Cheap Wedding Venues Auckland

More and more couples are looking to save money on their wedding venue as they are deciding to prioritise spending money on saving for a house, honeymoon or just don’t believe that having a truly memorable and special day needs to cost the earth. We hear you! Our mission is to help people find the perfect wedding venue for their budget, so we’ve compiled a list of wedding venues that won’t break the bank but will wow your guests.

We’ve categorised our list by how much they work out to be per hour, so that you can browse wedding venues by budget and find your perfect venue. Assuming the average wedding ceremony and wedding reception is between 5-8 hours, all of these come in at under $1000 for venue hire, and most are much lower than this. To get a cheap wedding venue, we believe in thinking outside of the box, so some of these are more unique wedding venues - we hope you find your perfect venue!

St Luke's, Remuera

Up to 300 people, From $2100 inc. Church & Ceremony

Saint Luke’s Church is a beautiful stone gothic building. Stunning stained glass windows surround the space, filling it with a glorious light and ambience - making it the perfect location for your wedding. If you’re looking for the ideal space to create your dream wedding without breaking the bank, look no further. Anyone can be married in St Luke's. You don’t have to be a member of St Luke's, or be a Presbyterian, or be baptised. It does not matter if one or both of you are from another or no church background. Gay and lesbian couples are also welcome. You can also book spaces in the adjoining community lounge and courtyard for drinks and celebrations afterwards.

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What are the benefits of a cheap wedding venue?

If you’re on this page, we assume we’re preaching to the converted! But if you need any more convincing of why a cheap wedding venue is the way to go, here’s our list of benefits:

Cheaper wedding venues are typically non traditional spaces ( e.g. not a vineyard, purpose built function space or events centre). This means they can have:

Better availability - their peak times may not be Saturday’s in summer, so you might be able to get a closer date or a date you really want without waiting years.
Cheaper rates from suppliers You can book suppliers without using the W word. The Wedding word means suppliers may charge a premium for their service.

More flexibility - if your using a non traditional wedding venue like a community hall or a community arts space, you can have a bit more flexibility to shape the day, food and beverage arrangements how you want, rather than being forced to purchase a package or go with fixed suppliers.
Less risk and expectation - Sometimes things don’t go to plan. The weather, for one, doesn’t always put on a bluebird day. It’s also not unlikely that when you put 100 of your closest friends and family in a closed space and with unlimited access to alcohol that something will kick off. Even simple weddings have a lot of variables at play that can tarnish a day that you may have been dreaming about since child hood. With a cheaper venue, If things go wrong and the day isn’t flawless, at least you haven’t gotten yourself into debt or spent half your life savings on it. Even if it is the best day ever, it’s still not a great start to married life to be saddled with a huge wedding bill that puts a strain on your finances.

Budget doesn't have to mean missing out on your perfect venue

You can have a perfect day by spending $50,000 and you can have a perfect day by spending $1000. Your experience of your special day is determined by prioritising what’s important you you as a couple and then making that happen with the budget you have to spend. A small community hall for $25 an hour, strung with fairy lights and catered by your mates mobile BBQ can be just as magical as a hotel wedding venue on the beach in Fiji.

You can also have a perfect day by keeping it small and intimate. There is nothing better than spending your special day with the small group of people who know and love you best in the whole world. Better yet, it's much simpler to organise and you get to have a proper conversation with everyone, rather than feeling guilty about only getting 2 minutes with everyone.

What to look out for in a cheap wedding venue?

By going with a more DIY approach to a wedding venue, you do need to make sure you do your research so that it is going to work for your situation.

Have they hosted weddings before? By choosing a venue that may not do weddings as their main source of income, you can have all the benefits mentioned above, but if you are the first person to book your wedding above the book shop or at the co-working space, you may also be the first to learn about all the pitfalls. Most venues on SpacetoCo will show you in the Suitable For section whether they are open to hosting weddings and then you can message the host to see what they’ve done before and how it worked. There is nothing wrong with being ’the first’ to book a more unique cheap wedding venue - but you may have to do more planning and research.

What are their rules?

Cheaper venues can be dry hire e.g. $50 an hour and you sort everything else. This is great for ultimate flexibility on how the day runs and food and beverages, but you do need to make sure your plans are within the rules. Top things to look out for are:

Can you serve alcohol or do they have a licence?
What are their closing times and what is their policy on noise?
Do they require security for events over a certain number of guests or after a certain time?
Do they require you to provide proof of insurance?
Can you have a naked flame or candles (e.g. for Hindu ceremonies)?
Do you need to clean up and leave it as you found it? If so you need to cost in hiring it for set up and clean up time as well.

What equipment is available?

If it’s dry hire, and you’re doing your own catering and drinks, remember to check things like:

What tables/chairs are available?
What equipment can be used in the kitchen and is there a large enough fridge?
Does the venue come with crockery, cutlery and glassware or do you need to bring your own or hire more?

What can you change and what can’t you change?

If you are thinking of decorating e.g. flowers, lights, drapes, balloons etc, then make sure you check the policy on what you can move or put on the walls. Some heritage venues may have policies about things like blue-tac.

Will their team be available?

Remember to ask whether there will be someone on hand to help you get in, set up or show you where things like lights or heating are. If not, book time for a visit to get this handed over before hand so you’re not stuck looking for how to turn the gas on, on the day!

Having a budget can enable your wedding day to be even more memorable, special and unique to you as you have to think creatively to fit within the constraints of a budget. Yes you could Spam $1000 on purchasing bland wedding favours that will end up in the bin or you can buy a $10 pack of fun question cards and encourage your guests to get to know each other and maybe create some lifelong friends.

For this reason, we LOVE ideas that make your wedding as cheap as possible as it means you get to think creatively AND get to save your cash for what matters to you. Here’s a non exhaustive list of cutting down the cost of your wedding ceremony and reception.

>A longer article with tons more ideas on 'How do I make my wedding as cheap as possible' is here.

Go for off peak

If you don’t need to get married on a weekend, you will find midweek is more available and usually cheaper.

Separate the wedding ceremony and the party

You don’t need to do the ceremony and the reception on the same day. By doing the wedding part with a small group and then doing the party separately makes it easier to do it off peak (e.g. a Friday afternoon/evening) and makes the logistics a lot simpler. It also means you get to celebrate twice!

Find suppliers that are just starting out or get mates rates

Ask around and see if someone is looking to build their profile for a new venture or career path. If you let them use the photos in their marketing, they may be amenable to a big discount.