Photography & events
Wedding Venue Cost Calculator
Works venue cost, where what is not included decides the real figure.
Result
Wedding pricing varies by region, season and day of the week by more than most couples expect, so treat the defaults as placeholders and replace them with quotes you have actually been given. A Saturday in peak season in a major metro is a different market from a Friday in the off season. Three things make venue quotes hard to compare and all three are here. A minimum spend is payable whether or not you reach it, so a venue with a low site fee and a high minimum can cost more than one with a high fee and none. A mandatory service charge is not a gratuity, it is revenue to the venue, it is typically taxable, and vendors sometimes expect a tip on top of it. And the tax applies to the service charge as well as the base, which people rarely include when adding up a quote themselves.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
The venue fee or minimum spend, plus the items the venue requires but does not provide, plus the charges that attach to the booking: service charge, tax, overtime rates and any required vendor insurance. Two venues with similar headline fees can differ enormously once the inclusion list is compared.
What moves the number
- What the fee includes: tables, chairs, linen, staff, bar, setup.
- Minimum spend requirements rather than a flat fee.
- Date and day of week.
- Overtime rate and the hard end time.
Where this one goes wrong
A minimum spend is not the same as a fee, because it has to be reached and whatever counts toward it is defined by the venue, which means a couple can be obliged to buy more food or drink than they want in order to satisfy it. Ask what counts. The hard end time and the overtime rate are the other item worth settling in advance, since a reception that overruns is charged at a rate nobody reads until the invoice arrives.
Before you quote
- Get the inclusion list in writing and compare venues on it.
- Ask what counts toward any minimum spend.
- Confirm the end time and the overtime rate before booking.
Questions
About this calculator
Why do similar venues cost such different amounts?
The inclusion list. Tables, chairs, linen, staff, setup, bar service and clearing may be included or may each be hired separately, and two venues with similar headline fees can differ enormously once that list is compared properly.
What is a minimum spend?
A requirement to spend a set amount rather than a flat fee, with the venue defining what counts toward it. A couple can be obliged to buy more food or drink than they want to satisfy it, so asking what counts is worth doing before signing.
What happens if the reception runs late?
Overtime is charged at a rate set in the contract, and it is usually higher than the hourly equivalent of the base fee. Settling the end time and the rate in advance avoids a figure nobody reads until the final invoice.
The formula
total = base (site fee plus catering, per head, or the greater of spend and minimum) + overtime + service charge + tax on base and service + required extras
Put this calculator on your site
Free to embed. Paste this where you want it to appear. It stays up to date automatically because it loads from BDEVY.
Please keep the attribution line. It is the only thing we ask in return.
How to use this calculator
- Guests. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 120.
- Venue charges. Enter your own figure; the page starts at A site fee, with catering priced separately.
- Site or rental fee ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $6,500.
- Food and beverage per head ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $125.
- Hours included. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 6.
- Hours you actually want. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 8.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to total venue cost, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Guests | 120 |
| Venue charges | A site fee, with catering priced separately |
| Site or rental fee | $6,500 |
| Food and beverage per head | $125 |
| Hours included | 6 |
| Hours you actually want | 8 |
| Overtime per hour | $800 |
| Service charge | 22% |
| Tax | 8% |
| Ceremony or second space fee | $1,200 |
| Required security and event insurance | $700 |
| Outside vendor or corkage fees | $500 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Total venue cost main result | $32,328 |
| Venue cost per guest | $269.40 |
| Base venue and catering | $21,500 |
| Shortfall against the minimum spend | $0 |
| Overtime | $1,600 |
| Service charge and tax | $6,828 |
| Ceremony, security and vendor fees | $2,400 |
| Guests needed to reach the minimum | 0 |
This venue costs $32,328, or $269.40 per guest. Service charge and tax add $6,828 on top of the $21,500 base, and ceremony, security and vendor fees add $2,400. Overtime for the extra hours is $1,600.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only site or rental fee, this is what happens to total venue cost. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Site or rental fee ($) | Total venue cost |
|---|---|
| $3,250 | $28,046 |
| $4,875 | $30,187 |
| $6,500 example above | $32,328 |
| $9,750 | $36,611 |
| $13,000 | $40,893 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Guests
- A number, between 1 and 5000, starting at 120.
- Venue charges
- Choose from A site fee, with catering priced separately, An all inclusive price per head, A minimum spend you have to reach.
- Site or rental fee ($)
- A money amount, between 0 and 500000, starting at $6,500.
- Food and beverage per head ($)
- A money amount, between 0 and 5000, starting at $125.
- Hours included
- A number, between 1 and 24, starting at 6.
- Hours you actually want
- A number, between 1 and 24, starting at 8.
- Overtime per hour ($)
- A money amount, between 0 and 50000, starting at $800.
- Service charge (%)
- A mandatory service charge is not a gratuity and is usually taxed.
- Tax (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 30, starting at 8%.
- Ceremony or second space fee ($)
- A money amount, between 0 and 100000, starting at $1,200.
- Required security and event insurance ($)
- A money amount, between 0 and 50000, starting at $700.
- Outside vendor or corkage fees ($)
- A money amount, between 0 and 50000, starting at $500.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Total venue cost | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Venue cost per guest | A money figure. |
| Base venue and catering | A money figure. |
| Shortfall against the minimum spend | A money figure. |
| Overtime | A money figure. |
| Service charge and tax | A money figure. |
| Ceremony, security and vendor fees | A money figure. |
| Guests needed to reach the minimum | A number. |
Keep going
Related calculators
All photography & events calculators
Wedding Cost Calculator
Builds a wedding budget, where guest count moves almost every line at once.
Open calculatorWedding Catering Cost Calculator
Works catering cost, where service charge and tax sit on top of the per-head price.
Open calculatorWedding Rental Cost Calculator
Works rental cost, where delivery and the damage waiver are the lines nobody quotes.
Open calculatorEstimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.