the end to you, it is important to understand that you may be draining your life savings in order to make these locales work. For that reason, you will want to keep these potentially hidden costs in mind as you consider these venues for your wedding, or ones like Rolling Meadows Ranch. Make sure you take the time to truly consider them before signing any contracts.
