Yuck. Money. The subject no one wants to talk about but we all have to deal with, especially when it comes to weddings. And it's no secret that weddings are expensive - even an intimate, backyard ceremony with a handful of guests can stretch the wallet fairly quickly. I wanted to get into the reasoning behind some of the common pricetags and help put some of the sticker shock at ease.
But it's just some pretty paper: Invitations
A good rule of thumb when budgeting for invitations is this: a decent (read: nice quality, but not necessarily elaborate) invitation should cost around the same price as a greeting card. While we may buy greeting cards here and there as the occasion calls for it, you normally don't purchase 150+ greeting cards all at the same time. If you want a custom invitation, you can expect to pay more because you are compensating the artist for her designs, proofs, revisions and edits, assembly and general labor.
All you're doing is pushing a button: Photography & Videography
If all you want from your wedding are pictures that look like snapshots your slightly inebriated Uncle Frank took, then there are plenty of moonlighting hobbyists-who-call-themselves-professionals to choose from. If you want art and photographs that will capture the emotion of the day, then realistically you need to expect to pay more. Photography can easily be one of the most spendy parts of the wedding and for good reason - when all is said and done, that is what you will have left (well, that and your spouse of course!). I have met many, many married women who regret going cheap with their photography. Also, the final product usually doesn't come out of the camera ready to go - a lot of behind-the-scenes editing and design goes into producing great photos. If you're having video, you can count on hours of editing, including finding the right moments to splice things in, cueing the appropriate music to match, etc.
So you're like JLo in that movie: Wedding Planners
No, I'm not like JLo and wow, did she make my job look easy! Hollywood has a knack for doing that though, don't they? The biggest thing you are paying the planner for is her time - the average wedding takes more than 250 hours to plan and there are only 52 weekends in a year. Both of these facts limit how much we can take on and commit to. It may seem like you are paying the planner for one day, but in reality 250 hours translates into more than six 40-hour work weeks. And that's just for your normal, run-of-the-mill wedding. If you want something unique and special, even more time is involved.
They are just going to die tomorrow anyway: Flowers
Even flowers from the grocery store can be pricy - that is just the nature of a live element. When purchasing flowers, you are paying for so many things - the grower's cut (planting, growing, watering, feeding, harvesting), the packaging and shipping of them in a manner that they will not wilt or die on the way to your location, and then the florist's fees (design, watering, prepping them with special concoctions that prolong their lifespan, arranging, delivering, etc). Yes, a lot goes into those pretty bouquets.
It's just some fancy chicken: Food
Hands down, food is usually the most expensive item on the budget, and again quantity plays a big role. A nice dinner for two can sometimes be a splurge and when you're feeding 150+ mouths - well, I'll let you do the math. It is also important to look at quality when you are choosing your menu, and quality costs more, just like it does in every other part of life.
There are lots of areas of weddings that I didn't cover here, but I wanted to give a quick overview of some of them. The time-tested adage "you get what you pay for" has been proven over and over again with weddings. You don't need to break the bank on your wedding or try to keep up with the Joneses - but it is important to go into the wedding planning process with an understanding of where your money is going so that you can best prioritize its use.
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Great post! You're also paying a wedding planner for an education and I love that you all educate clients on things like this. It's tough because generally people are 1st timers at planning a wedding so they are starting with very little knowledge and planners can help with the learning-curve big time!
Thanks, Melissa! I agree. ;)
Amen to this post sista! And most of the time you get what you pay for, so brides shouldn't expect to get a good, experienced, creative photographer for $1500 or a day-of wedding planner for $500. Oh, I could go on for days about this subject. I was talking to two different people in the industry about how we need to work on educating our clients as well as selling our products or services.
Heather
Heather, that is so interesting because I have had this conversation with several people recently as well. It really does seem to be a need, and like Melissa said - the couples are in the planning process usually for the first (and hopefully only!) time so they've never had to deal with these kind of things.
This is a really important post. To elaborate on what Melissa Jill said, you're also paying your vendors for their experience. As a photographer, the education and experience under my belt makes me worth more now than when I was photographing as a student. And yes - editing and designing is a huge part of my time - the effort that we put in after the wedding is significantly larger and takes longer than what we do during the wedding. (Although I'll mention that my associates and I work up serious sweats and get our workout for the week DURING each wedding!) Again, I agree with Melissa Jill - educating clients on things like this is so important!
My other favorite is "they're just going to get thrown away"...oh honey no; not these. I've actually just recently had to explain the difference between having invitations custom designed or "going to Kinko's and having them do it". I simply educated the client on what I do and then welcomed them to give Kinko's a shot. Great blog Liene.
THANK YOU! This post is perfect. It hits the nail right on the head. With so much wedding info available to brides its amazing how much is still unknown. It just shows how experienced wedding planners and vendors are truly a necessity and can be a brides best friend when planning their dream wedding.
Thank You for this! On occasion I have to explain to a young Bride why a dress can cost $99. at a chain store vs. one of my custom order silk gowns with 100 hours of work cannot. Fabric aint cheap, yo!
What a great post! As a professional wedding photographer, I appreciate it. =)
This is a good overview! You could also do an entire post on the "price of experience" and how that translates DIRECTLY into quality of the day.
I would add that the vast majority of people have never planned a large event let ALONE an event requiring United Nations level diplomacy as two families come together for what everyone expects to be the ONE AND ONLY wedding.
There is nothing quite so cringe worthy as a couple who spend all that money and the ENTIRE flow of the event was really poor. The "Flow" is the...drum roll....wedding coordinator magic!
Great insights... Thanks for sharing
Thank you for the insightful post, and thank you for highlighting that a great deal of time is required in producing a wedding. I think our colleagues in the wedding industry would all agree that before the "day of" service or product we provide, we've embarked on a long journey with our bride and groom (and on occasion with some of the family members) to understand their wedding vision, and often continue to fine tune that vision via frequent communication until the day of delivery.
The wedding day is set, now the planning must begin. Thanks for all the great insight and tips on how to make this special day FABULOUS. Your blog is really AMAZING.