Save Money on Wedding Expenses by NOT Telling Suppliers that Your Purchase is for a Wedding

Here's a list of ten things the wedding industry won't tell you. Many of them offer money saving advice, but I liked #5 the best:

5. "If it's for a wedding, it'll cost you 30% more."

You might have suspected that a wedding costs more than any other kind of similarly scaled event. You would be right. Diane Warner, author of "How to Have a Big Wedding on a Small Budget," tells of a bride-to-be who wanted to test this theory for herself. "She called a service in San Francisco, asked for just what she wanted, and they gave her a bid," Warner explains. "The next day, she had her fiance call and bid on the same items for a party. He got a lower price."

In researching Bridal Bargains, Fields and his wife spoke to several florists who told them that if they get the sense a bride has big bucks, they'll suggest exotic or out- of-season flowers. "If you're wearing a big diamond ring or your fiance is a doctor, it seems you suddenly have to fly in orchids from Hawaii," he says.

So, those videos I highlighted weren't off the mark after all, huh?

It seems a simple money saving tip would be not to tell the florist, DJ, reception hall, etc. that you're planning a wedding until the last possible moment. Seems like they'll often charge a lot less if you're simply planning a "party."

And of course, you could always move focus from ways to save money on a wedding to ways to make money on a wedding. :-)

Comments

[MetaMommy]

I remember looking around for wedding dresses and finding that white dresses at department stores were noticeably higher than non-white dresses. Worth thinking about if you don't mind the color of your dress.

[J in FL]

Ha ha! those videos are awesome :)

Esp. seeing as I'll be in the process of going through this stuff soon... well, it's still about a year off.

[Sam]

What I did to save money on my wedding 2 years ago was I trade in my services with them. I did their websites, in return, I got paid with free supplies! Who says there's no such thing as free lunch!

[The Finance Section]

30% more sounds familiar. It's all the extras that suddenly come out of the woodwork when you mention the word wedding.

Not sure about the cost of flowers, but the reception after the ceremony was where the extras came in to their own. Minimum guest number requirements, corkage on the wine, expensive bottled water on every table and so on. The good thing is that not all venues are like that.

[Otis]

I think this is the best review of how just mentioning the word wedding will raise the prices of everything:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gimiDBAK2wA
(Some cursing, so you may not want to play it at work or around little kids)

[Dan D]

Not mentioning that you're having a wedding sounds like good advice, but considering most people get married in their 20s, the vendors are able to see right through them. What other occasion would two 20 somethings have to plan a 'party' for 100+ people? I'm not sure this is really practical.