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Lancaster & Hershey venue guide

Updated

Lancaster and Hershey wedding venues: farms, barns, and historic estates

Lancaster County, Hershey, and York are farm country: restored barns, historic estates, and a few grand hotels. Many venues here rent you the space and let you bring your own team, which keeps the starting price low and gives you more to organize.

We've gathered details on 10 Lancaster and Hershey venues. Pick a starting point and Sage will rank them for your day, with cost estimates wherever the venue publishes its prices.

Barn or farmOur own catererGuests stay on site

What should you budget?

Venue and food for 100 guests

$22k

Typical estimate

A typical cost for the venue and food on a Saturday.

$18k–$28k

Typical range

A tight range. Barns, estates, and hotels here price close to one another.

These are our estimates, not quotes from the venues. Many venues here quote only the cost of the space, so a price well below this range probably doesn't include food yet. Your date, guest count, bar, rentals, and staff will all change the final total.

What to expect here

You rent the barn, then build the team

Half the venues here quote just the space, and more of them let you bring your own caterer than anywhere else in Pennsylvania. That means more freedom over the food and more to arrange yourself. Venues here are also more likely to have requirements of their own, like insurance or a damage deposit. On the plus side, most say exactly what happens if it rains.

Quote the space only
50%

Food, drinks, and staff come on top, compared with 14% across Pennsylvania.

Let you bring your own caterer
30%

Of the venues that say either way, compared with 9% across Pennsylvania.

State a rain plan
80%

Of the venues here, compared with 52% across Pennsylvania.

Have booking requirements
50%

Most often event insurance, a refundable damage deposit and a licensed planner. These cost extra and won't show up in a quote.

Barn, estate, or hotel

Start with the kind of Lancaster wedding you want

Barn or farm

Restored barns and working farms around Lancaster, Elizabethtown, and York. Many rent you the space, so plan to hire a caterer, a bar, and rentals. Ask what the kitchen and power can handle.

Historic estate or mill

Stone mansions, a restored mill, and historic event spaces, several yours alone for the day. Ask what's included in the rental and what the venue requires you to arrange.

Hotel, inn, or garden

The Hotel Hershey, Hershey Gardens, and village inns, where the venue cooks and guests can often stay. Ask about a block of rooms and how much you need to spend on food and drinks.

Before you tour

Three decisions to make early

Budget for the vendors you'll hire

When a venue quotes only the space, list what it leaves to you: caterer, bar, tables and linens, maybe a planner. Add those up before you compare it with a venue that includes the food.

Check the requirements

Venues here are more likely to require event insurance, a damage deposit, or a licensed planner. Ask on the first call, so none of it surprises you later.

Check prices on a weekday

A weekday wedding here typically costs 30% less than the same wedding on a Saturday. If your date is flexible, it's the easiest way to save.

Places worth a closer look

Six Lancaster and Hershey venues to start with

These examples cover the area's barns, estates, gardens, and hotels, priced in different ways. Open a venue to see its pricing, capacity, spaces, vendor rules, and other planning details.

Get a shortlist for your vision and budget

Tell Sage about your day: your guest count, your budget, and anything you can’t compromise on. You’ll get a ranked list of venues, with why each one fits and what to double-check.

Try:

Sage the Date reads each venue's own published details, including pricing, catering and alcohol rules, music curfews, rain plans, whether you get the whole property, and how many guests each space holds. Every estimate uses your guest count. When a venue doesn't say, we tell you instead of guessing. Searching is free and doesn't require an account.

Before you book

Three questions worth asking

  • What does the rental include, and which vendors will we need to hire ourselves?
  • Do we need event insurance, a licensed planner, or a damage deposit to book?
  • Can we bring our own caterer and bar, and what kitchen and power will they have?
How this guide is built

Sage reads each venue's own published pricing and policies, puts different kinds of quotes on the same footing, and estimates the cost for 100 guests. If a venue doesn't say something, we treat it as a question to ask, not a no. Venues can't pay to appear or to rank higher here.