Wedding budget myths

We often hear brides and acquaintances saying how surprised (to be honest, the word they use is shocked) they are when hearing how much wedding related services actually cost.

Financial situation aside, most couples are not educated in this segment and often get information from amateur wedding portals that are not quite familiar with actual wedding industry. For some reason, brides today think that a florist should just charge the purchasing price for flowers without adding value for spending days on developing idea, making specific orders and creating actual design.

Make sure to keep in mind that you pay both for product and service, which includes vendor`s time and know-how. And although the service is often not tangible that doesn`t mean it has no value. Moreover, experience and education lead to quality service.

Here’s some of the most typical wedding budget myths:

WEDDING AT HOME

People owning private properties often think they can have a spectacular wedding at their home at low cost. Actually, you may end up spending 30-50% more because even if there is no rental fee, you still need to rent tons of necessary equipment, catering, electricity, lighting… Hotels and restaurants are equipped with necessary equipment, like tables, chairs and linens and that`s usually included in their service.

DESTINATION WEDDING

This option may bring you some savings in term of cutting the guest list, but you`ll still have fixed cost of your music program, photographer, planner, attire… You also need to keep in mind all the extra costs such as flights and accommodation. Also, great service comes with great price, regardless of the destination where you decided to get married. That`s why you should have a destination wedding because you want to, not because you believe it will save you money.

BUFFET VS. SIT-DOWN DINNER

It is common for a wedding buffet to look a bit showy and abundant, with great variety of food choices. Also, you still need good waiting staff who will circle the area. Compared to a sit-down dinner there are not big savers. Instead of a dinner, you can have a daylight reception that won`t last too long and people don`t tend to drink as much as during evening events. You may also save on entertainment as you won`t be needing a full size band for the afternoon gathering.

ONLINE SAVINGS

We are now used to order shoes and handbags online, but that might not be the smartest idea when buying a wedding dress. There are few important things to be factored in when ordering online: fake designer gowns, shipping expenses and adjustment cost. If the seller doesn`t accept returns, you might end up with paying for two dresses if the first one doesn`t fit for any reason. There’s a possibility you won`t even like the dress once you try it on.

DO IT YOURSELF

To repeat a thought from the beginning of this post – most brides calculate only cost of material and forget about expertise and time required to create a certain item. In theory you might be having a great idea, but assembling any decorative element is time-consuming even if you are a crafty person. Also, a lot of brides are not being realistic about their crafty capabilities. There is a reason we have professionals in the industry. It takes more than a wholesale access to create something beautiful.

WEDDING PLANNER

We have said that many times – wedding planner can actually save your money! We are regular clients to venues and vendors and we can negotiate better rates because of working with same suppliers over the years. You may end up saving bigger amount than your planner`s fee.

If you’re still having doubts, here’s more reasons why to hire a wedding planner.

AVOID THE WORD “WEDDING”

We are really keen to know the genius who invented this one! There is a reason why the food & beverage fees are not the same for a business lunch on Wednesday and sit-down wedding dinner on Saturday. Or why lavishing decorated wedding cake costs more that a regular birthday cake. Industry professionals don`t give you higher price just because there is the „W“ word involved. All of us work a limited number of weddings per year and that requires special prep work as well as some post production activities (for example, photographers). Every wedding requires a specific amount of time and dedication and that is also calculated in our pricing. Weddings need to be catered with special care. It`s an event that cannot be compared to a school reunion or family gathering. If you expect to get wedding service and quality be prepared to pay the wedding price.