As a multi-award-winning wedding planner, I can tell you that any couple immersed in wedding planning will have experienced at least some of the wedding cost myths below!
Today, I want to share a little insider info to dispel three of the typical wedding cost myths that are regularly shared, which will hopefully help you plan your wedding and make sensible budget decisions.
Wedding Cost Myth – You should always ask wedding suppliers for a discount
It took me two minutes to find this nugget of wedding planning advice in a national wedding blog. So my first question is when you head to Sainsbury’s, do you fill up your trolley and then ask for a discount at the checkout? (Probably not).
Rather than asking your wedding suppliers for a discount, be honest about the budget you have to work with, to begin with. Wedding suppliers want to deliver an excellent service, and they want to provide a solution that you can afford. However, asking them to supply goods or services that are over your allocated budget on the basis you’ll ask them to discount later is a big no-no. In fact, it won’t encourage your wedding suppliers to go the extra mile for you and, in many cases, will result in them turning down your booking…
Wedding cost myth – the wedding tax
Urgh! If I had a quid for every time somebody told me that wedding suppliers overcharge and add ‘wedding tax’, I’d be chilling out on a beach in Bermuda by now. But, unfortunately, it simply isn’t the case.
Yes, purchasing flowers from your wedding will cost more than buying pre-made supermarket bunches, but these two options are not in any way comparable. Your florist will have undertaken consultations, created proposals, liaised with flower wholesalers, visited flower markets, spent days conditioning your flowers, so they look picture perfect on the big day, got up at the crack of dawn to prepare your flowers, so they are beautifully fresh etc. This doesn’t even include premises rental, staff costs, insurance, marketing etc.
Most wedding suppliers charge fairly for their wedding services based on their skills, experience and knowledge—nothing more, nothing less.
Wedding cost myth – DIY is cheaper
Again, this isn’t always the case. Lots of my wedding planning clients love the idea of creating DIY elements of their wedding, but the reality is that many of these bits and pieces take time, skill and effort.
When you pay a wedding professional to undertake these tasks for you, you’re saving your own time (and often sanity). In many cases, money spent on wasted materials would have been spent on paying an expert.
Don’t even get me started on the “we’re using uncle Frank as our photographer, rather than splashing out in this area”. Urgh! When planning weddings with my clients, I always ensure a reasonable percentage of the budget is allocated to wedding photography.
Taking a few snaps on an old camera is nowhere near the same as capturing a wedding day professionally. Remember, lots of the special moments on a wedding day only happen once (first kiss, anybody?), so don’t leave such an essential element to chance just to save a few pennies.
As a multi-award-winning wedding planner, I work with couples getting married across the UK. If you’re thinking about hiring a professional wedding planner, I’d love to hear from you! You can reach me at [email protected] or 0800 772 0765.
I plan and design amazing weddings for couples getting married throughout the UK.
As an independent Wedding Planner, I’m not tied to recommending specific venues or suppliers, so you’ll always have access to the very best of the best across the industry, allowing us to produce a personal, unique wedding that’s designed just for you.
I don’t accept commission or referral fees from wedding venues or suppliers either, so you can always be sure that my recommendations are made with your very best interests at heart. You can keep up with all the One Curious Dream behind the scenes action and follow my adventures on Instagram.
