Wedding Frustration

Totally feeling like this
Source

So the reception venue search is still on - and we're having issue after issue. 

If it's not a venue owner googling my name and discovering the blog (and getting intimidated by the publicity instead of excited over it as you'd think they would do), it's prices being ridiculously inflated as soon as the word wedding is mentioned. Or they don't do gluten free food whatsoever and won't allow for external catering. 

But going back to those inflated prices, here is a phone conversation I had today:

Woman: "Well, it's $3000 for a private function - or $12, 000 for a wedding reception"

Me: "Oh.. um... wow.. does that include anything extra?"
Woman: "No, that is just the price to hire the space - it doesn't include anything other than the space..... oh but you must have security and staff as well, so that's an added $5000 minimum" 

Me: "So essentially I'd be paying 4 times the price, yet receiving exactly the same thing?"

Woman: "Well it is a wedding" 

Am I the only one who can't understand how this is fair? If I have a "private function" with 100 people for x number of hours, I am charged one price - yet to have the same for my wedding reception, you have to pay four times that amount? 

And I know I'm not the only one - because I've had the same complaints from other past brides and brides to be - and I had this same conversation four times today whether it was through email or over the phone. 

One solution is to book everything as a "private event" but then what happens when you rock up in your wedding dress on the day? To me, that's entirely dishonest and also makes things incredibly difficult to plan as you're constantly having to withhold information. 

And I'll tell you what, I definitely am not paying $12, 000 for some space for a few hours.  

I think I'm starting to understand Bridezillas.... 

So tell me, did you have/are you having the same problems planning your wedding?

and who wants to start protesting with me?! :P 

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