The Secret to Great Wedding Deals
Posted by admin | Under Wedding Reception Centerpieces Tuesday Apr 27, 2010
As anyone involved in wedding planning today knows, the overall cost of an average wedding is around $19,000 and often much higher. Of that amount, the largest amount of money for a wedding is usually spent on the wedding reception.
What if we could find ways to reduce just this expenditure alone? How much money would that free up to use on other things or to save for the future?
Clearly it would make a big difference, but where do you start? If you are a wedding planner, how can you reduce this expense without sacrificing certain things that are important to the bride and groom?
The secret? NEGOTIATE!!
I know, I know. Some of you may be cringing and some may be running for the door. But, in all seriousness, this is one of the most important “tools” of professional wedding planners. It is through relationships and negotiating that professionals are able to get significant discounts on decorations, flowers, food, etc.
The key to successful negotiating is to start with the proper wedding mindset and realize that everything is negotiable. You must put emotions aside and approach each interaction with vendors from a business setting. This will help prevent you from going over budget, protect yourself in the event of a service agreement being broken, and help you get exactly what you want for your reception.
Others keys to successful negotiations include:
1)Do your homework –
Know your price points and don’t simply go with the first deal you see
2)Check with referrals –
Credible, experienced vendors will be more willing to negotiate, especially if you have done your homework
3)Test your vendors –
Put them in a “what-if” situation and see how they respond, especially if something were to go wrong
4)Book vendors and locations early –
The earlier you book, the more willing vendors may be to negotiate
5)Make volume purchases –
If you can buy certain things like candles or centerpieces in bulk, you can often get a much better deal. This alone can save you hundreds of dollars, especially if you are doing everything yourself
There are many other strategies and tactics that can be used to successfully negotiate with wedding vendors. Just remember to not be afraid to ask for what you want and know how much you are willing to spend.
David Dunlap
http://www.articlesbase.com/marriage-articles/the-secret-to-great-wedding-deals-11287.html
Tons of wedding questions:?
So I just posted about how much the wedding planning isn’t a big deal to me. I don’t have a lot of requests, but seeing that my fiance is wonderful and wants a truly special occassion, I want to help plan a great day.
1) How much are invitations? My mom might make them (she’s so talented), and if not, I saw Michaels has gift packs.
2) I do NOT want alcohol at my wedding. Period. I don’t drink, my fiance rarely drinks, and we have alcoholics coming. What’s the protocol for letting people know? My mom suggested champagne toast, but apple cider sounds better in my mind.
3) Is it completely lame to have a fake cake (styrofoam model) for the wedding and other cake in the back (my mom and I might bake the cake- she has great secrets for amazing wedding cake but is nervous about constructing one). My fiance comes from a country where this is completely normal – the fake cake decorated like a real cake – you can’t tell unless you stick your finger in it.
4. How much was your wedding dress? I’m looking for a semi-nice dress without a lot of fuss. I’m average size (8/10) and do NOT want strapless since I am modest. I like all the styles of dresses from the bust down but can’t find anything with straps I like.
1- im getting mine from Micheal’s or target 30-60
2-we aren’t having alcohol we dont drink , well unless you count mike’s lemonade. hehe, we are doing a champagne toast though
3. i would not do that. there is a reason why they are professional and why they get paid
4. look at maggie sottero alot of her dress’s are under 900 , i know her caprice very elegant is around 850 and sally is 750 and joanna is 900
mine was more i didn’t plan on spending that much but you cant help it when you know you know.
i tried david bridal i just felt alot of their dresses looked so cheap
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no need to inform people there will be No alochol
get a real wedding cake anything else is real lame
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1) You can typically get invitations for free from the tuxedo rental place. Check there first before you buy.
2) You are under no obligation to serve free liquor at your wedding. It is customary in some areas, but certainly not all. Be sure to let the caterer know that this is *not* a cash bar (edit: sorry, meant to say ‘open’ bar). Just know that: many venues will have it anyway if someone is willing to pay for it, and if someone wants it bad enough, they will just bring it in a flask. A champagne toast might be a nice compromise, but if truly not your style, then yes, sparkling cider is fine. Perhaps more what you need is a "drunk patrol" — one or two strong arms that you have asked in advance to make sure that you personally under no circumstances will be subjected to a drunkard. It will make you so much happier on the day to know that someone else is looking out for you in this way and that you don’t have to.
3) It’s not lame at all to have a fake cake. If necessary, keep the secret to you and mom or else everyone will find out.
4) My mom made my dress, I’m guessing it was about $300 (not incl. labor). You might consider finding a good tailor shop / dry cleaners near you that makes wedding dresses rather than buying off the rack to get the look you want. You will need to plan well ahead, however, because there are usually at least three fittings (the first will be in a muslin — if they don’t know what that is, they shouldn’t be making your dress).
Best of luck — try to enjoy, there is a lot of stress, but the important part (happily ever after) starts the day *after* the wedding…!
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1) You can get the print them yourself invitations (Wilton) from Wal Mart for under $20 a box; I actually bought some to put in gift baskets for $2 (Martha Stewart – I’m sure from the K-Mart line) at Big Lots…
2) you do not have to have alcohol. Some people spread it by word of mouth. A champagne toast is okay but if you prefer not, use Martinelli’s .
3) Cake – sometimes the "fake" cakes can be as expensive as a real cake. You’ll need to check with bakeries. You could have a small cake made that you’ll cut and then have guests served from sheet cakes kept in the back. You may also want to price cakes at Sam’s Club – I bought a 1/2 sheet for my niece’s graduation for under $20 and it was very pretty.
4) dresses come in all sorts of price ranges. Where I"m at there’s a Modello Dress Store – it’s a "discount" wedding/formal wear shop.
Also if a proper wedding gown is not super important check the big department stores – they’ll put their formal wear on clearance and you can get some beautiful dresses that way, too. If you look at David’s Bridal you can get straps added to almost any dress -their website has a feature where you can see how it will look.
Best of luck to you .
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I also read your other question–you sound like you’re getting married for all the right reasons!
1) Prices for invitations depend on how many you need! If you’re buying pre-made ones, I’d say they’d cost about a dollar apiece. Remember to factor in postage and think about the size of them. I got caught with odd-shaped invites that needed extra postage!
2) It’s fine not to serve alcohol–a friend of mine got married at a church that didn’t allow it at all. Her wedding was beautiful and there was no need to tell everyone. Maybe think about a late-morning wedding with a lunchtime reception. Then people won’t really even miss it if they were expecting it!
3) Well, I don’t think a fake cake is really necessary. I would really consider having the cake catered, just because that would put a lot of stress on your mom. I understand that she’s talented with this stuff, but she’ll be really busy and emotional because her daughter’s getting married.
4) My wedding dress was $320 including shipping. I got it from JCrew.com ("Sophia") and got tons of compliments! It is an elegant and classic cut.
My worst nightmare was a cupcake, princess-style, strapless dress–it’s just not me. People were floored when I told them I ordered it so cheaply off the internet. I didn’t even have to go into one of those awful boutiques and it fit perfectly.
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my experience
1) invitations for 100 people with stamps for out going invitatins and incoming rsvp’s i had about $90 dollars in them. i got my invitations from walmart, shipped site to store to save shipping and did the printing myself. i purchased a kit that requires just a 44 cent stamp to do each mailing ( the other price is 60 something cents per invite mailing ) so that was a savings…
2)you could do a sparkling juice to give the effect of a campaign toast. and i wouldn’t make a big deal about alcohol. if you don’t want it, just don’t have it… are you gonna let people know that you aren’t doing all you can eat lobster tails ( if you aren’t that is ( : )?? so i think it will be just as clear when there is no bar to be found…
3) yes it is lame to do a fake cake… people are going to watch you cut into that cake and then expect to eat from it… and they won’t be able to…. ooppss! gotta bring out the cake you can actually eat… then they know you just pulled a fake cake cutting… i don’t vote for that idea at all….
4)my dress was was half off because i bought it off the rack… $404… mine is strapless but have beaded spaghetti straps that are just for show..
hope this helps!! and congrats!!!
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invitations-run from 2.50 a piece usually but you can get deals with the more you buy or you can DIY them
alcohol-its your wedding do what you want although most weddings do have a champagne toast. i myself prefer cider though anyway
cake-you can actually get cakes that are part real and part fake that way it looks pretty, is edible, and saves money. just an idea
dress-im not married but a lot of dresses are around two thousand dollars ive noticed. obviously some less and some more. brides.com and the knot.com are good webistes to search for dresses, you can even search by strap styles.
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1 you can do the invits. on line 2its your day…have the cider 3 thats up to you 4if you can sew make your own,….i made my daughters…try e-bay they have nice ones
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