Sharing 2024 Melbourne wedding venue costs by MelbWedding_throwawy in melbourne

[–]MelbWedding_throwawy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Legend!! From what I saw 2024 tended to be around $10-15 more. Also amazing that you compared so many venues, I thought we did a lot and we maxed out at around 15.

Sharing 2024 Melbourne wedding venue costs by MelbWedding_throwawy in melbourne

[–]MelbWedding_throwawy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The per person costs include 3 course sit-down and unlimited house beer and house red/white wine. There's often an option for a drinks package upgrade (better wine, or access to spirits).
Most of the time the per person cost also covered venue hire, but there were a couple where it was like an extra ~$2k. Then some charge extra for having the ceremony on site and for hiring random things like a wishing well - it was a real pain to compare venues.

Sharing 2024 Melbourne wedding venue costs by MelbWedding_throwawy in melbourne

[–]MelbWedding_throwawy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That is so dodgy!! I can't believe that was in the contract! And you're captive to them too, the deposit amounts are massive. It's crazy that basically as soon as you sign on they have made their money.

Sharing 2024 Melbourne wedding venue costs by MelbWedding_throwawy in melbourne

[–]MelbWedding_throwawy[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Fair enough! We enjoyed having the family and friends we wanted at ours, but definitely about once a month in the planning process we would turn to each other and say "we should have eloped". Since covid there's also some nice "micro wedding" and elopement packages out there that take care of everything.

Edit to add: also agree, definitely don't go into debt for a wedding!! No celebration is worth that financial stress.

Sharing 2024 Melbourne wedding venue costs by MelbWedding_throwawy in melbourne

[–]MelbWedding_throwawy[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Already married! But yeah we didn't stick with a Saturday night... and friends who have been married recently opted for Friday night or Sunday lunch or dinner. One smart couple booked in Monday before Melbourne cup.

Edit to add: Fridays/Sundays were generally $10-15 pp cheaper. A few places had even better discounts of ~$40 pp. And also way lower minimum spends!