Put two quotes side by side on the kitchen table. Same month, same number of guests, nearly the same amount at the bottom of the page.
The first covers a hall, from late afternoon until one in the morning. The second covers an entire estate, from Friday to Sunday, with a tent, 7 bedrooms and brunch the next day under the same roof. Both are called “venue rental”. Yet you do not get the same thing at all.
That is why wedding prices are so hard to compare online. Every couple has their own budget, and no article can guess yours. You will find three things here: our price, what it includes, and the questions to ask other venues to learn their real price.
Our price fits on one line
At Manoir Blackswan, in Châteauguay, 30 minutes from downtown Montreal, the estate privatization starts at $15,000. It covers the weekend, from Friday to Sunday, for one wedding at a time, from May to October.
We give no price for the second column, because it depends on your choices. Another article explains why you choose the reception table yourselves, and what the Manoir lends you for the rest of the weekend.
A price does not tell you how long you are renting for
A hall is rented by the evening. You arrive in the late afternoon, you leave during the night, and the next day another group moves in. A privatized estate is rented by the weekend. Your family arrives on Friday, sets down their bags, and no one watches the clock on Saturday night because no one is driving home.
Both formulas have their place. But one is paid by the evening and the other by the weekend. Comparing them is like comparing a night in a hotel with a week at a cottage.
The tent, the expense you discover last
The tent seems optional until the day the weather decides otherwise.
There are two kinds. The ordinary shelter, which is easy to find. And the sailcloth tent, the Sperry kind, with its wooden poles and a canvas that glows at nightfall. The second costs a great deal more, and couples often think of it too late, when the rest of the budget is already committed.
At the Manoir, it is already standing on its stone terrace, and it is included in the price. You will not have to add it at the last minute.
Six questions reveal the real price of a venue
Ask them of every venue, in the same order, and write down the answers. You will see differences that the posted prices did not show.
| The question | Why it changes the price | At Manoir Blackswan |
|---|---|---|
| How long does the price cover? | An evening and a weekend cannot be compared | Friday to Sunday |
| Who else will be on site? | A shared venue costs less, but you are not alone there | No one, one wedding at a time |
| Is the tent included? | It is often the expense that arrives last | Yes, the Sperry tent, up to 100 seated guests |
| How many of your family sleep on site? | Their hotel rooms are part of the real total | 14 people, 2 nights, included |
| Is the caterer imposed? | An imposed caterer sets the price of the meal for you | No, you choose |
| Is the table provided? | If the table is provided, you do not choose it | Indoors, the period tableware. For the reception, you compose your own |
The budget, the taboo subject best named early
People talk freely about the dress, the flowers and the guest list. About the budget, almost never, or too late, once three contracts are signed.
Yet the budget decides everything else. State yours in the first conversation, with the venue and with the caterer. A serious professional uses it to tell you what is possible, and what is not. We need to talk budget, and we need to talk reality.
A good caterer can only be compared with an equal
Caterers look easy to compare. You are quoted a price per person, you multiply in your head. Then the invoice drifts away from the math.
A renowned chef caterer, who arrives with their own service team, can only be compared with another of the same calibre. Setting their quote beside that of a caterer who delivers the dishes and leaves is comparing two different trades. The price difference is real, and it shows on the wedding night: an experienced team, and service that follows the rhythm of your evening.
Taxes and service fees are added, and almost no one plans for them because they do not come up in the first conversation. Always ask for a final amount, taxes and service included, before putting two proposals side by side.
Here, no caterer is imposed. We have select vendors to recommend, and we speak with each one before the wedding, without exception.
After the venue, your priorities decide the rest
The venue is the most important choice. After that, every couple spends according to what matters most to them.
Are you great epicureans, with a love of fine food? Choose a chef caterer accordingly, and let the menu take the place it deserves in the budget. Do you love design, with a precise theme in mind that represents you? Then put your budget into the table and the decor.
Every couple has two or three things that matter more than the rest. Name them before you ask for a single quote. That is where your budget should go. For the rest, you will know where to save.
Who will find a private estate too expensive
If you are hosting on a Saturday night and no one is staying over, you will pay for a weekend and live only one evening of it. A reception hall will serve you better, and for less.
The estate is rented whole, for the entire weekend. There is no one-day formula, and no reduced formula for a small group: 20 guests or 100, it is the same estate. Better to know before the visit.
One last piece of advice. Write each venue's six answers on the same sheet, then look at the prices. Often, the venue that seemed cheapest no longer is.
Emmanuel HébertManoir Blackswan