By: CJ Dickson, Founder of CJ’s Off the Square

You find one wedding venue you love that rents for $9,000.

Then you find another with an all-inclusive wedding package starting at $20,000 or more.

At first glance, the choice might seem obvious. One costs considerably less than the other.

But are you actually comparing the same thing?

Probably not.

Wedding venues structure their pricing very differently. Some primarily provide the space. Others include catering, rentals, planning, staffing, entertainment, or other services. An all-inclusive venue may bundle many of those costs into one package.

That’s why comparing the advertised starting price of one wedding venue to another can be misleading.

The better question is: What will it actually cost to host the wedding we want at each venue?

Let’s break down how to figure that out.

First, Be Careful With “Average Wedding Cost”

You’ve probably seen statistics about the average cost of a wedding in the United States.

For example, The Knot’s 2026 Real Weddings Study reports an average wedding cost of $34,200 based on a survey of more than 10,000 couples who married in 2025.

That number can provide some general perspective, but it needs context.

The Knot notes that wedding costs vary significantly based on factors including location, guest count, season, and the vendors a couple chooses.

A national average combines weddings of dramatically different sizes, styles, locations, and levels of service into a single number. An intimate celebration with a small guest list is being considered alongside larger weddings with exclusive locations, elaborate floral design, specialty rentals, and other premium services.

So an “average wedding cost” isn’t necessarily a realistic budget for the wedding you’re imagining.

There’s another challenge: the weddings that tend to catch our attention online aren’t necessarily representative of an average wedding budget either.

That dramatic floral installation, custom tent, elaborate tablescape, designer gown, or candle-filled reception you’re saving on Pinterest has a real price attached to it, even when that price isn’t visible in the photograph.

That’s why I encourage couples to think less about what the average wedding costs and more about what the specific wedding they want is likely to cost.

If you’d like to dive deeper into that topic, we’ve put together a separate guide to how much a wedding costs in Nashville, including how guest count, venue type, and level of service affect the overall budget.

A Venue Rental Price Is Not the Same as a Wedding Price

This is one of the most important distinctions to make when comparing wedding venues.

A venue rental may give you access to a beautiful space. Depending on the venue, it might also include tables, chairs, staff, or a few other amenities.

But you still need to create a complete wedding within that space.

An all-inclusive or full-service wedding package starts from a different place. Instead of pricing only the property, the venue bundles some or many of the services required to host the event.

Neither model is inherently better.

But you can’t fairly compare them until you identify what’s included in each proposal and estimate the cost of adding what’s missing.

What Should You Include When Comparing Wedding Venue Costs?

Here’s where I would start.

This is not your complete wedding budget. It doesn’t include other purchases most couples make independently, such as wedding attire, photography, videography, invitations, transportation, accommodations, wedding rings, hair and makeup, or your honeymoon.

Instead, this comparison focuses specifically on the venue and the products and services needed to host your ceremony and reception there.

For each venue you’re considering, determine the expected cost of:

1. Venue rental
   How many hours are included? Do you have exclusive use of the property? Is there a separate ceremony fee?
2. Wedding planning and coordination
   Does the venue provide professional planning or wedding-day coordination? If not, will you need to hire someone separately?
3. Catering
   Is food provided by the venue? Is there a food and beverage minimum? What style of service is included? Are staffing and service charges separate?
4. Bar service
   Look beyond the alcohol itself. Who provides bartenders, glassware, mixers, garnishes, ice, setup, and cleanup? Is there a corkage or bar fee?
5. Tables and chairs
   Are ceremony chairs, reception chairs, dining tables, cocktail tables, and other basic furniture included?
6. Linens
   What tablecloths and napkins are provided? Are upgraded sizes, fabrics, or colors additional?
7. China, flatware, and glassware
   Some catering or rental quotes include these. Others don’t. Delivery, setup, cleaning, and pickup may also be priced separately.
8. Wedding cake or dessert
   Is dessert included? If you bring in your own cake, is there a cake-cutting or service fee?
9. DJ and entertainment
   Does your venue package include ceremony audio and reception entertainment, or will you contract with an entertainment company separately?
10. Flowers and décor
    Your floral investment can vary enormously depending on your vision. Also consider whether the venue includes foundational décor such as candles, ceremony structures, lighting, or other elements that you might otherwise need to rent or purchase.
11. Setup and cleanup
    Who sets the tables, places the linens, moves chairs, handles trash, and restores the venue at the end of the night?
12. Event staffing
    Determine who is providing servers, bartenders, venue managers, setup staff, and other personnel needed to operate the event.
13. Delivery and pickup fees
    Rental companies, florists, caterers, and other vendors may each have their own delivery, installation, pickup, or late-night retrieval fees.
14. Service charges and required gratuities
    Ask whether quoted prices include service charges, administrative fees, or required gratuities.
15. Taxes
    When comparing proposals, make sure you’re comparing either pre-tax numbers or final numbers consistently.

Once you have those numbers, the comparison starts to become much more meaningful.

Try an Apples-to-Apples Wedding Venue Comparison

You can create a simple spreadsheet or checklist like this for your top venues:

You won’t always be able to get every number exactly right during the early stages of your search.

That’s okay.

The goal isn’t to build your final wedding budget before you’ve even chosen a venue. It’s to avoid comparing a venue rental fee with a much more inclusive package and assuming the lower starting price means the lower final cost.

If you’re still narrowing down your venue options, our Nashville Wedding Venue Comparison Guide walks you through a three-step process for creating your short list, touring venues, and making your final decision.

But Cost Isn’t the Only Difference

Once you’ve calculated the numbers, there’s one more factor to consider.

Who is responsible for putting all of those pieces together?

With a venue-rental model, you may hire several independent companies. That can give you tremendous flexibility, but someone needs to select those vendors, review contracts, track payments, communicate changes, coordinate arrival times, manage setup, build the timeline, and make sure everyone knows what is happening on the wedding day.

For some couples, that process is part of the fun.

Others would gladly hand over much of that responsibility.

That’s where the difference between venue rental and an all-inclusive experience becomes about more than dollars.

It’s also about time, responsibility, convenience, and the level of support you want while planning your wedding.

An All-Inclusive Wedding Venue May Be Right for You If…

See how many of these statements sound like you.

1. You want more clarity about your wedding budget early in the process.
   You would rather understand a realistic overall investment before booking than start with an attractive rental price and discover multiple required expenses later.
2. You have a busy life outside of wedding planning.
   You want to be involved in your wedding, but you don’t necessarily want another part-time job managing vendors, logistics, contracts, and rentals.
3. You value professional planning support.
   You like having an experienced person guide you through decisions, deadlines, logistics, and the wedding-day timeline.
4. You prefer curated choices over unlimited choices.
   You still want your wedding to feel personal, but having trusted vendors and thoughtfully selected options feels helpful rather than restrictive.
5. You care a lot about your guests’ experience.
   Great food, good service, smooth timing, comfortable spaces, and a fun celebration matter as much to you as how everything looks.
6. You want your family and wedding party to be guests at your wedding.
   You don’t want your mom setting tables, your bridesmaids answering vendor questions, or your friends cleaning up at the end of the night.
7. You want personalization without building an event from an empty room.
   You want your flowers, colors, stationery, photographs, music, and personal details to reflect you without personally sourcing every chair, linen, fork, glass, and candle.
8. You like the idea of working with vendors who already know one another.
   A team that regularly works together can reduce the number of relationships and logistics you need to manage.
9. You value your time as part of the investment.
   Saving hours of research, emails, meetings, quotes, and coordination has real value to you, even if it doesn’t appear as a line item on a spreadsheet.
10. You want to spend more of your engagement enjoying the experience and less of it managing production.
    You still want to make the meaningful decisions. You simply don’t feel the need to personally manage every detail behind them.

If you found yourself agreeing with most of those statements, an all-inclusive wedding venue is probably worth including in your search.

A Venue Rental May Be Right for You If…

There are also plenty of couples who will be happier with a venue-rental model.

You might be one of them if:

1. You already have specific vendors you are committed to using.
2. You want complete freedom to select every vendor involved in your wedding.
3. You enjoy researching, comparing, interviewing, and managing vendors.
4. You want significant control over each individual element of the event.
5. You have hired an independent full-service wedding planner who will help you build and manage the vendor team.
6. You’re comfortable managing multiple proposals, contracts, deposits, payment schedules, and deadlines.
7. You’re creating a wedding with requirements that don’t fit naturally within a more curated package.
8. The ability to customize virtually every logistical and design decision matters more to you than simplifying the planning process.

If that sounds exciting rather than exhausting, the flexibility of a venue rental may be exactly what you’re looking for.

How CJ’s Off the Square Approaches All-Inclusive Weddings

At CJ’s Off the Square in Franklin, Tennessee, we chose the all-inclusive model because we work best with couples who want a highly personalized wedding without having to personally manage every part of producing it.

Our wedding package brings together many of the essentials required to host your celebration, including:

• Exclusive use of the venue
• Professional wedding planning and coordination
• Catering
• Wedding cake
• Tables and chairs
• Linens and napkins
• China, flatware, and glassware
• DJ services
• Bar setup and professional bartenders
• Waitstaff
• Ceremony setup
• Lighting and select décor elements
• Setup and cleanup

Our pricing is based primarily on the day of the week and your guest count, without required guest minimums or hidden service charges for wedding-day essentials such as cake cutting, bar service, and ceremony setup.

Flowers and professional floral design are not included in our wedding package, because that’s an area where couples’ style and investment can vary significantly. Photography, videography, attire, stationery, hair and makeup, and other personal wedding purchases are also selected separately.

The goal isn’t to eliminate your choices.

It’s to take care of many of the foundational pieces so you can spend your time on the choices that actually make the wedding feel like yours.

So Which Costs Less: A Venue Rental or an All-Inclusive Wedding Package?

There isn’t one answer.

A venue rental absolutely can result in a lower total wedding cost.

An all-inclusive wedding package can also offer excellent value once you calculate the products, services, staffing, and planning support you would otherwise purchase separately.

That’s why the starting price alone doesn’t tell you very much.

Before choosing between them, compare:

What is included.

What isn’t.

What you will need to add.

Who will manage it.

And what the complete experience is likely to cost.

Then choose the model that makes the most sense for your priorities, your budget, and the way you actually want to plan your wedding.

If you’re planning an intimate, elegant wedding for up to 135 guests and the idea of professional planning support, transparent pricing, and many of your essential wedding services already being handled sounds appealing, learn more about the all-inclusive wedding package at CJ’s Off the Square.