Wedding Venue Cost Breakdown for Couples Near Poughkeepsie, NY
Couples walk in here with a folder of quotes and a lot of confusion. Different venues organize their prices differently, so couples should compare both the total and the included services. Here's how we'd explain a wedding venue cost to you if you were sat in our office.
When comparing wedding venue costs near Poughkeepsie, NY, couples should review site fees, catering, bar services, rentals, included amenities, and additional expenses. A complete cost breakdown helps identify what is included, what requires outside vendors, and how hosting the entire wedding at one location can simplify budgeting.
Ask About the Site Fee First
Some venues charge you for the room before you've eaten or drunk anything. It might be printed at the top of the page, or tucked away on page four where you'll miss it. Either way, you can't line two quotes up next to each other until you know who's charging one.
At Novellas Weddings & Events, you're not renting a room and then paying for a wedding to go inside it. Ask this question at every place you tour. If the person showing you around can't answer it in one sentence, you've learned something useful about what planning with them will feel like.
Food and Drink Is Where the Money Goes
For nearly every couple we meet, dinner and the bar make up the biggest chunk of the bill. What changes from venue to venue is who actually cooks it. Some venues hire a caterer in, some hand you a list and let you sort it out, and some of us have a kitchen on site.
Ours is on site, we do your appetizers, entrees, open bar, the champagne toast, and the specialty cocktails, and we build the menu with you rather than handing you a sheet to tick. Nothing gets driven in from off site, so you're not paying for a caterer's van, their staff, and their setup time on top of ours. Chef Michael Garniero runs our kitchen, and his team has been doing this a long time. You also don't spend the months before your wedding chasing three companies who've never met each other and each assumes somebody else is handling the details.
The Rentals You Don't Think About
Tables, chairs, linens, china, glassware, silverware, speakers and lights, all of it has to arrive from a rental company, who bills you to drop it off and bills you again to collect it on Sunday morning.
Ours is already here at Novellas. It doesn't show up on your bill as a surprise in month nine. The light and sound are plug and play, so your DJ turns up, plugs in, and plays. Your cake comes from The Pastry Garden and your day of coordinator is on our team. When you look at another wedding venue near Poughkeepsie, count how much of this is theirs and how much you'd be hiring yourself.
One Place Beats Three
The expensive parts of a wedding often aren't on any contract. They're the cars you didn't plan for, the second location, and the overtime you pay when the day runs late because nobody agreed who was moving the flowers.
Most of that disappears when the whole day happens in one spot. You get married on our Blue Stone Patio, cocktail hour follows, dinner's in the Ballroom, and the night finishes on the patios with no extra charge for it. Nobody drives anywhere and you don't need a shuttle. We take one wedding a day at Novellas, so our staff isn't running between your reception and somebody else's, and the property is yours from morning until the lights go out.
What We Don't Cover
We'd rather tell you now than let you find out in April. Nowhere covers everything, and you can't build a budget off a list that quietly leaves things out.
Centerpieces are yours, and so is the seating chart. Photography, video, your band or DJ, hair and makeup, your dress and suit, the rings, all of that is on you. Decor is the exception. We keep our own decor here, and we have a designer who'll work to whatever you've got in mind, or you can bring your own, and we'll set it up. Hotel rooms are separate too. The Hampton Inn by Hilton and America's Best Value Inn are a couple of minutes on foot from us, but we don't own them, so guests book those themselves.
Conclusion
Most couples reach us after three or four tours, holding numbers that refuse to line up. Once you know what's inside each one, the choice usually makes itself. Bring the paperwork you've collected, contact us and come and see what we've got here in New Paltz, and we'll sit down and go through ours with you properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you charge a site fee?
No. Get in touch and we'll send you everything your package covers.
What's included?
Tables, chairs, linens, china, glassware, open bar, appetizers, entrees, your cake, light and sound, the wedding suite, a day of coordinator, and the after party out on our patios.
What isn't included?
Centerpieces, your seating chart, photography, entertainment, attire, and hotel rooms. Decor is something we can help you with.
Can we do the ceremony here too?
Yes. We hold ceremonies on the Blue Stone Patio for up to 150 guests, and the Ballroom seats 250 for dinner.
How do we get the full picture for our date?
Call or email us Monday through Friday, 9 to 5, and we'll talk you through it.
