Ask the Expert: Why Do Some Wedding Venues Have a Facility Fee and Others Don’t?

Question: Some venues have a “facility fee” in addition to a price-per-person cost for catering, while others just have the catering cost. Why?

Answer: A venue’s pricing structure has to do with different business models and relationships with caterers, explains Kathy Warden, owner of event design and planning companies TableArt and KPW Productions. “Often if the caterer owns the venue, there won’t be a separate venue rental fee, because the rental is built into the price-per-person for food and beverage,” Warden says. “If the venue has a contract with a caterer, there will be a venue rental fee in a separate invoice from the food and beverage.”

Either way, ask what equipment the venue and/or caterer own, so you know if you need to add items like tables and glassware to your budget.

For more Ask the Expert questions, go here. 

This article originally appeared in the spring/summer 2017 issue of Philadelphia Wedding. 

Like PW on Facebook | Follow PW on Twitter | Sign up for the PW newsletter