What Does a Wedding in Roanoke, Virginia Cost?
Your wedding day - You may have been dreaming about this day for years and it’s finally happening. You’ve saved pictures from magazines, have thousand of pins saved to your Pinterest board, and can’t wait to start the planning process. You’ve thought about the music, the food, your attire, the decor, and so much more. If you haven’t already, you will likely soon have a conversation with your partner and maybe even family and friends about the B word… BUDGET.
Your wedding day is probably the largest and most elaborate event you have planned to date. There can be a tremendous amount of details and vendors to put together to make this one day happen, and the reality is, it all has to cost something and can add up very quickly. It’s important to set a realistic budget before you start committing to the details to ensure you are comfortable later down the line and don’t end up “wedding broke”.
We’ve broken down what you can expect your main wedding expenses to cost in Roanoke, VA as well as some unexpected costs you may not realize factor into your overall wedding budget.
The Foundation
Before we get to the nitty-gritty and break down these expenses, I want you to have these conversations with your partner and anyone else contributing to your big day:
What are your top 3 priorities for the wedding day (any non-negotiables)?
Knowing your priorities and any non-negotiables can help you better distribute your budget knowing you may want to spend a little more in specific areas.
Who is contributing financially and what are they covering?
As tradition has it, typically one partner is “responsible” for paying a majority of the wedding expenses, while the other partner may pay for things like the bouquet, the officiant, the rehearsal dinner, and the marriage license. Discuss with all parties financially involved what this looks like and what you are including in your overall wedding budget.
Alright, Let’s Get To The Breakdown:
Other sources say the average wedding budget in Roanoke, VA costs around $27,000 for a 150-person wedding. But is that accurate? And what does that actually mean when it comes to what that covers? Below is a list of some of the more standard wedding expenses, along with some average costs for our area.
Please keep in mind that every wedding is unique and every couples priorities are different. The following numbers are for general guidance and will vary based on your priorities, the time of year, your wedding party size, guest count, etc.
Venue, Food and Beverage
Since some venues offer in-house catering and bar services, these numbers will often be lumped together and will likely be your biggest expense and around half of your overall wedding budget.
Many buffet packages will start around $20/person for a chain or $40/person for a private caterer. If you’re looking at using a venue’s in-house catering services, you may be looking at packages that start around $90+/person for food and beverages.
Don’t forget to budget for the service fees, taxes, staffing fees and gratuities in! These can often increase the per plate cost by 20-25%.
Photo, Video and Content Creator
Average cost of a Photographer - $4,000
Average cost of a Videographer - $3,000
Average cost of a Content Creator - $1,200
Entertainment
Average cost of DJ - $2000
Other items in this category could be live musicians, dance floor props, a photo book, a live wedding painter, etc.
Flowers/Decor
Average bouquet cost - $200
Average centerpiece cost - Low & Lush: $150, Tall: $250
Don’t forget to budget for additional decor items such as your guest book, seating chart wall, soft seating, chargers and China, etc.
Attire
Average wedding dress - $2,000
Beauty
Starting hair and makeup prices - $100 per service
Don’t forget to budget for travel (average $1/mile each way) as well as gratuity (average 15-18%)
Cake
Average starting price is $7/slice and will increase based on your flavor selections and design
Favors/Gifts
A lot of couples are choosing to put the cost of guest favors towards an experience such as a guest portrait painter, ice cream cart, cigar station, etc.
Invites/Stationery
Minted is one of our favorite resources! They have save-the-dates starting around $1.49 each, and invitations starting around $3 each. They’re a great mix of quality meets budget friendly. Plus, if you’re one of the lucky couples working with us, let me know and I’ll be happy to share our partnership discount for an extra % off!
Transportation
This category can vary greatly depending on if you’re just transporting a small wedding party across town ($500+) or a 175-person guest list up a mountain ($7,000+).
The main things that have an impact on pricing will the how far you’ll be traveling, the overall length of time you’ll need the transportation for, and how many people you’ll be transporting.
Wedding Planning and/or Coordination
Wedding Coordination packages can range from $2,500-$5,000+ depending on how involved they’ll be throughout your planning process.
Full-Service packages can often range from $8,000-$10,000+, or 14-18% of your budget, depending on how many aspects of the wedding day (or wedding weekend) your planner is managing.
Extras/Contingency
With our couples, we usually plan for 10% of our overall budget to go into the contingency fund. Wiggle room is wonderful to have just in case you have more guests RSVP than you expect, or if food and ingredient costs increase after you receive your initial quote.
While I’ve broken down some of the most common and larger expenses to consider when organizing your wedding budget, what items are you not thinking about? Don’t worry, I’ve been doing this for a while and am going to share additional items most couples forget to include in their budget!
Getting ready space; you may need to pay for your room the night before to have access early the next morning or add extra hours onto your venue rental so you have space to do hair and makeup and get ready
Additional beauty needs prior to the wedding day: hair and makeup trials, waxing, tanning, skin treatment, etc.
Secondary DJ setup if your ceremony and reception are in different locations
Shipping + postage for stationery; oversized envelopes, different shaped invitations, vintage stamps all play a part in adding to cost
Welcome bag fees; some hotels charge an average of $5 per bag to hand out or deliver welcome gifts to your hotel guests
Late night/after hour charges for rental companies (and sometimes florists) to pick up and breakdown any items that can’t be left overnight
TLDR?
While planning and budgeting is important, don’t let it consume you to the point where you don’t enjoy the journey. Remember, at the end of the day, every single part of a wedding (outside of the marriage license and officiant) is considered a luxury. Your wedding is about the two of you and celebrating that love, so if you have to skip on some aspects of the day to keep in budget, that’s ok!
