The Best Budget Wedding Planning Tips For Cost Control
Insider Secret: How The Word "Wedding" Sky Rockets Prices!
"I'm planning a wedding for June of next year and wanted to get your pricing."
The minute you say "wedding" to a wedding professional, they begin to drool as their prices skyrocket!!
This is exactly why weddings are so damn expensive and why wedding prices average over $30,000!
Okay, full disclosure.
This fallacy, for most wedding vendors, couldn't be further from the truth. However, many of those that report on the wedding industry, have made it their life's work to prove otherwise. They believe the moment a vendor hears the word "wedding," they immediately raise their prices and overcharge clients.
Generally speaking, we live in a time where you get what you pay for. "Cheap" is no longer a good deal, it's cheap! In this article, we are going to take a closer look at why weddings are so expensive and dispel this myth that wedding vendors skyrocket prices once they hear the word "wedding."
there will always be deceivers
Every industry, including the wedding industry, will have bad apples. Those people and businesses that are "deceivers." They prey on the unsuspecting.
Most industries have 2 kinds of deceivers:
1. The Cheap Deceiver
2. The Elite Deceiver
The cheap and elite deceiver both use money to create their deception. They obviously appeal to different buyers and they use different approaches, but their goal is the same. They don't care about you as client or a person. They're interested in taking your money and moving on to the next victim.
The Cheap Deceiver. They typically appeal to your emotional side and they do an excellent job at convincing you they can deliver a product that's at least equal to the more expensive vendors. Let's take a look at wedding photography for example. Why in the world would you invest $3,000 or more for your wedding photography when you can get the same thing for $1,000 or less? It may be tempting to consider an offer like this, but think before your leap.
We've all been trained to ask the same question when we're faced with a situation like this.
"Why are the other wedding vendors so expensive?"
But, why aren't we asking the question we should be asking?
"Why is this vendor so cheap compared to everyone else?"
The Elite Deceiver. They work much differently than the cheap deceiver. They still play on your emotions, but they price their products and services excessively high in order to create the illusion of being the absolute best. They make you believe, through high price tags, you can't live without buying from them.
Most wedding vendors truly appreciate their clients and appreciate the investment their clients are making to have a wedding they will never forget. But, not the deceivers. They only care about themselves and taking your money.
We get what we pay for to a point. As we said earlier, cheap is cheap. But do you really believe the celebrity photographer charging $50,000 for a day is that much better than a photographer charging $8,000? It's unlikely. The celebrity photographer can charge these prices because they have celebrities willing to pay it. It's all about status, not practicality.
why weddings really cost more
The writers that are on a mission to prove the wedding industry is corrupt will cold call wedding vendors for their pricing.
This is what they do when they call.
They call a photographer and ask how much they charge for 8 hours of wedding photography. They get a price. They call the photographer back a few days later and ask how much it would be to photograph their 8 hour corporate event.
They get a different price.
AHHHHH HAAAAAA!!!
The writer is giddy with excitement. They think to themselves, I've finally proven that wedding vendors charge more once they know it's a wedding!
To these writers I say, "way to go genius, you've proven nothing - yet again."
Of course we charge more for a wedding. Let me explain.
Purpose
Is there a difference between photographing a wedding and a corporate event? Absolutely!! There is a huge difference. Corporate events are generally geared towards making sure the "VIP's" are captured and enough photographs are taken to convey the overall atmosphere. As long as this is accomplished, everyone is usually very happy.
While corporate events still expect beautiful final pictures, most don't require extensive editing because the photos are more about the event as a whole. Corporate events usually require an extremely fast turnaround time for their images. They want to share them with business partners, employees or use them in campaigns.
Weddings are very different.
You have a very low margin of error when photographing a wedding. The entire day is filled with once-in-a-lifetime moments that can't be missed. And unlike corporate events that happen on a yearly basis, weddings are just one day. Once the moments from a wedding are gone, they are gone forever.
If a photographer misses a detail at a corporate event, chances are it won't be the end of the world. But, miss an important detail at a wedding and it can literally ruin the day.
Time
Time is a huge difference between corporate events and weddings. Because the coordinator's for the corporate events want the images within a few days, basic editing techniques are applied. The are not concerned with making sure everyone looks there very best, they are more interested in displaying images that convey a successful and exciting event.
When it comes to weddings, a photographer is going to want to make sure the key people look their very best - this generally consists of the bride, groom, bridesmaids, groomsmen, parents, and grandparents. Not only do couples want beautiful pictures, but they want them to look perfect. This makes perfect sense considering these photographs will likely be displayed on the walls in your home, in a wedding album or given to family and friends as a gift.
Unlike corporate events, the detail in editing is far greater and usually takes several weeks compared to a few days. This is a huge reason why weddings are more expensive.
Add-Ons
Another factor driving wedding prices is "add-ons." Many wedding photography packages also include products such as:
Wedding albums
Canvas prints
Prints
Engagement sessions
These products alone can add several hundred to several thousands of dollars to the cost of a wedding package. Most other events aren't interested in including these type of products.
sorry to disappoint you
To those looking to uncover some wedding industry deep dark secret, I'm sorry to disappoint you. For the majority of wedding vendors/professionals, we conduct ourselves with honesty and integrity. We are not skyrocketing prices when we hear the word weddings and we are not looking to take advantage of unsuspecting couples.
I can only speak for us, but I'm sure there are many other wedding professionals out there that share our belief.
Our business is about "long-term relationships." This doesn't mean that we become best friends with every client, but we connect with them. And we don't just want to photograph their wedding, but we want to be the photographer they call for all of their milestones - births, family pictures, proms, graduations, and future weddings.