How Much Does a Wedding Venue Insurance Cost?

Vendor bankruptcy, groom’s military deployment, hurricane, fire, food poisoning – everyone hopes these circumstances will pass them, but not everyone is lucky.

Even if your venue doesn’t demand wedding insurance, purchasing coverage is always worth the money.

However, the insurance price can vary significantly depending on a scope of factors, so do your research and evaluate your options critically before signing a contract.

Average Wedding Insurance Cost

The average cost of wedding insurance is about $200. This figure includes wedding liability coverage and wedding cancelation or postponement coverage. A $185-$200 policy usually covers up to $1,000,000-$2,000,000 in losses and accidents.

However, couples hosting lavish weddings that require additional coverage can pay twice the price. Unfortunately, even if you host a small wedding with 30 guests in your backyard, the insurance cost is unlikely to be lower than $70.

Many wedding insurance providers offer discounts for coverage bundles. In other words, if you purchase wedding liability, cancellation, postponement, and additional rider coverage from the same provider, you may save 5%-20%.

Wedding Liability Insurance Cost

Wedding liability insurance is similar to homeowner’s liability insurance. It covers damages, injuries, and other losses occurring during a wedding.

For example, if a wedding guest indulges in an open bar too much and breaks the venue window, the liability insurance would cover a replacement.

Many venues require couples to get a wedding liability insurance to book a venue; in other cases, the insurance may be optional, but it’s always worth it. But how much does wedding liability insurance cost?

Depending on the coverage amount, terms and conditions, deductibles, location, and chosen insurance provider, wedding liability insurance may range from as little as $66 to well over $300.

Typically, a $125 wedding liability insurance covers $500,000-$1,000,000 worth of losses.

Such coverage should be sufficient for the most unprecedented, bizarre circumstances. However, some insurance providers offer coverage of up to $5,000,000.

Wedding Cancellation Insurance Cost

Another wedding insurance type that your venue may request is wedding cancellation coverage. As the name suggests, wedding cancellation insurance covers costs associated with the event’s cancellation or postponement.

Wedding cancellation and postponement coverage are vital because over 30% of all wedding insurance claims relate to vendor issues, 29% to severe injury or illness, and 16% to weather issues.

Note that the coverage only applies to cancellation or postponement occurring due to specified in the contract reasons.

As a rule of thumb, it includes cases where a wedding is postponed or canceled due to extreme weather (think hurricane or flood, not rain or lack of sun) or vendor issues.

Additionally, the insurance may cover cases where the event is postponed because the groom serves in the military and is called to duty or due to the illness of the couple’s immediate family members.

The wedding cancellation or postponement insurance doesn’t usually cover change of heart, breakups, or postponement occurring due to increased vendor costs. Now, the primary question is – how much does wedding cancellation insurance cost?

Depending on your total wedding cost, insurance provider, location, and other factors, the wedding cancellation and postponement coverage may cost $100 and up, usually about $150.

The higher average price of cancellation coverage than that of liability coverage can be easily explained. If a couple claims cancellation coverage, the insurance provider must reimburse the cost of an entire wedding, which often exceeds $30,000.

Most wedding cancellation insurance packages provide coverage up to $1,000,000, but more coverage is available for lavish weddings for an extra fee.

Additional Wedding Insurance Riders

Typically, wedding liability insurance and wedding cancellation insurance don’t cover honeymoon cancellation or postponement, stolen or lost gifts, couples counseling in the case of event cancellation, liquor host liability, the engagement ring, and bridal attires.

Couples wishing to insure any of these points can get additional insurance riders. Such riders usually cost no more than $75 each, but the price may skyrocket for exquisite engagement rings or luxurious honeymoon getaways in all-inclusive resorts.

Couples should ensure that these points aren’t included in their base wedding insurance coverage before purchasing a separate rider because they can’t claim the same loss twice.

Additional wedding insurance riders are never mandatory but may be highly beneficial depending on the couple’s situation.

The Deductible

The deductible can significantly affect the wedding insurance price. An insurance deductible is the amount of money the couple must cover after filing a claim before the provider pays out the rest.

Suppose you’ve purchased wedding liability insurance with a $400 deductible. A guest suffers an injury that costs $1,000 in medical bills during your wedding. You would first have to cover $400 yourself, and the insurance provider would then cover the remaining $600.

Now, suppose the deductible remains $400, but your venue manager informs you that one of the guests has damaged a chair. The chair costs $300. The insurance provider wouldn’t pay anything because the deductible exceeds the claim amount.

Depending on the policy’s terms and conditions and the provider, the wedding insurance deductible can range from $0 to over $1,000. The higher deductible, the lower the insurance premium. However, sparing on the premium isn’t always worth it.

Factors Affecting The Insurance Cost

Factors affecting the wedding insurance premium include location, insurance provider, policy limits, deductible amount, and the wedding’s total cost. Defining the extent to which each of these factors affects the premium is practically impossible.

Wedding insurance premiums can vary drastically, so shopping around and comparing your options is critical. For example, a $150 policy that covers your bridal attire and engagement ring may be more beneficial than a $100 policy that doesn’t.

The insurance tends to cost more in states with a higher cost of living, such as California, New York, Oregon, Alaska, Maryland, and Hawaii. That’s no wonder because vendors charge more in these states, so the insurance provider may have to cover more losses.

An insurance provider that has been in the business for decades may charge more than a company that recently appeared on the market. However, overpaying for expertise and trustworthiness is usually better than purchasing coverage from an illegitimate company.

How Much Coverage Do You Need?

You may wonder – how much wedding insurance coverage do I need? In most scenarios, calculating the coverage amount is unnecessary. A standard wedding insurance policy covers $500,000-$2,000,000 in losses, which is sufficient for an average American wedding.

However, if your total wedding cost exceeds $500,000, you may want to consider buying extra coverage. Some policies cost over $1,000 to cover the most lavish weddings.

You may also want to purchase an additional insurance rider if you have a designer wedding dress or tuxedo, you or your partner are in the military and can be deployed, or your engagement ring features an expensive diamond.

In other words, consider potential losses and damages not covered by the base insurance policy. Note that sometimes, your engagement ring, bodily injuries, or property damage may be already covered by your homeowner’s insurance policy.

In this case, you may not need to buy extra wedding insurance. Checking the policy with your insurance agent and venue manager before purchasing any coverage is always a good idea.

How To Choose a Beneficial Insurance Coverage

Choosing wedding insurance can be tricky, especially considering that most policies have the same coverage limit. Consider your wedding’s primary risks and special policy requirements to select the most beneficial option.

Maybe you host an outdoor beach wedding during the rainy season – in this case, look for a policy covering bad weather rather than extreme weather.

Maybe the groom serves in the military – in this case, ensure that the wedding cancellation and postponement policy includes sudden deployment to avoid purchasing a separate insurance rider.

Consider also risks that aren’t particularly relevant to your wedding or are already covered by another insurance to avoid overpaying. For instance, you may purchase cheaper liability insurance that doesn’t cover bodily injuries if your homeowner’s insurance covers them.

Or you may save money by purchasing a cancellation and postponement policy that doesn’t cover extreme weather if hurricanes, floods, and snowstorms aren’t a thing in your area.

Pay attention to the deductible. Sparing on the premium by purchasing a policy with a high deductible may be tempting but not always wise. It’s only worth it when you really have the money and the risks are low.

Lastly, consider insurance bundles but evaluate the offer adequately. A 15% discount is a great deal, but sometimes, purchasing coverage from different providers may actually be cheaper.

Suppose one provider offers a wedding liability, cancellation, and postponement insurance bundle for $200, including a 10% discount.

However, you may get liability coverage for $75 and cancellation for $85 from other providers. In this case, the discount doesn’t make the offer beneficial.

Note that some venues may require you to purchase their own insurance coverage, and you may have no provider choice.