Part of my role as an event planner is to allocate clients budget to the relevant areas of their wedding/party, i.e from our initial consultation I will have an idea of how much the flowers, entertainment, stationery should cost. I’m normally pretty accurate with my estimations but then I have been doing this for 10 years.

At times however it can be confusing for clients to understand ‘why’ a certain supplier is charging x, y, z. They see the product, in this instance, say a bouquet, but don’t think about what influences the price to charge. A bit later in this post I will explain this to you and I will continue this series with explanations on entertainment, mobile bars and stationery.

 

If you have viewed my gallery of past events you will notice flowers feature quite heavily in my designs, this is because many of my events have a traditional country garden feel and/or are in marquees thus we need to fill the space.

 *it is my opinion that if you want to make the most of your marquee you either have to ensure the floral displays are large enough to make a statement or you use other décor tricks like Chinese lanterns, buntings, ribbon hanging from the framework or poles. I feel jugs and teacups of flowers on its own in a marquee just get lost.

If you want to create something like this Autumnal party or bohemian wedding , you need to ensure your budget reflects just what the flowers will cost. I’m not saying you have to spend thousands on flowers, but you do need to be realistic, not all wedding designs need a lot of flowers but if your dream is to fill your venue with peonies then you have to be realistic, £500 is just not going to suffice.

“Most of our prospective clients now come to us with a fairly good idea of what they want in terms of flowers, but not always what they cost. It is rare to have a bride who has absolutely no idea of what she wants. Our brides are internet savvy, they use social media, they bring THEIR Pinterest boards to US! They also read the wedding blogs and the bridal magazines which are chock full of gorgeous American weddings which have been photographed in Californian vineyards or New England gardens. The photographs are always stuffed full of flowers!! The magazine and blog suggested prices are usually wrong!!” Simon & Victoria, Euphoric Flowers

One of my pet hates is photoshoots filled to the brim with flowers on a table, yes it looks wonderful but brides, multiply that design by the number of tables you will have, being extravagent on one table is all well and good but what about when there are 11, 13 or even 20 tables to do?

With the type of weddings I design I find brides want beautiful Peonies, hydrangeas and garden style roses (a fact attested by Euphoric) but they come at a premium price. Likewise some brides want the “wildflower’ look, that’s great, but that’s a lot of flowers and creating that “I’ve just picked this” look isn’t cheap.

I’ve had many discussions with my florists recently who all tell me that making a profit is getting harder, they are unable to charge more for their services due to the economic climate but at the same time, wholesale flower prices have soared. So what is a realistic budget for wedding flowers?

Let’s look at some scenarios ………..

A Central London venue for the ceremony and reception with a total of 80 guests (as quoted by Euphoric Flowers in 2013)

Bridal Bouquet – hand tied bouquet £75.00

Bridesmaids x 3 – hand tied bouquets at £35.00 each – £105.00

Buttonholes x 6 at £6.00 each – £36.00

Corsages x 2 at £15.00 each – £30.00

Ceremony Flowers – 2 large vase arrangements – £100.00 each – £200.00

Registrar’s Table – 1 small arrangement – £40.00

Reception Flowers – 8 tables at £60.00 each – £480.00

Cake Flowers – £30.00

Total -£996.00
VAT -£199.20

Delivery, installation and clearance £100.00

Grand Total – £1,295.20

Now lets compare this to a flower quotation from one of my earlier weddings in 2005 (Jades Flowers)

Bridal Flowers

Bride’s Bouquet (based on Phalanopsis Bouquet) – £ 80.00

Bridesmaid’s Bouquet (to match) – £30.00

6 Orchid Buttonholes @ £3.00 each – £18.00

3 Orchid Corsages @ £10.00 each – £30.00

Ceremony Flowers

1 Candelabra Arrangement  - £120.00

Fireplace Arrangement - £50.00

Arrangement for Registrar’s Table – £45.00

Ivy for Gallery  - £80.00

Reception Flowers

8 Table Arrangements @ £70.00 each (560.00)

7 Table Arrangements @ £70.00 each (490.00)

Fireplace Arrangement  £50.00

Grand Total – £1,553

It’s amazing to see how ‘little’ prices have increased over 8 years despite the fact florists labour & flower costs have increased.

“There are always going to be factors that influence what florists charge. Certain flowers are always more expensive, more elaborate designs are more labour intensive and there are always the additional costs such as hire items, transport, petrol (a killer), wages and most importantly our time. We can spend many months preparing for a wedding. Months of site visits, design meetings, quotes, re quotes and mock ups of final designs. But it doesn’t end there, our work doesn’t finish when we deliver the bridal bouquet. If we are lucky, we will be allowed to clear a job on a Monday morning, if not it can be a midnight or early Sunday morning call followed by returning all the hire items that are frequently requested.” Simon & Victoria, Euphoric Flowers

 

It’s not just the flowers……

When it comes to charging you the client for the flowers, its not a simple matter of a rose costs £2 so they will charge £2.50, there are many other factors to consider to ensure the business costs are met:

• General running costs like marketing materials, telephone line, rent, utilities, vehicles etc
• Wages inc. freelance staff for larger weddings (circa £15 ph)
• Their TIME! You’re paying for their professionalism in creating the right bouquet or table design + the time it takes to set it all up, it’s not unusual for my florists to be on site all day on the Friday + part of the wedding day itself, multiply that by the number of staff the florist has…………and you can almost see the profit diminish
• Collection of the vases, containers, removal of flowers not wanted on the Sunday or Monday after the wedding
• 1-3 meetings per client to ensure the wedding design is perfect
• Consultations with those clients that don’t book
• Numerous phone calls and emails with potential clients
• Then of course in the world of social media its not enough for a florist to attend open days at local venues they have to blog – tweet – facebook and pin their ideas for potential clients to see!

Break the flower budget down

Sometimes when you say a figure that you are allocating to flowers it can seem high, can seem plenty, until you start breaking it down. `Remember when working out your budget to ensure you have enough for:

Bridal Flowers

Bridal Bouquet

Bridesmaids/flowergirl bouquets

Buttonholes & corsages

Ceremony

Registrar/altar flowers

Entrance flowers (i.e bay trees, urns, pedestals)

Pew ends

Reception

Entrance flowers (i.e bay trees, urns, pedestals)

Top Table

Guest tables

Feature flowers (fireplaces, beams, poles)

Misc

Occasional tables in courtyards or lounge areas

Thank you flowers

Finally

Not every wedding has to be filled with flowers, it depends on the design you have chosen and as mentioned earlier you can complement flowers by using candles, bunting, lanterns and pom poms to add colour in DIY ways – i.e you’ll need to buy or hire the items but then allocate some of your time to implement the design the day before the wedding.

Also, if you have chosen a venue that is stunning before you even start with flowers, then its best to choose simple displays to complement the room, not fight against it.

Photo Credits

Kerry Morgan, Mydas Photography, Mark Bothwell

 

 

 

 

 

Traditionally the 3 speeches that happen in a wedding are the Father of the Bride, Groom and Best Man. However with many brides being independent and quite rightly, having an opinion and voice of their own, they are deciding to join in the fun and say a few words as well.  The bride has the advantage of not needing to follow tradition (compared to the 3 traditional speeches) thus there will be no expectations or assumptions on what you will speak about.

The beauty of the brides speech is she will remember to thank all the special people, I’ve lost count of the number of times Lisa (my assistant) and I are waiting in the wings to hand over the Mothers thank you bouquets only for the groom to get nervous and miss half the thank yous! I can guarantee a bride wont forget 

 

What order

The bride will usually speak just before or after the groom.

Proper Preparation

Plan what you want to say in advance and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Keep it short and to the point, don’t waffle, say what you want to say concisely and clearly.

What to say 

• Give a special thank you to those that have been important and supported you in the planning of the wedding, like your Mum and bridesmaids
• 
• Thank anyone who has not already been thanked by other speakers or may not be mentioned by them (esp. if the groom forgot)
• Keep it personal, everyone wants to know about how you and your groom met, how the relationship developed. Especially any funny encounters when you were dating or perhaps a story of the proposal
• Say something personal to the groom, why is he so important, why do you love him

Calm and collected

Half the reason for practicing your speech is so you can concentrate on the delivery and clarity. Reading notes that are on the table in front of you will make it difficult to project your voice and you will look uncertain of what you want to say. Remember to smile (you’re looking beautiful after all), make eye contact with your guests plus relevant guests as you speak about them, i.e when thanking your Mum turn and look at her.

Remember don’t slouch, stand tall and confident (even if that’s not how you’re feeling)

 

Photo Credit: Kerry Morgan,  Blue Sky Photography

 

If you were reading my facebook page yesterday you will have noticed there has been a momumental change in the marriage laws, namely the time you can now marry.

“From today, October 1 2012, the UK will join the 21st century as outdated restrictions on marriage and civil partnership times are removed. The Home Office have announced that people wanting to get married or register a civil partnership will now be able to do so any time of the day or night under the Protection of Freedoms Act. Couples were previously restricted to between 8am and 6pm. ”

The New Law Doesn’t Apply to Church of England Ceremonies

At present, both canon law and the 1949 Marriage Act say that weddings can be conducted only between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. The restriction in the Marriage Act will be lifted from 1 October, when provisions in the Protection of Freedoms Act come into force. But the new law does not amend canon law.

Read more: Churchtimes

 

But will the venues want to do ceremonies at midnight or later?

Local authorities will not be forced to conduct marriages outside the traditional hours so it remains to be seen how in reality this change in law will affect the majority of weddings. Yes, some venues will do well from a midnight or 3am ceremony a-la vegas style (think blackpool tower or tower of London) but I think that will be the minority.

Read more: Daily Mail Online:

What this law does mean is more flexibility

Not every couple want to have a full day of drinking and eating, many say to me they want a wedding more reminiscent of a Mediterranean wedding. They want the wedding to feel like they have just gone out for a dinner, albeit a luxury one.

Of course, having a later ceremony can help with the budget restraints as a later ceremony means evening food is unnecessary and if you are paying for all the drink, less drink is going to be consumed. I can see 6pm being a popular time to marry as this still gives couples some time in the evening to celebrate with family and friends.

Possible timetable – no dancing

Emphasis on a leisurely meal. No fuss or frivolity, I’ve shortened the ‘drink reception’ into a cocktail hour as I feel this will flow better. I’ve allowed longer for the meal in case of cheese & port courses!

6pm      Ceremony

6:30      Cocktail Hour

7:30      Speeches & cake cutting

8:15      Wedding Breakfast/Supper

10:30    Carriages home

 

Possible timetable – whole shebang

Emphasis on a having an evening party more similar to evening balls. Again I’m allowing an hour for the drinks (normally it’s 1 ½ hours) , slightly less on the meal but some time for dancing!

6pm      Ceremony

6:30      Cocktail Hour

7:30      Speeches

8pm      Wedding Breakfast/Supper

10pm    Cutting of the cake + first dance

10:15    Evening music commences

12am    Carriages home

What would an evening ceremony look like?

Ok so I know we don’t have the evening heat of the Mediterranean but an evening ceremony lit by fairy lights, lanterns orlittle candles – just imagine how pretty that will look.

But of course you might decide to hire a lighting speciaist to light up those trees and have fireworks released just as you finish exchanging vows.

“Being able to have an evening ceremony really does provide a fantastic opportunity to create a real atmosphere with the use of a tailored lighting design. Any number of ideas can be utilised to ensure you get exactly the look and feel that you’re after. For example, fairy lights can be used in their thousands to create a magical, intimate setting or coloured lighting can be used to highlight your venue and help unify a colour scheme. The possibilities are almost endless!” James, Wedding Creative

 

What about the photography?

If you’re worried about not having any daytime images why not adopt a little trend from the U.S and ask your photographer to do a ‘First Look’. There is where some private shots are done before the ceremony – I’m not going to explain this is full details because Michelle – pocketful of dreams does it so well and has many images for you to look at as well! Below is an image from a wedding planned by Californian planner, Whitney Drake. The beauty of the ‘First Look’ is you get some daytime shots of you as a couple then beautifully lit ones of the ceremony and wedding breakfast etc.

“I think it’s great that couples have an opportunity to get married at whatever time they want, obviously it makes my job more challenging in terms of lighting the wedding but I would brief my “Bride & Grooms” beforehand so they are aware of the type of photography they will be restricted to. To me a wedding should be whatever the bride & groom wants, if only they could lift restrictions on where you can get married…..now that would interesting” Jasmine Photography

But what do you think?

Whether you are getting married or if you’re a venue or supplier, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Photo Credits:

Church: Mydas Photography

Outside ceremony with the moon Noel Delpilar  

Outside ceremony with trees lit up: Trump Int’l Beach

Ceremony with white chairs Silverstone Golf Club via weddingwire

First Look Photo Boxlight  photography & wedding planned by the gorgeous Whitney from Wish Wonder Dream

The decision on whether to invite children to your wedding is one that needs to be made early on.

 The things to consider initially

1. Numbers: Count up all the children of family and friends to give you a clearer idea, you might be surprised when that number is creeping up
2. Maturity: What are the ages, toddlers will invariably need highchairs next to parents whereas older children can be seated elsewhere on a ‘kids table’
3. Cost: Will you be paying a child rate or adult rate for the meal and how does this affect your budget
4. Capacity: Do you have venue restrictions on numbers
5. Preferences: you might decide to just invite some children, if this is the case made the definition clear, i.e. immediate family only or children over a certain age
6. Location: if your wedding is local to the majority of guests this is easier for them to arrange childcare as is unlikely to necessitate an overnight stay. So if your wedding is not local, and you don’t want to invite children, call your guests to give them a lot of early notice.

Once you have made the decision on children, and for the purpose of this post I’m assuming you are inviting them, you need to incorporate them into the planning. Whenever I’m teaching at the UKAWP courses I tell students to put themselves in the mindset of a bride, well here you need to start thinking like a child.

You may think why should I spend time on organising the children but remember weddings can be tediously boring for a child and what happens when a child is bored? Mischief and Mayhem – not a good mix for a wedding!

Get them excited

If you have chosen a flower girl or page boy get them involved, take them with you when choosing their outfits, girls especially will love the chance to try on lots of pretty dresses.

Think about designing a separate invitation for the children, Emma from A Bespoke Design did this for her own wedding, the invitations for the children were worded as if her daughter was inviting them and I thought this was a wonderful touch. The design was ‘Evie in Wonderland’ with a caricature of her daughter .

Silence during the ceremony please

Let’s face it, a ceremony is boring for many adults, yes I know you won’t admit that out loud but sshhh no one is listening! So think about how it is for a child, sitting in silence for 30-40 minutes.

If you have a few children capable of reading + clear speakers think about asking them to read a poem together. For my daughters christening I asked my oldest son to write a short prayer to read out on the day, ok it was short, but I was proud of him for getting up in church of front of all our friends and family.

Give younger children a small bag with some raisons, small toy like a wooden puzzle or book. Try the range for reasonably priced items. Ask the flower girls to hold a basket of petals for the confetti shot and give every child some bubbles to blow for when you exit the ceremony. No matter the age, bubbles seem to keep children amused for hours.

Drink Reception – let them play

The drink reception can be the perfect place for the children to let off steam, this way when the wedding breakfast is ready they are more inclined to sit down quietly to eat their meal. If you have the space think about organising some sports day type games for the children, think sack races, egg & spoon etc.

Alternatively hire in some large garden games that both adults and children will play. At Dream Occasions Hire our games are out most weekends, the giant snakes n ladders, jenga, limbo and connect 4 are especially popular. If there are a lot of children, avoid games like bowls or croquet as the balls themselves are very heavy and could cause injury if a child decide sto throw in the wrong direction.

If you have a lot of children why not organise a treasure hunt with one of the ushers in charge? I once hid lots of mini fairies for a midsummer nights dream wedding.

Drink Reception – food & drink

Instead of ‘boring’ adult canapés why not have mini sandwiches displayed on a tiered stand along with grapes & cocktail sausages? Don’t provide too much food at this time as you want them to eat the main meal.

Think about the display of the sandwiches, some options are to cut into rectangles with crusts off (like for afternoon tea), as pinwheels or to use shape cutters. I especially love these dinosaur cutters albeit not exactly romantic! Of course you could stick to hearts and flowers for the girls!

 

Provide something like pink lemonade in infuser jars (Vintage Style Hire ) or ask your caterer to create some children cocktails to make them feel grown up. Try to stay away from children drinks laden with e numbers as the end result won’t be pretty!

 

Wedding Breakfast

Depending on the age of the children, you might want to consider having a children’s table set to the side. Have paper for them to draw on & crayons/pencils, small kits for them to make (think make a tiara or build a train sets) and bright flowers.

Emma created a vintage style table for her wedding with mix - match chairs and lace cloths. One I designed for a June client had green paper rolls, windmills, felt watering cans with printed pictures for the children to colour in & a mini watering can with crayons.

 

This could be either for children to go to independently during the meal to do some art or used for them to eat their meal as well.

It is perfectly possible to combine practical with pretty AND this doesn’t have to cost a lot. I asked Emma to design a child friendly placemat for children to colour in, we choose a ‘dog’ as dogs featured heavily in the design of the wedding.

 

Buy some coloured plastic glasses for them to use and keep after the wedding and choose a child friendly meal like sausages & mash followed by ice cream. This isn’t the time to introduce new tastes to them.

Evening Reception

Now’s the time the kids can go wild if they want to, it doesn’t matter, the formality has now finished. But there are still a few things to keep those children happy.

Think about having party dances for kids for the first ½ hour of the evening, after all this is when guests are stretching their legs after the meal and getting their drinks. Give them some glo bracelets and they will be happy as anything.

If you have a sweetie table which is popular, just think about ‘what sweets’ as again you don’t really want them bouncing of the walls from a sugar rush – and candy floss? God NO stay away from it!

If you can afford a photo booth buy some children props for them to use, they’ll have hours of fun posing.

When the evening food comes out think about something easy for children like mini hot dogs, mini chips, ice cream cones or crumpets and jam (yep at night this is fabulous). Have a glass of milk with a cookie to finish of the evening.

 

Ok so those are my top tips to have a stress free wedding with lots of children!

Photo Credit

Flowergirl – Debenhams

Children Invitation & Lace children table – photography by Hayley Ruth  + design by Emma Muir

Bridesmaids in church – Kate Anderson

Infuser Jar – Vintage Style Hire

Children table, place mat, cookie & milk, watering can – Mark Bothwell

If your parents are separated or divorced, there are areas of your special day that will require careful handling and meticulous planning if the day is to run smoothly and remain as tension-free as possible.Trying to manage split families and new stepfamilies can become very confusing, combine that with wedding protocol you may feel having an amicable wedding is impossible, however it is possible so please read further for some practical advice.

Where should people sit during the ceremony?

Traditionally, the bride’s parents sit in the front pew on the left hand side of the church. It isn’t appropriate for a casual lover to sit with either parent; they would be better positioned with other guests during the ceremony. It is acceptable for step-parents to be seated in the front pew provided relations are good. Ensure that everyone knows where they will be seated in advance to avoid confusion and awkwardness on the day.

Split the duties

Etiquette states that it should be the father of the bride who walks her down the aisle. However, if you are not close to your father or were raised by your stepfather, it can cause a great dilemma. Why not choose a man you feel close to, for example a brother or even a grandfather. Alternatively there is nothing wrong with your mother walking you down the aisle. Another option is to split the normal duties of the day between a natural father and step father. Perhaps traveling from home to the ceremony with one and walking down the aisle with another, think about who would give a better speech or indeed have 2 speeches!

I’m not sitting next to him! Coping with seating plans at the reception

As the top table is the focus of the wedding breakfast, any underlying tensions between ex-partners will inevitably be spotted.

Traditional Order

Chief Bridesmaid

Groom’s Father

Bride’s Mother

Groom

Bride

Bride’s Father

Groom’s Mother

Best Man

 

 

If you are unable to have the traditional order and don’t wish to mix step parents on the top table then another option would be to get sets of parents/step parents to host separate tables. The top table could be just be for the bride and groom with their attendants, I have done this at many client weddings. Or how about a romantic sweetheart top table for two?

What about the photos?

Spend some time with your photographer before your big day to explain the family set up and discuss your requirements. It’s important to be sensitive where photography is concerned. After all, it’s a lasting memory of the day and you want everyone to look happy and relaxed. Let him/her know which shots you would like taken and also seek their advice A professional photographer will have seen numerous family arrangements and will be able to make suggestions for your wedding. Also speak to your parents, find out their feelings about being photographed with their former spouse. Being prepared with knowledge of how everyone feels should enable you to plan so that the day runs as smoothly as possible. Hopefully, any warring couples will put aside their differences for one day – the wedding day of their child.

And finally

Communication is the key to a hitch-free wedding day. Ensure everything is discussed well before the event. Perhaps talk to the parent to whom you feel closest and discuss your feelings and dilemmas. Be up front and frank about what you are thinking and your concerns. Try to work through options together. There are many different solutions to resolve even the most complicated family issues that may present themselves on your wedding day, the golden rule is to choose the one that makes you feel most at ease and make everyone aware of your choice.

 

Photo Credit: Kerry Morgan & Mydas Photography

I’ve been a planner for 10 years and in that time a few clients have wanted their dogs involved in the day. The most memorable was 2 pug dogs who wore fairy wings and were trained to walk down the aisle with the ring in a special sparkly collar. So it was with interest that I came across this article in Modern Dog Magazine celebrity planner David Tutera in case you were wondering why I was reading a U.S dog magazine!

A civil partnership I’m planning this summer will also have their 3 dogs as part of the ceremony & pictures but won’t be staying for the party. If you are intending on having dogs at your wedding here are my 7 top tips.

 

1. Remember not everyone is ‘dog friendly’ so keep the dog on a lead at all times and delegate someone to be in charge. If this is not a family member think about hiring a professional dog walker to be present at the wedding ceremony.
2. Ensure that you keep to your dog’s regular diet and don’t introduce anything new to them. Ahem need I say more then ‘upset tummies’
3. Remember you can’t reason with a dog so if they decide on the day they’d rather sleep under a tree, well let them and resort to your backup pan – you do have a backup plan right?
4. Ensure the ‘dog walker’ takes them for regular walks especially just before the ceremony if they are to play a part.
5. Bring the dogs familiar items like dog bowl and bedding so they have an area they feel comfortable in
6. Ensure the venue are happy with dogs before booking, many rural venues are more then happy for you to bring your dogs
7. If the dogs are to act as ring bearers spend some weeks training them with treats first. If possible take them to the ceremony venue and practice the walk with the music you will have as you entrance playing – loudly. If you can get the dog to walk on command with the background noise there is a much higher chance of success on the day.

Dog lovers out there might like this blog post featuring a dog poem! Falling in love is like owning a dog

Photo Credit: Kerry Morgan

If you are getting married in 2012 have you set yourself some New Year resolutions to ensure the wedding is planned and executed beautifully? If not here are my suggestions:

1. Create a realistic budget and stick to it, more advice on creating your budget can be found via an article I wrote for English Wedding

2. Don’t try and do everything yourself, delegate some tasks to family members or friends who would love to be involved leaving you the fun tasks, you can then act as ‘project manager’ for all delegated menial tasks!

3. Involve your fiancé, it’s their wedding too! Talk about the areas of the wedding which are important to each of you and split up the duties.

4. Make a pledge to spend one evening per week NOT talking about the wedding, you don’t want to get to the wedding night with a deathly silence as you no longer know how to communicate to each other.

5. Remember less is more, do you really need favours, cameras, napkin decorations, wine charmsand trivia cards on the table?!

6. Keep your sanity, do you really have to match the favour ribbon to the bridesmaid dresses? Stop trying to match everything, sometimes using similar tones is more effective.

7. Forward plan, check with your suppliers when they need confirmed information from you, i.e. when is the latest date for the table plan to be printed, when do caterers need dietary choices – use this to then work out when invites need to be posted, allow enough time to print labels and get stamps (don’t forget to check with the post office if it is a regular or large stamp).

8. Remember you are not superheroes, if you become frantic at work or family health issues are making it difficult to organise the wedding, get a professional wedding planner in. Most will offer partial planning services so you are still in control. I cover the East Anglia region, please review my website for further details or for planners in different areas try the UKAWP.

9. Don’t be bullied, you may find family, suppliers and venues will try to enforce their opinions on you. Listen to what they are saying but remember it is YOUR wedding, do what you think is right for your wedding.

10. And finally have fun it’s not often you get the chance to plan a fabulous event with all your friends and family present so don’t get too stressed. If you have a budget and sensible timeline of when tasks need completing you can enjoy planning your wedding.

Recently we gave some advice to the lovely writers at Hitched, talking about winter weddings. You can read all about it here.

I originally posted this in 2009 but thought it was pretty prudent for now as this is when brides are interviewing suppliers for their weddings next year.

As part of their consultation I naturally ask clients if they have a budget, in past years clients would give me a rough budget but I’ve noticed a bit of a trend recently when clients say there is no budget determined. Far from being helpful this makes it very difficult to price what their wedding will cost.

After all there is a huge difference in weddings costing £10k compared to £30k and even more when the wedding is £80k+. Without a broad spectrum of a budget I have no idea as to what they want for their wedding. I pride myself on being an honest wedding planner so when a client gives me a budget I don’t set out to spend every penny or intentionally go over budget so I earn more! In fact my budget breakdowns are pretty accurate and we rarely go over the agreed budget.

Think about it another way, I have suppliers I recommend in each price bracket and I only recommend those the client can afford. There is nothing worse then seeing and falling in love with something only to discover it’s out of your budget. For example the bands I use can range from £700 – £4,000. Is there a big difference between them? To be honest yes, my top bands are fantastic but I only recommend them IF the client can afford it.

The same can be said of flowers, you could enter a meeting with a florist saying there is no budget, the florist will then quote giving you everything you wanted, you receive the quote and fall off your chair because you don’t want to spend that much so ask them to cut down. Wouldn’t it have been easier to say this is my budget in the first place?

So, the moral of the story is not every supplier is trying to spend ALL your money. We are only trying to give you the wedding or party you desire but without knowing what you want to spend, expectations are rarely met.

Please be honest with us!

In the week I was interviewed by a journalist regarding how to save money on your budget.

This article is featured on yahoo lifestyle and can be found here