A wedding venue in the US typically costs $3,000 to $15,000 for the space, and all-inclusive venues quote per person instead, usually $100 to $300 a head. Those are the ranges our planning assistant uses. This post adds something the ranges cannot: what venues actually publish. Of the 404 US wedding venues in WedGenie's directory, 215 (53%) state a starting price on their own website, and here is what those figures look like as of September 11, 2026.
What 186 venues publish as a starting price
Among the 186 venues that publish a flat starting figure (a rental fee, a package, a day rate — everything except per-person pricing), the median starting price is $4,000. The middle half runs from $2,100 to $7,450.
| Published starting price | Venues | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $2,500 | 48 | 26% |
| $2,500–4,999 | 61 | 33% |
| $5,000–9,999 | 47 | 25% |
| $10,000–19,999 | 18 | 10% |
| $20,000 and up | 12 | 6% |
A further 29 venues publish a per-person price instead, median $125 a head (middle half $35 to $230) — the all-inclusive model, where the figure carries food and often the bar. And 27 venues publish a minimum spend: median $5,000, middle half $1,500 to $15,000. When a venue lists both a starting price and a minimum, the minimum is the one closer to the bill.
A starting price is usually not the Saturday price
The published figure comes with a kind, and the kind matters. What the 186 flat figures are:
- a package price — 50 venues, median $4,800
- a figure with no stated basis — 39 venues, median $3,400
- a rental fee — 38 venues, median $4,500
- an off-peak rate — 28 venues, median $6,000
- a weekday rate — 14 venues, median $2,500
- a ceremony-only fee — 9 venues, median $1,000
So the number a venue leads with is most often a package or a rental fee, and where it is a rate, it is more often the off-peak or weekday rate than the Saturday one. Ask what a realistic all-in Saturday total looks like for your headcount — venues quote the room, couples pay the total. Off-season (November to March) and Friday or Sunday dates typically save 15 to 30%, which is roughly the gap between a published weekday figure and the Saturday you had in mind.
Starting prices by city
Cities with three or more venues publishing a flat starting price, lowest median first. The lowest published figure in each city is named because it is often a chapel, a ceremony-only fee or a weekday rate — a real number, not the typical bill.
| City | Priced venues | Median starting price | Lowest published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Las Vegas, NV | 9 | $1,290 | $89 (Vegas Weddings) |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 5 | $1,600 | $1,500 (The Art Room) |
| Portland, OR | 6 | $1,900 | $900 (Lakeside Gardens) |
| Orlando, FL | 4 | $2,750 | $1,500 (Trellis 925) |
| Cincinnati, OH | 3 | $2,950 | $2,800 (Mojave East) |
| Indianapolis, IN | 4 | $3,000 | $2,000 (Black Iris Estate) |
| Milwaukee, WI | 6 | $3,000 | $815 (Coast) |
| Cleveland, OH | 4 | $3,250 | $125 (St. Clair Ballroom) |
| Minneapolis, MN | 3 | $3,300 | $1,500 (Hope Glen Farm) |
| Austin, TX | 5 | $3,500 | $500 (Villa Antonia) |
| San Antonio, TX | 5 | $3,500 | $400 (The Veranda) |
| Denver | 4 | $3,500 | $1,000 (Denver Botanic Gardens) |
| Columbus, OH | 6 | $3,800 | $1,250 (The Grand Event Center at Grandview Yard) |
| St. Louis, MO | 6 | $3,950 | $500 (Barnett On Washington by Culinary Canvas) |
| Boston, MA | 5 | $4,000 | $1,500 (Willowdale Estate) |
| Salt Lake City, UT | 7 | $4,000 | $695 (Eldredge Manor) |
| Raleigh, NC | 7 | $4,500 | $2,000 (The Stockroom at 230) |
| Jacksonville, FL | 5 | $4,500 | $349 (Walk In Wedding Chapel) |
| Sacramento, CA | 3 | $4,500 | $2,000 (Grand Island Mansion) |
| Kansas City, MO | 5 | $4,700 | $2,500 (The Bardot) |
| Charlotte, NC | 6 | $4,800 | $1,000 (The Collector's Room by Beau Monde) |
| Tampa, FL | 6 | $5,000 | $1,000 (The Vault) |
| Nashville, TN | 4 | $5,000 | $3,000 (Estelle) |
| Los Angeles, CA | 5 | $5,000 | $3,500 (The Oviatt) |
| Chicago, IL | 5 | $5,000 | $3,500 (Loft Lucia) |
| San Jose, CA | 4 | $5,500 | $1,750 (Premiere Majestic Events) |
| Dallas, TX | 6 | $6,000 | $2,500 (The Springs Weddings & Events) |
| San Diego, CA | 6 | $6,000 | $1,545 (The Sinclair on G Street) |
| Miami, FL | 8 | $7,450 | $1,095 (The Cruz Building) |
| Phoenix, AZ | 4 | $9,000 | $1,200 (Chateau Luxe Event Venue) |
| San Francisco, CA | 3 | $9,750 | $2,500 (Swedish American Hall) |
| New Orleans, LA | 4 | $14,800 | $3,000 (The Lakehouse New Orleans) |
| Philadelphia, PA | 4 | $18,000 | $1,495 (Vaux Studio) |
| New York, NY | 4 | $20,000 | $3,000 (The Foundry) |
| Charleston, SC | 3 | $30,000 | $2,000 (Founders Hall) |
Each linked city page lists every venue we hold there with its rating and sources.
What the starting price does not include
- Catering and the bar when the venue is a raw space — wedding catering cost is its own post, and venue plus catering together take about 40% of a typical budget (the budget breakdown).
- Service fees and tax. A 22–25% surprise on the final invoice is the classic venue red flag; ask for the all-in figure with fees and tax shown.
- Rentals the venue does not own: tables, chairs, linens, a dance floor, a tent.
- The minimum. A package for 50 in a room that seats 300 still carries the room's food-and-beverage minimum on a Saturday.
- Cake cutting, corkage and overtime, each a line of its own.
How to read a venue quote
Ask for three numbers: the fee for your date, the minimum spend on that date, and a realistic all-in total for your guest count with the venue's own catering or the caterer it requires. Then ask what is included (tables, chairs, linens, staff), the catering policy (in-house, a mandatory list, or open — the biggest hidden cost lever), the noise curfew, and the rain plan you would be happy with rather than tolerate. Questions to ask a wedding venue has the full list, and our venue capacity study covers the other number that decides everything: how many people the room actually holds.
Finding one
Wedding venues by city are listed below, each with its rating and sources. The Genie searches with the venue's own published figure and its kind — "from $4,000 (weekday rate) · $5,000 minimum" — and says so when a venue publishes nothing, which is what our AI vendor hallucination test measured.
The directory figures are each venue's own published starting price as of September 11, 2026, extracted from its website with the source recorded. They are starting figures, not quotes, and 47% of venues publish none. The typical ranges are the same ones our planning assistant uses in chat. Confirm every number with the venue for your date.
Ready to talk to real vendors?
The WedGenie directory lists vendors with photos, Google ratings, and cited sources — browse a city below or see every city we cover.