The 10 best wedding venues in Savannah

Weddings with 100 to 150 guests and a full professional team are commonly reported between $32,000 and $55,000, with full-service peak-season Saturdays climbing past that. Venue hire on its own typically lands somewhere between $4,000 and $12,000 depending on the address and the month, so it is rarely the line that decides the total — catering, multiplied by headcount, is. Smaller weddings of 75 or fewer are routinely brought in under $35,000, and a Friday or a January date takes a meaningful bite out of every quote.

Yes. Georgia sets no residency or citizenship requirement and no waiting period, so the licence can be collected the day before the wedding. Apply online with Chatham County Probate Court, then both of you attend a booked appointment at Room 509 of the courthouse on Montgomery Street with passports in hand — $76, or $36 if you have completed six hours of premarital education, and any non-English document such as a divorce decree needs a certified translation. Unlike France or Italy, there is no requirement to hold a separate civil ceremony at home: the ceremony you have in Savannah is the legal marriage. To have it recognised abroad, order a certified copy afterwards and get an apostille from the Georgia Secretary of State if your country is in the Hague Convention, or consular authentication if it is not.

You can, and it is a separate process from the venue and the licence. Twenty-two squares and parks are bookable through the city's Leisure Services department, capacities running from about 25 at Crawford Square to effectively unlimited at Forsyth Park and Johnson Square, most downtown squares taking 200 to 400. The application has to be in at least 20 days ahead with an on-site meeting two weeks before, and separate permits cover alcohol, amplified sound, power and portable restrooms. A group of under fifty standing with no chairs, runner or tent can often go ahead without one, but the moment you set up furniture you need the permit — and squares surrounded by houses must be cleared by 9pm.

Spring and autumn Saturdays at the downtown properties are the pressure point; the historic district has a limited number of rooms and they go a year or more out, competing with peak tourist season for hotel blocks at the same time. On size, the practical ceiling downtown is around 300 — the Charles H. Morris Center seats 300, Ships of the Sea takes 250, Victory North seats 380 — and the historic houses like Harper Fowlkes cap out near 120. Past 400 guests you are realistically looking across the river at the Westin, whose Grand Ballroom takes 800, or the Kehoe Ironworks building at Trustees' Garden.