South County venue guide
Updated
South County is Rhode Island's beach country: salt ponds, sandy beaches, and old inns from Narragansett down to Westerly and Watch Hill. Block Island is a ferry ride offshore. The venues here are mostly inns with rooms upstairs, plus a beach club, a country club on the bay, and a farm with a winery. A wedding here tends to be a weekend by the water.
We've gathered details on 6 South County and Block Island venues. Pick a starting point and Sage will rank them for your day, with cost estimates wherever the venue publishes its prices.
What should you budget?
Use − and + to reprice every figure below.
$38k
Typical estimate
The median cost for South County & Block Island venues that include their own catering.
$15k–$136k
Typical range
A very wide range. The beach club and the country club sit near the low end, and the oceanfront inns reach well past the top of it.
These are our estimates, not quotes from the venues. They include service charges and tax when a venue lists them. Your date, guest count, bar, and rentals will all change the final total. Guest rooms aren't included.
Every filled dot is one South County & Block Island venue that can host 100 guests, shaded by its own estimate on the same scale as the Rhode Islandguide's map; grey ones don't publish a venue-with-catering price. Outlined dots are venues in neighbouring regions.
Narrow it down
See which South County & Block Island venues fit your guest count and budget, and why
Guests
By budget and guest count
How many South County & Block Island venues come in under common budgets for the venue and food, at the guest counts couples plan for most. Each row counts the venues that can host that many guests and publish a full price for the venue and the food, so the list gets shorter as it grows.
| Guests | Typical venue and food | Under $15,000 | Under $25,000 | Under $35,000 | Under $50,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 guests | $28k | 1 of 5 | 2 of 5 | 3 of 5 | 4 of 5 |
| 100 guests | $38k | 0 of 5 | 1 of 5 | 2 of 5 | 4 of 5 |
| 150 guests | — | 0 of 4 | 1 of 4 | 1 of 4 | 2 of 4 |
| 200 guests | — | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 |
Our estimates for the venue and food, including service charges and tax where the venue lists them, on a Saturday in peak season. Not quotes. A typical figure is shown only where at least five venues publish a price. On their cheapest published date, usually a weekday or a winter month, 1 more venue comes in under $15,000 for 100 guests.
How venues price weddings
Pick one to see what its price contains, what it leaves for you to buy, and what it typically comes to.
You get the venue, food, and other vendors
A package covering the venue and food & beverage, plus at least three things you would otherwise hire and pay for yourself — a coordinator, a DJ, the florals, the cake, the invitations.
$26k
typical for the package
$26k–$26k
where 80% of these 1 venues land
And then you still buy
want the fewest decisions and the fewest separate contracts to sign.
What you’d still need to find out
Bundles differ a lot between venues so know exactly what you’re signing up for and what’s flexible.
You pay for the space and their kitchen
Venues publish their price in two ways: as a site fee plus a per-guest menu price, or as a bundled package (venue + food).
$43k
typical for venues with catering
$15k–$136k
where 80% of these 4 venues land
And then you still buy
don’t want to worry about sourcing a caterer or any outside catering fees.
What you’d still need to find out
Whether drinks are inside the menu price or billed separately, and what the service charge and tax add at the end.
You're paying for the water and the weekend. The typical total here is higher than across Rhode Island, and most of that is the oceanfront inns: they come with a lawn above the water, rooms for your guests, and a kitchen that does the food, so there's less to hire. They also come with more rules than most venues, from what you can throw at the send-off to what you can hang on the walls.
Right on the property, compared with 33% across Rhode Island.
See venues with rooms on siteOf the rules venues here publish on sparklers, candles, confetti, and hanging décor, the share that ban it or allow it only with conditions.
See each venue's rulesTypical service charges, admin fees, and tax, compared with 22% across Rhode Island.
Compare full estimates, fees includedOf the venues that say either way. Most cater in house.
See venues that allow your catererWhat kind of place
An old inn on a salt pond or the ocean, in Westerly, Charlestown, or on Block Island, with a lawn for the ceremony and rooms for the family. Ask how many rooms you have to book, for how many nights, and whether the inn is yours alone that day.
4 of 6 venues here
Find venues like theseA ceremony on the sand and a clubhouse reception in Narragansett. Simpler than an inn, and nobody sleeps there. Ask what happens to the ceremony if it rains and where guests will stay nearby.
1 of 6 venues here
Find venues like theseA country club ballroom above the bay in North Kingstown, or a farm with a winery and a tent in South Kingstown. Bigger rooms and fewer rules than the inns. Ask what the package includes and what gets added at the end.
2 of 6 venues here
Find venues like theseBefore you tour
The inns can put up the wedding party, sometimes most of your guests. Work out who you want on site, then ask each inn how many people it sleeps, whether you have to book every room, and what happens to rooms you don't fill.
See venues with rooms on siteGetting to Block Island means a ferry from Point Judith or a short flight, and summer ferries book up. Check the schedule for your date, give guests a realistic travel time, and ask the venue how it gets vendors and rentals across.
See venues across the regionSparklers, candles, confetti, and anything you want to hang are often limited at the old inns and on the beach. If a sparkler exit or candlelit tables are part of the plan, ask before you book.
See each venue's rulesof venues that say either way (5 here)
at least, of all venues (6 here)
at least, of all venues (6 here)
at least, of all venues (6 here)
a planner, insurance, security or similar, of all venues (6 here)
What affects the cost of your wedding
Wedding venue pricing is seasonal. 3 of the 6 South County & Block Island venues we track charge differently depending on the day, and 4 charge differently depending on the month. Every figure below compares a venue with itself, so it says what moving your date does — whatever kind of venue you pick, and whatever the size of your wedding.
Day of the week
Months you’d consider
Peak months are selected to start. Tap any month to compare.
Saturday, peak season
The most expensive date most venues sell, and the date almost every published price assumes. Choose a different day or month to see what typically comes off.
What gets added at the end
Every pricing model carries them. At the 6 South County & Block Island venues that publish their fees, the middle result is 24%, with most landing between 12% and 32%.
Service charge3 venues
20%
The venue’s charge for its staff. Not a tip.
Sales tax5 venues
8%
Set by the state, and charged on the service charge too at most venues.
Dots are sized by how many venues charge that rate. The gold line is the median rate, and every fee has its own scale: read the spread within a row, not across them.
Places worth a closer look
These include a beach club, a farm with a winery, and two oceanfront inns, one of them on Block Island. Open a venue to see its pricing, capacity, spaces, vendor rules, and other planning details.
Narragansett · Up to 130 guests
You can bring your own caterer or use theirs
$25–35k · All Inclusive
See pricing and policies
New Shoreham · Up to 350 guests
Guests can stay on site, and the whole property is yours
$35–50k · Venue Fee + Catering
See pricing and policies
South Kingstown
Guests can stay on site
$35–50k · Venue Fee + Catering
See pricing and policies
Westerly · Up to 225 guests
Guests can stay on site
$75k+ · Venue Fee + Catering
See pricing and policies
Describe your guest count, your budget, and anything you can’t compromise on. See a ranked list of venues, with why each one fits, trade-offs, and what to double-check.
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.
Before you book
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.
