Wedding Cost in Seattle, wa

We are having our wedding in Nashville, TN and total cost for 100 guests will be around 12k! We just did a ton of research and were able to find great options at much better prices. We found a hotel, Embassy Suites, that only charges 500 for the ballroom rental (includes dance floor, chairs, linens, some decor) as long as we meet a 2,500 catering minimum, which we definitely will! With a buffet dinner we are feeding our guests for around 3,500, plus beer and wine. All of the other vendors we just took our time searching to find the best deals! And I saved alot of money by thinking outside of the box. For example, instead of flowers for centerpieces (which would've at least tripled what I paid my florist, we are doing this:

It is definitely possible! Just takes some creativity and these forums are really helpful!

We had a nearly 200 person wedding in the Chicago area for under 20k. It can absolutely be done.

We held ours on a Friday. We booked everything early to lock in early discount prices. All of our vendors were running promos to fill the last of their Friday slots. My dress was not a "high end designer (as in, under 2k for dress, veil & alterations), we kept track of every penny we spent, ordered invitations from an insanely affordable source, only did DIY for things we knew would actually save us money, did not hire a wedding planner, videographer or DOC, kept the flowers to a minimum (bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, and only 2 centerpieces plus 3 medium arrangements), and didn't do any add ons. No fog machines, uplighting, etc. Our venue was gorgeous enough. We got the LOOK of an over the top wedding without spending the cash.

Also, we are paying for the wedding by ourselves as well, so cutting costs has been really important to us. We are going to be able to have the big reception with our friends and family without blowing too much money!

The average of 33k in the US is taking the highs of people spending 30-100k in areas like Seattle, San Francisco, LA, New York, etc. and people who spend 2-10k in area where the cost of living is much less.

I would say in your area (large metropolitan, high cost of living) a good rule of thumb is that your budget for everything should come our to about $100 per person. If you are going higher end like plated multi course dinner in a 5 star hotel ballroom you are probably looking at closer to $200 per person. You should expect to spend anywhere from 10-30K.

We are getting married in 2 weeks and all the money has come out of our pockets, minus some my parents have put in. We are in Spanaway, getting married in Roy. Got between 120-150 guests invited but only 130 rsvp'd. With everything, I've kept under $6,000. More like under $5,000 but I haven't added in all the smaller things that have been purchased. Our biggest costs where the venue ($1,500), florisits ($750), cake ($320), and my dress plus it's alterations (($620(dress) + $90 (alteration)). Food we are making our selves and a few of my family members will be making a dish. It is very possible to do with that high of guest count. Just got to figure out what you are willing to do to balance out costs.

Snohomish County is close to Seattle and they have a seriously high number of wedding venues to choose from. I would consider looking in the Woodinville/bothell area or maybe even Snohomish. Idk how far you're willing to go or what kinda vibe you're going for. If you are looking for something in the city you're going to get a lot of extra costs because of it. Parking, transportation, etc. I have a wedding for 120 people and it's costing about 10K. Although our venue only costed 1K because we knew some people.

Outdoor or indoor? Check with some local gardens or parks. The city of Tacoma has a pagoda you can google Point Defiance Pagoda. Their prices with catering for 75 people is about $4,000. That is including the rental of the building.

We are making our invitations, save the dates, bouquets and decorations. I started picking things up a few months after getting engaged. My dress was on clearance (brand new) so that saved me over $300.

Seattle bride here! 85 people for 10k! it’s possible! i just was picky with vendors and did a lot of looking and coupons and stuff like that haha

View Quoted Comment

Would love to hear more about which vendors you chose! Planning a similar size wedding with a similar budget

View Quoted Comment Our budget is about 50k and has definitely gone up since. Our photographer and videographer are expensive but I am very excited for them. We picked toniechristine and Bogle productions. Those were a bit non-negotiable for me. Venue is rays boathouse and we are doing heavy apps instead of full sit down event. Our planner is fabulous, Carina Van Son, she also does floral. Anne timms is hair and make up, pricey but reviews are fabulous. Don't try on a dress over your budget. I did and now I'm buying it. I LOVE It but could have saved some money here. Still finalizing dj/band. Hope that helps!

My partner and I originally thought $40K is enough for 100 guests in Seattle. It has been $60K so far, not including the rings and tips. I think it will reach $65-$70K by the end of the day. I was nervous if we were crazy and didn't manage well our budget. But after reading these threads we are not far off. Pheww!


Here are my dream teams:
Venue- Olympic Sculpture Park/ Paccar Pavilion Live Band- Blue Wave BandLighting- Smith LightingFlowers and decor- Shelby Reynolds (Shine Event Design) Catering- Shooby Doo exclusive vendor from Paccar Pavilion. Wedding coordinator- Shelby Reynolds Suits- Indochino Cufflink and shoes- Feragamo Rehearsal Reception- private vendorVideography and photography- Marius Blidar Photography First Dance Choreographer- Za Thomaier Hotel suites- the Residence suite at Hotel THEODORE in downtown Seattle 2 nights
Hope this help and congrats!
H&T