We all know weddings are expensive; but for me it has been the hidden costs of wedding planning that have been the real problem. Josh & I almost have everything sorted when it comes to booking the large parts of our wedding, but there have definitely been some surprises along the way. It is fine if you expect certain costs when booking a service or a venue; but often things can be slightly obscured…
1.) Approved Suppliers
This one didn’t come as a shock to me, but has been to some of my friends also planning their weddings. Some venues only allow you to use certain, approved suppliers for everything from food, to music, to decorating. And the issue I’ve had is that this isn’t always made 100% clear when you first view a venue. During lots of open days I went to I had to specifically ask the question about approved suppliers; which is fine IF you know you should ask. My advice would be to make sure, if you want to book a venue which only allows approved suppliers, that you get a quote from these suppliers before booking the venue. This will give you a better understanding if the venue is actually within your budget.
2.) Church Weddings
Josh & I were originally looking into having our ceremony in a church. This isn’t because we ourselves are religious, but we have family that are & I always imagined being married in a church. However, after enquiring into a church wedding further there was actually quite a few hidden costs. Or at least, costs you wouldn’t initially think of. One local church we looked into asked for a minimum donation of £100 to be able to take photos inside the church. This was on top of the cost of hiring the church & the cost of being married there. We were also quoted over £200 for an organist; which if you’re after a traditional wedding you might want to consider. There is also the added expensive of flowers at the church, bell ringing, cars for the bridal party & maybe added costs for travel for your photographer.
3.) Food & Accommodation for Suppliers
Yes, I know, you are already paying that band nearly £1500 for under 3 hours of music, but yes – you’ll have to feed them as well. As someone who has been self employed myself, I can sympathise with these costs & understand them. But the problem I have is that most of the bands or suppliers I spoke to when planning our wedding were not upfront about these costs. It can add up if you’re paying for services, then also have to feed 5 musicians, 2 photographers & 1 entertainer all a hot meal. If having to pay for a hot meals & possibly accommodation for people other than your guests, things could very well take some suppliers or entertainment out of your budget. Look for local suppliers & remember to check terms & conditions before agreeing to book.
4.) Bridal Appointments
This has to be one of the most controversial subjects I have ever talked about on my Instagram before. I received so many messages telling me that wedding boutiques were ripping me off, I shouldn’t go to anywhere that asked for money upfront, it was a scam, ect… Some people were completely up in arms about wedding shops asking for deposits or payments to try on dresses on a Saturday & I can understand why. I had to have my appointments to try dresses on Saturdays, which meant when I contacted boutiques I was confronted with having to pay £25-50 per appointment just to try dresses on. Some boutiques this payment was a deposit, so if you purchased a dress it would come off this bill, others were simply payments.
One of my worst experiences with this was a situation where I booked to go to an exclusive event to view dresses (which was mainly what I wanted to do at this point). I was then called by the boutique & told that if I wanted to come to the event, then I also had to book a try-on appointment the following Saturday. Which I was a little frustrated about but understood. The boutique then demanded payment over the phone for a Saturday appointment. Shocked & confused I paid up. After going to the event to view the dresses (all I really wanted to do), I was sure I didn’t want to purchase a dress from that boutique, but felt I had to go to the appointment on the Saturday as I’d already paid. The appointment was rushed, made me feel awful & ended with some hard selling from the store owner.
I know I need to write some more on bridal appointments because it’s been a strange world! Out of the appointments I paid for – only one would I say was worth it.
5.) Postage & Packaging
Okay, I had a real issue when we were paying over £150 for our invitations to then have to pay for postage & packaging. Especially considering the flat rate shipping fee didn’t even provide tracking on an order that size. It might be a small expense to some, but I am a stickler for P&P; if I wouldn’t pay to have something delivered from New Look or ASOS then I certainly will not pay £3.99 to receive my huge wedding order. I would advise going on the hunt for discount codes, waiting till Black Friday if you can & ordering in bulk where possible.
So there we go, 5 quick hidden costs that I have personally come across so far during the wedding planning process. There have certainly been more – and more my friends planning weddings have come across – so maybe I’ll write them all up in another blog post soon.
Sam