You've seen the weddings. The ones outside the marble banquet hall, and in the fields of a farm. The ones where the only chandelier is hanging from a barn ceiling. Long tables, covered in greenery runners, and flowers just seemingly appearing everywhere you turn. Several lounge set ups are created from vintage high-back chairs, and each place setting including a washed out gold charger with a sprig of lavender sitting in the middle.

If this vision sounds like your vision of a perfect wedding, then you are not alone. Whatever you call it, rustic chic, vintage chic, or just plain rustic, there is another word that you should associate with it....and that word, is "expensive".

What happens when you step outside of a banquet hall? You remove all of the items you never needed to think about. The items that were just there and came with the place. Maybe you didn't realize it, but these items are all included in that per person cost the venue was charging you. For $190 per person (plus tax, plus service charge and then plus gratuity that either they or you add in), you're not just getting food and alcohol, but you're also getting "basics". This means for $245 per person, give or take, these items are also wrapped together with your choice of entrée:

-Bathrooms
-Tables. All of them.
-Linens, both tablecloths and napkins
-Chairs
-Flatware
-Glassware
-China
-A floor
-A roof
-A dance floor
-Electricity
-A kitchen and everything that comes with it
-Running water
-Air conditioning
-Heating
-Staff such as bartenders, waiters, captains, a maitre'd and more
-Bridal attendant
-Venue coordinator ( not at all the same as a wedding planner thank you)
-Parking and possibly valet
-Ice

That's a good start.

There are so many "basics" included and when you leave the comfort of a banquet hall, you are removing some, most or even all of them. It's easy to take these items and more for granted in the same way we take the oxygen we breathe for granted. We don't think about it, and it's just there. But what happens when that stuff isn't there anymore? What does that do to your dreams of celebrating your wedding in a beautiful restored dairy barn set on 200 acres of farmland complete with enough animals for a petting zoo?

It jacks your cost up is what it does.

Now, I am sure there are ways to produce a wedding like this on the cheap. I've never really seen it done well, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. But you are doing yourself a disservice if you go this route to avoid the big banquet hall fees. In fact, going down this road just to save money is a really terrible idea. Yet, as this trend evolves and starts incorporating more than just barns and wineries, a "creative space" for a wedding is going to be around for quite a long time.

I am frequently contacted by clients to either plan and design their entire wedding, which includes securing a creative venue, and I am also contacted to simply design everything from the ground up...including the ground. I always ask what the budget is because I want to know if a wedding like this is even possible, or if my potential clients are beginning this whole process to only end up disappointed. Since I am quite often met with the statement "We don't know what this would cost," I'm going to throw an average range out based on 150 guests for one of these not banquet hall weddings:

$60,000-$75,000

Got sticker shock yet? Or, are you thinking that the guest count of 150 for your wedding would never be that low? Let's continue.

Most of these venues, especially barns, weren't built for weddings, which means they cannot typically accommodate more than 150 people...not without a tent. This is where that whole "floor and ceiling" thing comes in, that back at the banquet hall was considered a "basic". Of course, even with the 150 person guest count, there is a chance that your reception and maybe your cocktail hour will be in the barn, but what about the ceremony? If it's on the same grounds as the barn, it's probably going to be outside, which is why you wanted this type of location in the first place.

Right?

If you are at all worried about rain (like any normal bride or groom would be) then you're going to want a "Plan B" and that might include putting up a tent..."just in case". That tent, by the way, cannot be a game time decision, and this is something you will have to factor into the budget and commit to long before the 7 day forecast comes out. Depending on the type of tent, the size, the fabric, the company, how long set up will take and roughly 472 other factors, pricing can be in the thousands. Basically, even if you play by the rules and have a low guest count, unless there is an indoor "Plan B" available, you're looking at the additional cost of bringing in a tent.

Here are a few other ways that Rustic Chic can drain your budget, and how I got to that crazy scary $60,000-$75,000 range:

1. Bathrooms: Indoor plumbing isn't always a thing, and many times you will have to bring in restroom trailers. Since this isn't a tailgate, I'm not talking about those bright blue porto-potties, but rather long and luxurious trailers with anywhere from 2-4 stalls each. These trailers will have to be rented in advance and there will need to be coordination of the electricity and water source from the venue to the trailers. Anything that the venue cannot provide (like water) and the trailer company then needs to provide, will make the price jump again.

2. Chairs: The amount of seating that is necessary at a wedding is important to think about. You will either need two sets of chairs, one for the ceremony and one for the reception, or you will need to hire a huge staff to move them from one location to the other during the cocktail hour. Frankly, it's much more cost effective to just have two sets of chairs. Cocktail hour will also require some seating which could really be anything and therefore, really cost anything. Chairs will also have to be delivered, set up and broken down by your planner or rental company, which is another cost to consider.

3. Tables: Along with chairs, tables are easy to take for granted and it's even easier to forget just how many you need. It's more than just tables for your guests at the reception, and also includes a table during the ceremony at the end of the aisle (or two or three, however many you need), as well as high and low tops for the cocktail hour, a card table, a gift table, any tables that the caterer will need like for stations, desserts, a buffet, cake, etc. You pretty much need a list to check off (or a planner) to make sure you don't forget any of them. These, like the chairs, will need to be delivered, set up and broken down.

4. Linens and Serveware: Any tablecloth or napkin that you use will also need to be rented and delivered/set up. Again, past the reception tables, all of the other miscellaneous tables will need tablecloths, and extra napkins will need to be rented to make sure that everyone has one whenever they need it. Utensils, glassware and plates also need to be brought in and can cost anywhere from $15 a setting up to and past $45 a setting. That vintage china you've had your eye on isn't available for pennies, and something like that might not be available through your caterer.

5. Caterer: Speaking of food...one of the reasons this trend is so insanely popular (and the best ever) is that as a couple you get to actually pick your food. You don't have to be limited by the menu given to you by the banquet hall, no matter how extensive they say it is. You get to have tastings and meet with other caterers to design your menu from anything passed on a tray right through to each layer of cake or whatever dessert you are now free to choose. This cost though can possibly be put together with basics like tables, linens, chairs, forks, knives, etc....but sometimes it's not. Many caterers do have in house rentals like these and some even can provide tents, but there are those that do not. For the ones that do not, you (or your planner...so get a planner) will need to coordinate numbers and find out just how many of everything the caterer will need. 150 guests doesn't mean 150 plates...more like 180. You get the idea. In a banquet hall, the extra basics are already in house and therefore, included in the price, but outside of one you have to make them appear and that means paying for ones you may not even use. Ouch.

6. Cold and Hot Air: As far as climate control, the numbers are all over the place as you can do as little as providing fans, to as much as bringing in an air conditioning unit from the tent company. Of course, if it's already cold, then you'll be looking at the costs of heat lamps.

7. Staff: Assuming your caterer is reputable and established, they will bring with them a team much like you would have inside a banquet hall. This means there will be people to pour the drinks, serve the food, clear the tables and remove the trash. A corner I have seen cut before (put down the scissors and do not cut this corner) is having a caterer come in to serve the foot but not provide any additional staff. Nothing like a stack of plates with dried on food piling up on the tables and your guests not quite sure what to do with them. In addition to that, the trash removal is more than likely outlined in a rental contract and everything needs to magically disappear by the end of the night. Not something you want to do in a white wedding gown.

8. Wildflowers: This is not a real term. I know what you mean, you know what you mean, but I cannot go to my florist or wholesaler and ask for "wildflowers". When couples see weddings like these on popular blogs like Style Me Pretty and 100 Layer Cake, they are falling in love with the entire package. It's not just about the centerpiece that looks like a bunch of flowers thrown together that "woke up like that". Nope. It's every detail from the table number to the linens to the place setting and more. That simple piece of some herb tied with jute string to the deep plum napkin doesn't just come with a package. It's designed, pulled and then put together. On each setting. All 150 or 175 or 200 or whatever. With 10 people at a 60 inch round, complete with a setting, crossback chairs, linens, a table number and centerpiece, you could easily be looking at $250-$450 or more per table. Times 15 or 20 tables. $3,750-$9,000. That "look" that you want, the one you've pinned 50 different versions of probably isn't what many would consider "affordable".

9. Estate Fee: Since many of these places are blank slates, they charge an estate or venue fee. This fee is basically another rental cost as you are renting the grounds and buildings that you are using. I have seen this number as low as $3,000 and as high as $30,000. This is the cost to walk in the door. The door that might not even be there yet because you haven't rented it by this point.

10. Cute Vintage Rentals: Because we all know that the "must-haves" include tufted chairs, antique pieces to adorn the tables, shutter benches, settees and more, there is no rustic chic wedding complete without these rentals. There's no way to put a number on this because it varies based on how many pieces you want, what pieces you want, delivery, set up and pick up. That said, some of those cute little couches that pull the entire look together, could easily have been purchased for $400 or more by the rental company. Add a few pieces together along with the overhead you'll be paying for (because these pieces have to be stored somewhere and storage units/warehouses aren't free) as well as the truck that the company either has or has to rent, and you could be looking at a multi-thousand dollar bill. More if the pieces come back badly damaged. For those of you with your eye on farm tables, don't get too excited about the linens you no longer need because you're not actually saving any money as farm tables can be close to $300. Each.

11. Coordinator/Designer/Planner: Ok, while obviously I believe that a planner is a brilliant investment for any wedding (because it is), it's truly essential in this case. This is not the time to lean on that oh-so-dependable Maid of Honor sister of yours to set up the ceremony chairs or anything else for that matter. Everyone should be a guest at the wedding including you and your wedding party. A seasoned coordinator, preferably one with experience in these types of spaces, will not only be able to find the venue that fits with you (and your budget and your guest count), but can put together a team of vendors that can handle this as well. This means a string trio for the ceremony that won't get lost finding the farm, a DJ that won't drain the very little electricity, a caterer that will learn the rules of the location if they don't know them already, and much more. Plus, any deliveries can be coordinated by the planner and it will be the planner there to handle any items coming in, being set up and later being broken down. Because when you show up to your wedding and there is just a stack of chairs, one on top of the other, you are not going to want to set those all up for the ceremony. I could go on, but you really need to trust me on this one.

12. Transportation: Sometimes these places have parking areas, but many times they don't or can only fit 10-20 cars. If you're truly somewhere remote, you will want to bring in a shuttle company to get your guests there safely and then return them to their respective hotel blocks at the end of the evening. While this is an expense you could incur at a banquet hall, you are pretty much guaranteed to get stuck with it in this case. If you're sending over 50 people, this is another few thousand to work into the budget, and what can really make this cost burn is when guests decide at the last minute to either not take the shuttle you already paid for, or take it when they told you that they weren't. I'm not sure what's worse, so you tell me: shuttles showing up with a handful of people as everyone else decided to drive and now have nowhere to park so they are calling your cell (unless you hired a planner...), or the guests calling your cell because they don't all fit on the shuttle that they now just decided they want to take, which is costing you extra because of the additional trips...which also pushes your ceremony time later...and the whole day turns into a game of Dominoes.

13. Décor on the ceiling: Something happens when couples leave the banquet hall in favor of a more rustic environment...they want to take pieces of that same hall and bring them in. Frequent requests I receive are similar to what many couples are finding in online blogs and photo galleries and they can be crystal chandeliers, bistro lights, flower installations hanging from the ceiling and more. Truth be told, there isn't a huge group of engaged couples that are dying to get married in a barn without adding some extra trimmings. While a marble banquet hall adorned in bling doesn't need much extra (especially on the already crowded ceiling), a barn or loft space could seem bare without additional pieces. It's a lovely thought (and one that I've heard hundreds of times) to just get a really big ladder (like huge) and hang up everything yourself, but the problem with that? Dangerous. Oh, and the venue won't let you do it almost 100% of the time. Your planner/designer can handle securing whatever décor you want to hang including garland, flowers, lanterns and more, and then can coordinate everything being set up as well. The ceiling décor is pretty much the cherry on top and a popular request from couples in spaces such as these. Why? Because the internet is drowning with these photos and there's always something on the ceiling. Always. Between the cost of the actual product as well as setting it up and taking it down, this can be a hefty expense as well.

This article isn't meant to rain all over your lace and eucalyptus parade, but is here to shed some light on this very popular and not going anywhere trend. I'm also not trying to sound pro-banquet hall here because I couldn't be more anti-basic-ballroom if I tried. I'm just looking to remove the rose colored glasses from all of those couples that call looking for "affordable" and "budget" friendly rustic chic planning and design services. Those pretty little pictures you're pinning are the fully loaded version of the Lexus you see on television. The package you love isn't the "standard" model in the showroom, but rather a leather trimmed, heated seats version, and every piece has its own price tag.

The average total wedding cost in the country sits around $30,000 and in the NYC Metro area (where there are endless barns, lofts and such) as well as Southern California, an average wedding will cost $50,000. The bottom line is, a rustic chic wedding is not an average wedding. It's not average in any aspect for that matter, and that is why knowing your budget and the real numbers is important. Because rustic chic is never going to be rustic cheap.