One year ago we published a blog post titled: ‘What it costs to have a wedding in Central Oregon.’ We’re here to revamp that valuable information with pricing estimates based on the 2023-2024 wedding season to help couples like you answer that burning question: How do I put a price tag on what I’m envisioning? Creating a realistic wedding budget is a challenge faced by almost every couple because a) it’s expensive and confusing to plan the biggest party you’ve ever thrown, and b) wedding costs have changed dramatically in the last three years, let alone the last three decades that your parents’ generation may have experienced. With feedback from real wedding vendors in Central Oregon, here’s your snapshot into creating a realistic wedding budget.

Smiling newlywed couple at Loloma Lodge — photo by Emily Woodruff | venue Loloma Lodge

After celebrating your engagement (yay!!) the first three steps in wedding planning are:

Pick a date and location (not venue, just region)
Make a guestlist
Make a budget

One of the most important factors in a wedding budget is the guest count, which is why it’s important to make your rough draft guestlist before making your budget.

Some prices are static, meaning they don’t change much based on the number of people. Here are a few examples of static costs:

Planning services
Photography & videography
Attire & accessories
Floral installations like arbors
DJ/band
Officiant

All of the other costs are dynamic and may fluctuate based on the number of guests, including:

Venue
Rentals (furniture, tents, lighting, as well as decor)
Catering
Bar
Dessert
Paper goods & favors
Hair/makeup
Transportation
Most florals, like personal flowers, centerpieces, etc.

Most* weddings in Central Oregon cost around $400 per person and increase from there

*Most weddings is, of course, a generalization. All weddings are unique, as they should be since each couple is unique! In this context we are talking generally about the majority of couples we serve (and that our fellow vendors serve) in the Central Oregon area during the spring/summer/fall wedding season. We are also assuming that the budget includes most of the vendor categories listed above.

Bend wedding ceremony with triangle arbor and fall colors — photo by Natalie Puls | florals by Wild Poppy

How much will I spend on _____?

How much you spend in each vendor category depends entirely on what your priorities are for the wedding and what’s included with your venue. Don’t let inexpensive venues fool you into thinking you’re saving a lot of money! If you only spend $1,000 on your venue, that means your budget needs to increase in the categories for catering, staff, and rentals, because you’ll be building the event from scratch.

If your venue is more all inclusive with food and beverage (F&B) required in house, you will save on rentals and staffing, but likely have a higher per person F&B cost. All of these factors are important to consider when building your budget.

Start by discussing your priorities and list your top 3-5 categories for vendors that are the most important to you as a couple. Having a DJ instead of a band is typically more affordable, or skipping a videographer can be a cost saving. Also consider whether you want to have your wedding at a more traditional venue like a resort, ballroom, or lodge (that will have in-house F&B) or if you want an alternative venue like a museum, industrial space, backyard, park, or barn.

Average costs by vendor category:

Planning / Wedding Management: ranges from $3,000-$10,000+ depending on amount of support.

Venue: varies widely from $1,000 basic site fees (just for the use of the empty space) to $50,000+ with all inclusive food and beverage minimums at resorts. F&B minimums are the amount you need to spend on food and drink total, before service charges and gratuity.

Catering: $50-$150+ per guest, depending on style of catering, menus, etc.

Staffing: $20-$40+ per guest, which covers the crew needed to set up, serve, bus dishes, catering manager, scrape and stack plates, fill water glasses, serve cake, clean up, and more! If you’re getting married at a venue with include F&B services, the staffing is included.

Bar & Beverage: $30-$50+ per guest is average for our couples. This depends on many factors, including whether you buy drinks through a resort or you purchase your own alcohol and hire bartenders. Let’s hear directly from Sammi at Lifted Spirits Co., a boutique mobile bar company:

“I would estimate 2 drinks for the first hour and 1 drink every hour after that [per guest]. Many bars do pricing based on number of hours or guest count, rather than on a per drink basis. The bar tab can range anywhere from $1500-$5500 or $15-$55 per guest depending on if you’re sourcing your own alcohol or not. It can vary based on drink selections, alcohol and brand, etc.”

Dessert: $12-$25 per guest. Let’s hear directly from Tara at Crumb Cakery:

“The standard for our area when working with a licensed and insured bakery for cakes is $10-12 per serving, plus delivery and other minimal fees (the cost per serving often depends on design specifics and other elements of the cake order). Inclusively with the fees, a minimum of $12 per person for cake is about right! A top range of to $25 per person is pretty accurate if they’re serving all guests a highly designed tiered cake and a full dessert bar. For more cost conscious couples though, they can get away with a small cutting cake for the couple, plus cookies or other more simple, but equally delicious desserts to serve guests. An option like that would run around $6-10 per guest for a few items per person. That’s been less common the past two years though with larger weddings making the dessert bar an anticipated feature of the wedding.”

Photography: $4,000-$6,000+ depending on experience, number of shooters, and number of hours of coverage.

Florist: $4,000-$6,500 average for our couples.

Wedding florals have seen a huge spike in costs in the last 3 years, primarily due to supply and labor costs. Some florists have a minimum order of $5,000+ in order for them to commit to the wedding and be on site. That cost would be the starting point for all the flowers you might be envisioning like arbor flowers, reception flowers, and personal flowers like bouquets. Large installations, rare flower types or colors, and increased quantities can quickly increase that total number. Anticipate to pay for set up and tear down and if the team is staying until after the ceremony to repurpose pieces.

Some florists don’t have a minimum order, but you can expect to average at least a few thousand dollars for the ‘typical’ floral order. Some florists do a la carte flowers for elopements or smaller events, like just a few centerpieces or a bridal bouquet that you could pick up from them in advance. Charla from Wild Poppy advises that “la carte options can sometimes run a higher price per piece due to having to still purchase a full bunch of everything you want included in your bouquet.”

Here’s some great feedback from Morgan, owner of Blomstra Floriography:

“Flowers, good quality that will last throughout your wedding day (especially in heat), are expensive! Many wedding blogs still say people should plan to spend $1500 on flowers and it just isn’t realistic. You’re not just paying for flowers. I think couples know that in an abstract way. But the majority of what you’re paying for is the time, hours of learning and education, tools, etc their floral designers have put in. In 2022, most of my couples spent 10-15% of their total budget on flowers.”

Bride and groom standing at altar with flowers during Sunriver ceremony — photo by Ely Roberts | florals by Wild Poppy

DJ: starts at $2,200 for a basic package which includes ceremony sound, MC services, reception music, and set up / tear down

Rentals and decor: varies widely depending on type of furniture, table settings, lighting, etc. If you need a tent, you can estimate needing at least $3,000 for that element alone. At a venue that does not supply any rentals (like silverware, linen, glassware, etc.) you can count on spending at least 15% of your budget on rentals.

Attire and accessories: a wedding dress can cost between $1,000-$4,000+ if you purchase it new. Be aware that alterations and accessories can really add up into the realm of an additional $1,000+.

Couple at wedding reception with their backs to the camera — photo by Ely Roberts | dress from The Bespoke Bride

Hair and makeup services: for the bride only, both services will cost around $500-$700. Each additional maid or mom is typically $200-300 per person. It’s up to you whether the cost for everyone’s hair and makeup is in the wedding budget, or if people pay for it individually.

Paper goods: consider 4-5% of your budget for save-the-dates, invites, signage, menus, place cards, etc. Let’s hear directly from the Oregon Calligrapher, Life in Letters:

“Invitation costs typically fall between $600-$1250 for a set of 100. For signage, it’s typically between $400-$1500 (for a guest count of about 100-150) and I’ve had some go up to $3,000! It all depends on what’s most important to them and how many little details they want to include.”

Local company Bespoken Creative does invites, signage, and hand lettering. They add:

“[Our couples] average between $1200-$1500 [for their orders].”

Favors and gifts: even if you don’t provide wedding favors, you’ll likely still spend money on gifts or tokens of gratitude for your wedding VIPs and families. Consider 1-2% of the total budget for gifts.

Gratuity: Tips are expected for vendors you would tip in day-to-day life: servers, valet attendants, hairdressers, shuttle drivers, etc. Tips are greatly appreciated for all vendors who participate in your day, and sometimes are appropriate as a percentage or as a $200 cash chunk. We can advise you on best practices in this realm, but plan to budget at least $1,000 for gratuities.

SAMPLE BUDGET AT LOLOMA LODGE

Let’s make a sample breakdown based on 100 guests and a ~$60,000 budget. The venue we’ll use as an example is Loloma Lodge.

Planning - $6,000 (~10% is average) — includes partial planning and management of wedding weekend
Venue - $14,000 — this cost includes dishes, silverware, ceremony seating, arbor, bar top, picnic tables for reception, + string lighting. It does not include lodging, staff, set up, clean up, or catering.
Catering + Staffing - $15,000
Bar & Beverage - $2,700 — 100 guests x 3 drinks x $9 per drink (includes cost of alcohol and bartending)
Dessert - $1,200
Photography - $5,000
Florist - $4,000
DJ - $2,500
Rentals & decor - $4,000
Attire & accessories - $2,500
Hair & makeup for 1 bride - $750
Paper goods (save the dates, invitations, signage, menus, place cards, etc.) - $2,300
Gifts and gratuities - $1,100