All-Inclusive Wedding Packages in NYC: What They Include

Most packages are built around the reception. You can usually expect the room itself, a food menu, a bar for a set number of hours, tables, chairs, linens, dinnerware and the staff who set up and serve.

Beyond that core, the lists diverge. Deity NYC in Brooklyn describes food, furniture, a day-of coordinator, a four-hour premium open bar and a DJ inside a six-hour event, with no administration, staff or rental fees. The Royal Benjamin Sonesta in Midtown East lists passed hors d'oeuvres, a three-course dinner, a four-hour bar, a champagne toast, cake cutting, linens, printed menus, easels, table numbers and votive candles.

At LIC Weddings in Queens, the Butler package covers passed hors d'oeuvres, charcuterie, salads, a four-hour open bar, tea, coffee and dessert. The Silver package swaps in a buffet dinner. Linens, silverware, a microphone and a champagne toast appear on its list too.

So, two venues can both say "all inclusive" and hand you very different weddings. Treat the name as a starting point and the written proposal as the answer.

Start with the money added to the rate. Deity adds New York State sales tax. The Royal Benjamin Sonesta prices its packages plus tax and service charge. LIC Weddings adds tax and gratuity. The Long Island Marriott in Uniondale lists a 24% service charge and 8.625% state sales tax in its package document.

Next come the things a reception package does not replace. A New York marriage license is required whatever venue you book, and a City Clerk ceremony carries its own fee. Officiant, attire, rings, invitations, hair and makeup, transportation and hotel rooms are separate unless your contract says otherwise.

Ceremony space is the line couples miss most often. Deity says a ceremony-space rental may apply if you hold the ceremony there, and the Long Island Marriott document lists an $850 ceremony room rental. Ask whether ceremony chairs, a rehearsal, an officiant and ceremony staffing are part of the package or priced apart.

Some packages name their own exclusions. LIC Weddings lists tent rental, additional chair and table rentals and live music as not included.

Here are four packages, read on November 5, 2026. They show how packages are structured. Prices change by date and season, so confirm every figure in a written quote.

The three Royal Benjamin tiers differ in what they pour and serve. Higher tiers add stronger liquor, late-night bites and upgraded entrees. Brooklyn Winery includes a premium open bar for the event and lets you customize the menu and package.

The Long Island Marriott publishes per-person and event prices in its package document. Request its current reception package and price schedule directly, since the headline rate depends on your date and menu.

For a national point of comparison, The Knot's 2026 Real Weddings Study of 10,474 U.S. couples married in 2025 reports an average cost per guest of $292 and an average guest count of 117. That is a national average, so use it for context and not as a New York package price.

Multiply the rate by the number of guests the venue will bill you for. Then add each charge that sits on top.

Here is one worked example using Deity's published Saturday rate for May to October, which is $350 per person with a 100-guest minimum. At 100 guests, the package is $35,000 before tax. If New York City's 8.875% sales and use tax rate applies to the full amount, as NYC311 lists it and as NYC Finance lists food and beverages sold by caterers as taxable, tax adds about $3,106, bringing the running total to roughly $38,106. Your venue will confirm the exact tax treatment in writing.

A smaller case works the same way. Fifty guests at LIC Weddings' $135 Butler rate is $6,750 before tax and gratuity.

Either way, you are not done yet. Add the ceremony fee if the ceremony is on site, any bar or menu upgrade, and the vendors the package does not cover. For how service charges, tax and gratuity stack on a quote, read how to read a venue's service charge, tax and gratuity. For typical totals across the five boroughs, see what a NYC wedding costs by borough.

Guest minimums, the day of the week and the season do most of the work. Deity publishes a full set of them, which makes it a useful way to see how much one venue's rate can move.

Read the table the way a budget reads it. A Saturday-morning event or a weekday saves $75 per person against a peak-season Saturday, and it also lowers the minimum you have to fill.

Brooklyn Winery points couples toward off-peak months and weekdays as the way to stretch a budget. Ask it for the full guest-minimum schedule for your date. Beyond date and season, bar tier, menu choices, event length and overtime all move the final number.

If your guest list is closer to 20 or 30 than 100, look at small wedding venues in NYC and micro weddings in NYC. Their pricing works differently from a 100-guest minimum.

Read the bar line first, because "open bar" covers a wide range. Ask whether it is beer and wine, standard liquor or premium liquor, how many hours it runs, and whether cocktail hour is inside those hours. Most published packages here run four hours.

For food, ask whether the price covers passed hors d'oeuvres, a plated or buffet dinner, dessert, coffee and tea, and late-night food. For rentals, ask about tables, chairs, linens, glassware, china, flatware and a dance floor. LIC Weddings, for example, lists linens, silverware and a microphone but excludes extra chairs and tables.

Vendor rules are set by each venue. Brooklyn Winery lets you bring an outside DJ or band, and all alcohol has to come from the winery. Deity includes a DJ in its package. At Deity, the Royal Benjamin and LIC Weddings, ask directly whether outside vendors are allowed and what they cost.

If you want to swap an included item, ask three things: whether the venue allows it, whether it offers a credit, and whether an outside-vendor fee applies. Do not assume a removed item comes off the price. Put the answer in the contract, since a verbal yes does not protect you.

A package is not automatically cheaper or pricier than booking each vendor yourself. The only fair test is the same scope on both sides. Pick one guest count, one date, the same hours, the same food and bar level, the same rentals and staffing, and the same ceremony plan.

Fill in the package column from the written proposal, with every tax and fee added. Then collect quotes for each line from separate vendors and fill in that column. Compare the two final totals, and not the headline rates.

One more factor has no price tag. A package gives you one team to coordinate, and separate quotes give you more control and more contracts to manage. Count the planning time you have, even if you leave a dollar value off it.

A reception package does not cover the legal marriage. NYC311 says you need a marriage license, which is usually valid for 60 days, and the ceremony must take place at least 24 hours after the license is issued.

If you also plan a civil ceremony at a City Clerk office, NYC311 lists a $25 ceremony fee, an appointment, a valid license and at least one witness, with no more than six people in the room including the two of you and the witness. Officiants performing weddings in NYC must register, and NYC311 lists a $15 registration fee.

A park wedding needs its own paperwork. NYC311 says a permit is required for park or beach events with more than 20 people, with a $25 non-refundable processing fee and 21 to 30 days of processing. Sound, tents and signage can involve extra fees through NYC Parks.

If you or your guests prefer Spanish, the City Clerk offers a Spanish marriage application guide.

Bring these questions to every venue, and ask for the answers in the written proposal. The signed contract controls over any sample package page.

• Deposit and balance: How much is the deposit, and when are the interim and final payments due?
• Guest-count guarantee: When is the guarantee due, and what happens above it? The Long Island Marriott document asks for a guaranteed number 10 business days before the event and charges guests above it accordingly.
• Cancellation and postponement: What is refundable if the date is canceled, moved or reduced?
• Overtime: What is the event end time, and what does an extra hour cost?
• Dietary needs: Which substitutions are available, and is there a charge? Kosher, halal, vegetarian and allergy needs are worth raising before you book.
• Children's and vendor meals: Are they billed at a different rate? The Long Island Marriott document lists a $35 children's meal and a $55 vendor meal.
• Removable items: Which parts of the package are fixed, and which can come out?
• Fees: Are there corkage, cake-cutting, outside-vendor, cleanup, security or delivery fees?

A plain document folder for the proposal, contract and payment records keeps all of this in one place. Pick one with labeled sections and a pocket for loose papers.

These are the short answers couples ask for most.

Pick a date and a realistic guest count, then request a written proposal from two or three venues that fit. Fill in the worksheet above for each one, tax and fees included, and bring the signing questions to your next call. When one total comes out clearly ahead for the same scope, you have your answer.