Wedding Planning Guide · Part 02
A realistic budget breakdown, and where a Hill Country resort venue saves you money versus an in-city ballroom.
Part of the Hill Country Wedding Planning Guide — see all 7 guides.
Texas weddings run close to the national average overall, landing somewhere in the low-to-mid $30,000s for a typical guest count — but that number swings widely depending on city, guest count, and venue type. Hill Country venues tend to sit at the lower end of that range, especially once you account for what’s included.
| Category | Typical Range |
|---|---|
| Venue rental | $4,000 – $10,500 |
| Catering (per person) | $75 – $200 |
| Bar service (per person) | $30 – $100 |
| Photography | $2,500 – $6,000 |
| Videography | $1,800 – $2,500 |
| DJ or live band | $1,000 – $5,000 |
| Florist | $1,500 – $5,000 |
| Cake or dessert | $400 – $800 |
| Officiant | $200 – $500 |
Ranges reflect typical 2026 Texas wedding market pricing and will vary by vendor, guest count, and season.
The biggest hidden cost in most wedding budgets isn’t the ceremony — it’s guest logistics. Hotel room blocks, shuttle service between venues, and rehearsal dinner space at a second location all add up fast. A resort-style venue that includes on-site cabins, a lodge, and grounds for the ceremony, reception, and after-party removes several of those line items entirely.
Full-property wedding weekend packages that include lodging in the Texas Hill Country typically run in the $7,000–$12,000 range for the entire weekend — venue plus guest accommodations — compared to $4,000–$8,000 for venue space alone at a traditional in-city venue, before you’ve booked a single hotel room for guests.
Catering and bar service scale directly with headcount, and they’re usually the fastest-growing line items in a Hill Country wedding budget. As a rough rule, each additional guest adds $150–$300 to your total once food, drinks, rentals, and favors are factored in. That’s the single biggest reason micro weddings cost dramatically less — see our micro wedding vs. full weekend guide for a side-by-side comparison.
A few adjustments consistently save Hill Country couples money without changing the feel of the day:
Choose a Friday or Sunday date. Off-peak days typically run 20–40% less than a Saturday for both venue and vendor pricing.
Marry in off-season months. See our best season guide for which months combine good weather with lower demand.
Keep the guest list intentional. Every seat you don’t fill saves $150–$300 in downstream costs.
Bundle lodging into your venue. A property with on-site cabins replaces a hotel block and shuttle budget in one line item.
Texas weddings run close to the national average, generally landing in the low-to-mid $30,000s for a typical guest count in the 130–155 range, though costs vary significantly by city and venue type.
Usually, yes. Rural and resort-style Hill Country venues tend to have lower rental rates than comparable in-city hotels or event spaces, and bundling lodging into the venue removes the added cost of hotel blocks that in-city weddings often require.
Venue and catering together typically make up more than half of a total wedding budget, with venue alone often around a third of total spend. Guest count is the biggest lever on the catering side.
Often yes, once you factor in what a traditional venue-plus-hotel-block setup costs. Full wedding weekend packages that include overnight accommodations for the wedding party and guests typically cost less overall than paying separately for a venue, a hotel block, and shuttle transportation.
Tell us your guest count and date to get accurate wedding weekend pricing.
Texas Hill Country Resort · 23195 St. Hwy 16 North, Medina, TX 78055 · (830) 201-1895