All inclusive vs. hire vendors

My venue was a lake house that was all inclusive and it was really nice not having to worry about linens/chairs/dishware. I also planned my wedding in NY from CA, so it helped not having to coordinate a lot from so far away.

Are you in the location of where your wedding will be? Are you organized? Are you willing to do the research it'll take to get all the information for these vendors? Does the non-inclusive require you to choose from a preferred vendors list? There are a lot of things to consider.

The idea of having fill an empty space gave me anxiety so I went with all inclusive. If you are organized and have the patience for it I'd say do the museum, it sounds cool!

My venue is all inclusive and I love it. I only had to worry about DJ, Photographer, Flowers, and officiant. It relieves alot of stress.

Go with the all-inclusive option. Your future bride self will thank you!

Haha, thanks guys! Even though I love the artsy museum, I'm leaning towards the golf course, since it's more inclusive and it's almost 1000 cheaper!

That means more money towards other things! Like the vintage car to drive off in that I know fh really super wants, but will never say it out loud because he thinks it's a waste of money.

We didn't go all inclusive, but our venue had a list of preferred vendors that helped tremendously!! It made vetting every vendor less of a process. Our caterer came with linens, flatware, china, etc... which also helped make things a little easier. I am really happy we went the way we didn't because our wedding was so uniquely ours.

I didn't do all inclusive and had to get everything as well (they had bathrooms and kitchen of course). Honestly, it was super stressful. If I could go back, I would've done all inclusive. In your case it will save you thousands.

Our venue isn't exactly my style but it is still beautiful and they take care of everything for the most part. So I am thrilled to not have to worry about it!

There's a difference between "all inclusive" as far as catering, tables, lines, decor, etc. versus "all inclusive" meaning you must use all their items AND vendors. I personally prefer locations that allow you to choose your own vendors (DJ, photography, videography, etc.) rather than require you to use ones of their choosing. If you like the options they have for those vendors, then you're all set. If you think you'd want to consider other vendors, you'll have to look for a venue that allows you to choose your vendors.

We did all inclusive, just to relieve some stress in planning. Makes it easy! We got to choose from their list of vendors which were all great.

Maybe you've already taken this into account in your pricing, but I was actually surprised by how much it ends up costing to bring in all the rentals that are "included" in an all inclusive option vs. a la carte.

We're planning an outdoor reception (read: free venue) where we have to bring in everything and it's going to cost the same if not slightly more (all in) than if we went into town and booked a more traditional reception space. Still worth it for us because of the sentimental value of the location, but I'd just recommend looking into the costs of bringing in what's not included if you haven't already-- might make the price difference even more than you realize!

I alllmost went all-inclusive because the idea of planning a wedding on my own gives me anxiety, but the control freak in me didn't like the fact that I didn't have any options for caterer, cake, flowers as it was all provided by the hotel. It was a really tough choice to make but eventually I went with a venue that wasn't all inclusive-they just provide tables and chairs, but I can pick any vendor I want.

@ladybug,

You are totally right! The "more" inclusive is actually 1000 cheaper than bringing it all in.

@ Rachel langerhans photog.

Checking their preferred vendors list was my #1 priority! They do have one, but you can bring in anyone you'd like without penalty. (Except for food and alcohol, obv, since that's part of the package)

I would def go with the all inclusive option it has made planning process soooooo much easier.

We went with an all inclusive where we only had to get DJ, photographer, flowers since most of the catering companies around here made the venues where we had to bring them in much more expensive ($4,000 more without factoring in alcohol) Plus it is less stress for me to have to come in and set up and decorate and any other diy

My venue was all-inclusive, and included basically everyone I'd need to work with, with the exception of the photographer and officiant. I had already looked up all of the vendors myself, and the ones provided by the venue were on my short list of who I'd want to work with, so it all worked out for me.

Having said that, after looking at all of the different vendors individually, I didn't hesitate to go with an all-inclusive. It saved me a ton of time, money, and stress.

An all-inclusive will most certainly help you not stress so much but I personally would rather find individual vendors that I connect with and am impressed with so I would probably pick to hire vendors.

Since the all inclusive is cheaper, go with that.

My venue is the 'bring it all in' style, and it is a lot of work.

My venue we had to hire outside vendors. Honestly I like it more because I can get the best option possible and really make my wedding unique to me

Oh, okay, that's good MarryingMurray!