Full Service Wedding Venues

Full service venues provide all or most of the details needed for a full wedding. This can include a ceremony site, reception site, all catering, entertainment, and décor options. The downside is that it can limit your choices about individual vendors, and may increase the costs in some areas. Here are a few pros and cons to help decide if a full service venue is the right choice for your wedding.

Pros:

• For the stress-free wedding, a full-service venue can be a godsend. Since these locations have all of the supplies necessary, the couple can simply pick the menu, tablecloths, and every other detail from a single list. If you don’t want to deal with details, or are planning from a long-distance location, this may be a great option.
• In addition to reducing the number of decisions you have to make, a full-service venue also eliminates worries over coordination problems. When working with individual, off-site vendors, it may be difficult to get everything to arrive on time and manage payments on schedule. Full-service locations often work as a well-oiled machine, with all operations centralized to the venue.
• Many full-service venues have set packages that outline all included items and the cost per head. If planning a wedding with individual vendors, it can be very difficult to figure out the exact cost of everything and come up with a clear idea of a budget. By simply choosing a package, you will know exactly what you are getting and paying for.
•  Some venues may allow some flexibility with certain vendor services. While many insist on using approved caterers and entertainers, florist services, officiants, and other minor details may be negotiable. This can be a good way to personalize some of the details, while still leaving the bulk of the work in the hands of a single company.

Cons:

•  The major downside to a full-service venue is the lack of customization options. While the venue may offer 30 different tablecloth choices, they may not have the exact shade or the right material to match your style and plans. Whereas the self-service venue allows the couple to choose nearly every detail from any source they desire, a full-service location does lock you into the available choices. For those who look forward to the little details, this may not be the best choice.
• There is no guarantee that a full-service venue can provide excellent quality across all areas. If the company is primarily a catering company, the food may be great, but the florist services may suffer. Asking a single company to multitask on this large of a scale may be asking too much in some cases.
•  Package pricing, while it may be easy to understand, can prevent you from searching for bargains on some items. While it makes it easier to understand the budget, it may increase the cost of the wedding if you aren’t careful.