3 Little-Known Perks of Choosing an Underrated Wedding Venue

Planning a wedding can be joyful, hectic, and sometimes stressful, and one reason for wedding stress is the strain it can put on your personal finances. Celebrating your new life as a married couple is not cheap. According to the wedding site Zola, the average cost of a wedding in 2024 is set to hit $33,000, up from $29,000 last year. The cost of a wedding venue is often the single biggest expense, with average price ranges of $6,500-$12,000.

If you want to save money on wedding costs, one of the smartest moves you can make is to try to minimize the cost of your wedding venue. Choosing a less popular, less expensive, creative, or otherwise underrated wedding venue could help you save thousands of dollars.

Let's look at a few little-known perks of choosing a low-cost wedding venue for your big day.

1. Save money on the wedding venue; splurge on food and cake

When I got married, my wife and I were paying for most of the wedding costs ourselves, and we knew that we had to prioritize our spending. We decided to go with a lower-cost wedding venue and spend that extra budget on catering from our favorite Thai restaurant.

If there's one piece of advice this grizzled veteran of marriage can offer to young couples, it is this: You're not going to remember most of the details of your wedding. Try to focus on the things that are really most important to you and your spouse. If you want to treat your guests to a special experience, don't feel as if you have to spend big money on every aspect of the wedding. Instead, splurge on the things that really matter -- and save money on the rest.

2. Saving money on a wedding venue can let you get creative

You're not limited to the usual (high-priced) events centers and banquet halls. Choosing a lesser-known, lower-cost wedding venue might help you get more creative with your wedding, and have a ceremony and celebration that really suits your personality as a couple.

A few low-cost wedding venue options might include:

• Your local church, synagogue, masjid or other religious community: Just have the wedding and celebration/reception all in one place. You might save money compared to the costs of a higher-priced events center.
• City park: We hosted our rehearsal dinner outdoors, at a lovely public park picnic area that could be rented (cheaply) for special events. It had a beautiful view of our city skyline and my favorite lake and hiking trail. Make your city part of your wedding memories by hosting a celebration at a city park.
• Forest lodge: What if you could rent a small cabin or cottage at a state park, and have a rustic celebration? Depending on the amenities and quality of facilities, you could have a wonderful, comfortable, indoor-and-outdoor wedding experience amidst the beauty of nature.
• Favorite bar or restaurant on a slow night: Some restaurants will let you rent a banquet space or reserve half the building for special events. Do you have a beloved local restaurant where you're a regular? Share your favorite haunt with your friends and loved ones, and give your favorite restaurant some extra catering business!
• Museum or art gallery: Some museums have event spaces or offer short-term rentals. Wouldn't it be wonderful to get married among priceless works of art, or introduce your out-of-town guests to your favorite local science center or history museum?
• Video barcade: Do you have a favorite local "barcade" (arcade that serves alcohol) or other entertainment center? What if you could host your wedding reception there? Get group discounts on drinks and Skee-Ball tokens!
• Low-cost local "destination wedding": People love to have "destination weddings" in gorgeous locales like the Caribbean. But if you're trying to save money, this could hurt your budget -- and could make it harder for your friends to afford to attend. Instead of plane tickets and a beach resort, what if you could have a "destination wedding" closer to home -- at a lower-cost small town venue or a local farmhouse?

3. Underrated wedding venue = happier honeymoon

Another lesson from a longtime married person: Try to save money on your wedding, so you can spend more money on your honeymoon. Because my wife and I had such a low-cost wedding with an underrated wedding venue, we were able to save money for an amazing honeymoon trip to Tokyo.

And more importantly, we didn't have any credit card debt or other lingering bills from our wedding. Because our wedding was so affordable (and fully paid for), we could start working toward our other important financial goals as a couple -- saving for retirement, maintaining our house, building a life. Think ahead to what you really want in life together as a married couple: Do you want an expensive wedding, or do you want a down payment on a house, a well-funded retirement account, and other savings for long-term goals?

Bottom line: Your wedding day should be a fun, hopeful commemoration of love. It's an occasion to fully welcome your spouse into your family, reconnect with loved ones, and thank the people who helped inspire and guide you in life. But don't let the romance and excitement of a wedding derail your personal finances. Long after your wedding is over, you and your spouse are a financial team. Choosing a lower-cost, underrated wedding venue can help set you up for a healthier bank account balance, and put you on track to make smarter investments for a long married life of love, peace, and financial success.