Knot Your Average BLOG: January 2018

With this time of year...comes lots of planning and trying to keep their costs down. We're a FRIM believer every couple should have a wedding planner and a beautiful day... but a lot of what we do is educate couples in the reality of planning a wedding and all that goes into the production of creating a memory in time... #whatkindofmemorydoyouwant

Here's a sample budget (only a sample) we truly understand MAJORITY of these vendors COST MORE than this is quoted

depending on quality of service
items included in package/service
How long will they be there that day
How customized they are
How professional they are
Education/certification of vendor
Length in business, number of weddings they completed, level of experience

Level of services

What day of the week

... but we are hoping this puts things in perspective because lots of couples THINK they can have a wedding for 150 people for $5,000....and the truth is most events take 10 (or more vendors) and if each vendor averages $1,000 (most cost more...and the more experience/educated the more they cost...plus consider quality of their services)....

Simplistic Elegance

$1500 -Rental of Venue (usually Sun-Fri; not a Saturday)

$225- Additional Rentals (usually more if venue doesn't include anything)

$1399-Event Coordination & 2 staff (special rate for Sun/Weekday)

$700- Additional Staff including catering staff

$1760- Food & Beverage $22.00 x 80guests (appetizers, salad, meal & tea/water

$1000- Candles & Simplistic Flower Budget (including wedding party, centerpieces)

$350- Deliveries & Set ups (rentals, flowers, etc)

$1500-Photography (most likely disc of images only)

$900- DJ (for two sound systems)

$200-Cupcakes (do you want a cutting cake)

$250- Donating to your Church Officiate (or we do have one within this average)

$200-Print-, invitations, stamps (most likely doing yourself online for this price)

$1500- Other: linens, china/place settings/ glassware, unity ceremony items, gifts for wedding party and family members, toasting flutes, serving set, flower girl basket, ring bear pillow, memory table items, restroom baskets, tipping vendors

*doesn't include alcohol, videographer, up lighting, attire, rings or honeymoon, transportation

Total: $11,484 Number of Guests: 80

Cost: $143 per person

Tis the season for vendors and planners to receive inquires on a daily bases… and boy do we love this time of year! Everything is new and fresh! Plus we get to take what we learned from last year’s events and educational conferences and start embracing new ideas into our companies and our couples’ special day. However, a lot of what planners do is educated others as to the WHY we charge what we charge.

I tell people all the time a marriage costs $60.00 but weddings are an EXPERIENCE and how big of a memory do you want to create? Remember this will be the ONLY time you have those guests in ONE room alive all together. You don't get a do over of this day, so why would you want an amateur handling one of the biggest days of your life... or why would you want your Mom or wedding party missing something because they were setting up or behind the scenes trying to work out an issue. Weddings cost more than $60; most cost on average $165 per person attending the wedding and to create an experience you need a team! Every great team has a great leader to guide everyone and make sure everyone is playing by the same rules.

That’s what brings us to our newest question on our website:

How many hours does it typically take a professional to plan a wedding from start to finish (including travel, meetings, communication, planning, and day of event):

Month of Planning with Day of Event Management: 35+/- hours involved (because there is NO such thing as a day of coordinator)
Partial Planning Services including Day of Event Management: 70+/- hours involved
Full Service Planning including Day of Event Management: 313+/- hours involved

So take that number they are “charging” and divide it by the number of hours they are giving you =____ ?

That’s not including the blood, sweat and tears it took to get to that point they were confident enough to plan events for someone else. That’s not including the liability they take on each and every event. That’s not including all of the research and networking they’ve done to create the partnerships and learning about all of the possibilities to create the best chemistry and magic on your special day to create a memory in time. That does not include all of the education they’ve taken on to be prepared for you special day for when situations arise; they’ll know how to handle them. That doesn’t include all of the associations, organizations and conferences they are a part of or attend to keep up with the trends and latest ideas. That doesn’t include the extras they are probably “throwing in” without you even knowing they’ve been working on the backend of your event late at night and early in the morning. Not to mention all of those meetings lead up to them missing most weekends with their families to create memories for your family.

And ask yourself do you value their services? Many times I have received phone calls asking for us to plan and coordinate their entire wedding for $400-$500 (or even less). I promise experienced planners and vendors are just wanting to be respected and valued for their level of expertise. Yes everyone deserves a beautiful wedding on the budget they can afford but that’s also why not every vendor is for every couple. The best part is most of the seasoned vets in the industry know great vendors up & coming people that may be more affordable for the particular service you’re looking for. Also most seasoned vendors offer hourly consultations to gain knowledge even if you can’t afford them for the full day.

Speaking for the planners/coordinators out there… a chunk of every wedding budget

should be for a planner…remember they typically know EVERYONE! They can work out a budget for your vision (within reason) and usually find you deals you may never knew existed…so start with a planner! You don’t want to spend all of this money on a beautiful day for it to come apart at the seams because you didn’t have a professional “go-to” onsite all weekend from rehearsal to honeymoon…

It’s a Production… you probably wouldn’t enjoy a meal at a restaurant without a chef, or enjoy a movie without a director…much less a symphony without a conductor… so WHY wouldn’t you have someone guiding your planning along the entire process? The BEST Athletes have someone “coaching” them from DAY ONE!