Wedding Cost

In the OC area, we are looking at a venue name The Barn at Aliso Viejo Ranch. I've not gone through the fees enough to know if the prices are competitive. Their fee table is apparently per hour but they don['t state that clearly. I just posted the link a short while ago in a nearby discussion.

Then another person had shared the food truck/caterer as Taco Man +1 (323) 337-2858. Sorry, I have tacos on my mind.

Hi Jessica! I'd recommend checking out WeddingWire's Cost Guide which has tons of information on average wedding costs in your area:

Wedding Cost Guide

I wouldn’t worry about exact numbers that others are paying- someone will always have a higher or lower budget. I’d use the WeddingWire cost guide like Lynnie mentioned and go from there.
I got married last year in a courthouse and it was the best thing I could’ve done for myself. I highly recommend checking it out! It’s a great option if you’d like to have a small intimate ceremony with immediate family. Afterwards, you can have a big reception with family and friends. I’d check out places like parks, community centers,… they can have some amazing backdrops for photos. Big and flashy isn’t always best 🤷🏻‍♀️

Some ways people keep costs lower are by having a wedding any other day than Saturday or a brunch ceremony/reception and/or cutting guest numbers down. Buy flowers through Costco or Fiftyflowers.com. Look at venues through your local parks/rec department (community centers, historical buildings, gazebos).

What's your guest count? Our's is about 50-60 and we're going to come in at right under 12k for a May wedding this year. I would look into raw space venues, they're cheaper, more flexible with requiring coordinators, don't have minimums on food and alcohol, etc. Bar packages were where we saved a huge chunk of money, all bar services were quoting us 3-4k, we decided to just supply our own alcohol and hired a licensed bartender for $300 for the night. There are a lot of ways to save money but if you're looking to go the traditional route with traditional venues and rehearsal dinners and the whole package, you're probably right on it being 25-30k.

View Quoted Comment

Were you able to avoid a corkage fee when supplying your own alcohol?