The only category with no market rate, because the scope is invented rather than given.
What decor, flowers and stationery take together on a typical budget. Decor alone usually lands between $1,500 and $5,000 once lighting is counted.
Lighting is the highest-impact spend in this category and the one most couples consider last. A room with warm uplighting and pinspots on the tables looks transformed. The same room under house fluorescents does not, whatever is sitting on the tables.
Every other vendor has a market rate. Decor does not, because the scope is entirely invented. Two couples in the same room with the same guest count can spend $800 and $18,000 and both be reasonable. What you are buying is a set of decisions about how much of the room to change.
Grouped with flowers and stationery, decor typically sits inside 8 to 12 percent of the total budget. On its own, most weddings land somewhere between $1,500 and $5,000 once lighting is counted.
The single highest-impact spend in this category. A room lit with warm uplighting and pinspots on the tables looks transformed; the same room under fluorescent house lights does not, no matter what is on the tables. Uplighting runs $200 to $600, a dance floor wash and pinspotting more. If you have one decor budget and one room, spend it here first.
Linens, napkins, chargers, candles, vessels and place settings. Priced per table and per person, so it scales directly with guest count. Renting textured linens instead of house polyester is one of the cheapest visible upgrades available.
Draping, ceiling installations, backdrops and arbours. Priced by labor and rigging as much as by material, and often needing venue approval and a rigging plan.
Welcome sign, seating chart, table numbers, menus, bar signs. Small individually, and about $300 to $800 collectively.
The venue rules
The design
The most useful decor decision is deciding what not to decorate.
The ceremony backdrop, the reception tables, and one focal point such as the bar or the entrance. Decorating everything evenly spreads a budget so thin that nothing reads. Three strong moments beat twelve mild ones, and photograph far better.
Candlesticks, vessels, arbours, furniture and signage are all rentable. Buying leaves you storing forty vases in a garage and selling them at a loss. The exception is anything you genuinely want afterwards.
Aisle arrangements, the arbour and ceremony candles can all move to the reception during cocktail hour. It costs labor, usually far less than buying twice, and someone has to be assigned to it. That someone is your planner or the decor company, never a guest.
Open flame is banned in a surprising number of venues. So is anything attached to walls, anything requiring rigging without an approved plan, confetti, and sparklers. Ask before you design, because finding out in week three is much cheaper than finding out on the day.
We are building this market by market, and a city page goes live only once it holds enough real decor companies to be worth your time. Two listings is not a directory, so until it is useful it stays closed.
There is no market rate, because the scope is entirely up to you. Decor, flowers and stationery together typically take 8 to 12 percent of a budget, and decor alone usually lands between $1,500 and $5,000 with lighting included.
Lighting. Warm uplighting and pinspots on the tables change a room more than anything you can put on it, and uplighting starts at around $200 to $600.
Rent, in almost every case. Buying leaves you storing and reselling forty vases at a loss. Buy only what you genuinely want to keep.
Usually yes, during cocktail hour, and it is far cheaper than buying twice. It costs labor and someone has to be formally assigned to it, which should be your planner or the decor company.
Open flame, anything attached to walls, unapproved rigging, confetti and sparklers are all frequently banned. Ask before you design rather than after.
Next: wedding florists, wedding rentals, or all 24 vendor categories.