by CLAIRE (OneFabDay.com Editor)
There's no getting around the fact that weddings cost a lot of money. With the average wedding in the UK costing £36,000, getting wed is up there with a deposit for a house as one of the biggest single expenditures you're ever likely to have. And while it can be hard to justify, and seem baffling to outsiders, the truth is, if you ask most couples after their wedding, they have no regrets about splashing out what they could afford to, even for “just one day" because that one day was so special and fun! But if there's one question we get asked a lot by friends/newly-engaged couples/basically everybody, it's 'Why are weddings so expensive?' And today, we're going to tell you!
PHOTO BY JAN PAVELKA (ANOTHER AMAZING WEDDING VIDEO)
We’ll warn you though, there is some real talk involved! There isn't one single element that makes a wedding expensive - there's no secret surcharge for the word 'wedding', despite what you might hear. But hopefully, arming yourself with a little industry know-how will make it easier to understand how your own wedding budget should be allocated, and help you place real value on the areas where you decide to spend your hard-earned cash.
1. Weddings are expensive because they’re not 'just a party' One myth we're eager to dispel from the outset, is that some suppliers suddenly add a bunch of zeros to the end of a quote, when they hear the word 'wedding'. Remember that the level of service, the quality of product, the materials used and the time taken to provide what you want is so much greater for a wedding, than say, for a birthday party. We’ll go into that in more detail below, but here's a basic example: When you buy a bouquet of flowers for a friend, you pop into a flower shop or supermarket, pick from a choice of pre-arranged bunches or in-stock flowers, pay your money, and go on your way. When you order a wedding bouquet, you'll likely have at least one consultation, you'll exchange several emails, you'll send on a Pinterest board, your bouquet will be made just for you, to your exact specifications, and be delivered to you on the morning of your wedding, wherever you're getting ready. Unlike a store-bought arrangement, wedding bouquets feature lots and lots of different flower varieties, individually chosen for you. So yes, while it's still 'a bouquet', it's a very special one, and a lot more time, thought, skill and artistry has gone into it, than your average bunch of flowers. Pretty much the same rule applies for every single detail across your entire wedding.
PHOTO BY JAN PAVELKA (ANOTHER AMAZING WEDDING VIDEO)
2. Weddings are expensive because they are on a bigger scale Imagine taking everyone you know (friends, family, your partner's work colleagues, your in-laws' next door neighbours) out for drinks and getting a round in at the bar - that would be pretty pricey, right? Now imagine taking them to a nice restaurant for a three-course meal. Now add the wine. You're probably hitting at least the £10,000 mark, and that's before a band, a photographer, or a single flower. While it may only be you and your other half paying for a wedding, and the amounts you're talking about feel more like Monopoly money, it's important (and more comprehensible!) to think of real-world examples and then scale up. Buying a birthday card costs £3.50, sending it in the post costs £1, multiply that by 150, and you have the cost of posting the most basic invitations. It's not that you're being ripped off, it's just what things cost when you're paying to wine and dine (and send invitations to) 150 people.
PHOTO BY JAN PAVELKA (ANOTHER AMAZING WEDDING VIDEO)
3. Weddings are expensive because they’re time-consuming There are so many wedding services where the work you see represents just a fraction of the time that goes into it. Take for example, wedding videography. Your videographers might be there for eight hours on the day, but they've also spent several hours in consultation, either over email, video chat or meeting with you in person. And after your wedding, they'll spend several days poring over every shot, selecting the best footage, editing them together so they convey the emotion and the unicity of your Special Day. Editing a video on average takes 10 to 20 times as long as the time spent shooting it. Your investment is covering so much more time than it takes to just grab some quick shots with your iPhone. Likewise, a wedding dress can require hours upon hours of hand-stitching, a wedding cake will take hours upon hours of decorating… you get the gist! When any wedding supplier sends you a quote, try not to consider just their time on the day, but if there is consultation, prep or follow-up time going into their service, as well as their expertise.
PHOTO BY JAN PAVELKA (ANOTHER AMAZING WEDDING VIDEO)
4. Weddings are expensive because suppliers deserve to be paid fairly From the seamstress making your dress to the waiter serving your wine, a lot of man hours go into creating your wedding day. Anyone who's looked into planning a marquee or wedding where you need to bring in your own staff, will know exactly how costly that can be! If a whole gospel choir costs the same as one wedding singer, how much is each member of the choir walking away with? Yes, you're essentially getting the same service - ceremony music - but when it takes more people to pull off your desired effect, you may need to spend more on it. It's helpful to remember that every person working on your wedding day, from the bass player, to the barman, to the balloon delivery driver, is getting properly paid for doing their job, and rightly so!
PHOTO BY JAN PAVELKA (ANOTHER AMAZING WEDDING VIDEO)
5. Weddings are expensive because suppliers know what they're doing Yes, your Auntie can make your wedding cake, your mate can do your hair, and your cousin with the good camera can take the pics. Sorted? Perhaps, but not to the same standard as if you hire a professional. What if something goes wrong, someone gets sick, something gets damaged in transit, (or deleted from a hard drive - true story!) When you pay professionals, you can expect a professional service. Calling in favours is totally cool (our real wedding couples rope in help from friends and family all the time!) but you don't have the same assurances if there's an issue. It's worth considering which elements of your wedding are so important to you, you'd only trust a professional to get them right. By hiring a pro, you get someone who's been there, done that, and learned from hundreds of other weddings. You're paying for their experience, their equipment, their skills, their talent and the fact that no matter what it takes, they will deliver.
PHOTO BY JAN PAVELKA (ANOTHER AMAZING WEDDING VIDEO)
6. Weddings are expensive because wedding budgets can be unrealistic Weddings get a lot of flak for being pricey, and we're all for couples getting the best they can for their money. But part of that means setting your expectations from the start, and realising what's achievable on your budget, and what isn't - whatever that budget might be! We're not ones to advocate spending more than you can afford on your wedding - We've seen beautiful weddings that cost £5,000 and beautiful weddings that cost many multiples of that. But when someone tells you they had the dream dresses and suits, the perfect flowers, the bottomless Prosecco and the best band, photographer, and venue, their budget was most likely on the upper end of the spending scale and their wedding set them back a very considerable sum. Our budget breakdowns are a great place to start seeing what's realistic for your budget. You can avoid feeling like things are spiralling by going into your wedding planning with a realistic budget (including room for contingency!) and doing some real research into what things will actually cost, and what's included in the price. Knowing exactly what your money is going on, makes parting with it far more palatable. Which is where we come in! We're here to help you figure out what your wedding must-haves are, and what you can leave behind, what you need a great wedding professional for, and what you could ask your friend to do. Regardless of how big or small your budget is, we want your day to be as amazing as you imagine it to be, at a cost you're comfortable with.
Comments