Save on a Wedding by Having It in the Winter

Here's an article by MSN Money that says you can save a ton of money on a wedding by having it in the winter. Some of the savings you can expect:

The largest wedding-related expense is the banquet reception, which can cost more than $10,000, depending on the number of guests, location and menu, Markel says. Typically, banquet facilities charge a fixed price per person. But between January and March, the total cost often drops between 20% and 50%, Markel says. (The savings will be lower in states that have warm weather throughout the year, like parts of Florida and California.) Another option, of course, is to skip dinner. Lunch or brunch can save you 50%.

Fewer weddings mean fewer requests for photographers and videographers. Jeff Sharpe, a co-owner of Sharpe Photographers in Roseville, Calif., where the starting price for photos is $2,200, says the company offers 10% to 25% discounts for weddings between January and March. During the same months, Eli Allen, the owner of Majestic Images in Philadelphia, who charges a starting price of $7,000 for photography and video combined, offers a 20% discount.

Limos are at their most expensive during prom season and peak wedding season -- periods that winter weddings avoid. So expect to pay 10% to 20% less during the winter than you would in May or June, Markel says.

Basic economics -- less demand = lower prices.

Is this why Billy Idol sang of a "White Wedding" all those years ago? Was he simply looking to get married on the cheap? ;-)

Comments

[MC]

When I grew up in the 1970's, the wedding reception was always just cake & mints in the church basement. I find the current "treat everyone to a huge fancy meal" really baffling.

Are there actually wedding guests out there who *want* to eat chicken caccatore made for 500? Who *want* the bride and groom to start out life with a $10,000 catering bill?

bleh. Doesn't sound like much of a celebration to me.

(Of course, I'd never bother with a limo either unless it was free or nobody I knew owned a car. Seriously, since I got older than eight it just hasn't been all that exciting to "ride" in the decorated princess vehicle at the fair.

[ctreit]

Weddings are way too expensive these days, aren't they? As it happened - really, it did "just happen" in my view, not in my wife's view though - my wife and I eloped to Costa Rica, where we wanted to honeymoon. We ended up having a destination wedding for the two of us, and later on we had a reception/party for friends and family at our house. Everybody was happy, but especially my wife and I since we had such a special day just for us.

[Emily]

I say skip the fancy meal and spend more money on the photographer ;-)

[Financial Samurai]

Yep good point. I had a winter wedding, but mine was on a tropical island and we loved it!

[Jackie]

You can also often save money on reception sites by holding your wedding at a day/time other than Saturday night, and save money in general by asking what people might be able to do to help you stay within your budget.

Although I have to say as a former wedding photographer that there is often a perception out there that wedding pros are raking it in, and that just isn't the case most of the time. You can make a good living, sure, just like you can at any other job that requires networking and 60 hour weeks.

[A Girl and A Boy who love each other.]

Winter weddings are not cheaper in FL, in fact we saved money having our wedding in the hottest month...August. :-)

[Crystal]

I understand wanting to have a reception, but I do not understand wanting to spend $10,000 on it.

Our whole wedding was $3000. That included my dress and accessories, my husband's tux with tails and accessories, a nice chapel, an organist, a photographer, a reception, a wedding cake, a groom's cake, and all the decorations.

My husband and I truly enjoyed ourselves, spent 3 hours at the reception, and took all our friends back to our tiny apartment to open the gifts and record the thank you note info. We had a blast and remember our wedding as a perfect ceremony and reception...way less stress than I would have expected too.

We got student discounts on the chapel, the organist, and the reception hall, but it would have been less than $5000 for anybody or less than $7000 if you splurge more than we did (like for alcohol, a more expensive dress, etc).

If anybody wants details, just ask...didn't see the need to write it all out if no one really wanted to read it. :)

[Rick]

The way I'm doing it is cheapest of all... I'm just not getting married :-(

[Crystal]

@Rick
The cheapest option for a wedding is definitely to not have one :)

I've heard that the #1 way to increase your wealth in through marriage and the #1 way to decrease your wealth is through divorce.

This tells me that marriage is financially beneficial unless you marry the wrong person for you...make your decisions wisely.

I married my best friend who also had similar financial and emotional values...so far, so good.

[Old Limey]

I was married in 1956 in England. My wife's father said, "Here's 50 pounds, spend it any way you want". It wasn't that he was mean, it's just that he couldn't afford any more. My wife had her dress made by a seamstress friend, we had a reception at a local restaurant for 50 guests, my father loaned me his little English 4 cylinder 1939 Ford Prefect car, and off we went for our honeymoon in North Wales, and we're still married today.

One daughter married into wealth so the husband took care of a very elaborate, fancy, 2 day wedding for 600 guests at the best hotel in town - they even had a very famous group that he knew sing at the wedding reception. That marriage ended a couple of years ago.

The other daughter was married in a beautiful Japanese garden and Tea House, that you could rent for the afternoon. We had it catered and supplied the drinks etc. - it wasn't very expensive - just as well since the marriage didn't last long. For her second and third weddings they paid their own way - once was enough for us.

[Julie]

It's a risk to have a winter wedding in Minnesota. I personally know of two wedding receptions having only the immediate family at them, when 300 guests had been invited, due to blizzards. No refunds, no gifts, no seeing extended family and friends that you invited to this special occasion. Major bummer emotionally and financially.

[J in FL]

I also disagree with the notion of a cheaper wedding in Florida during the winter. I know this may not be true for all areas of Florida, but in Naples, winter is considered "season." This is when many wealthy folks come down from the north to vacation and live for a few months...and prices for everything actually go up during this time. Hotels cost more, venues cost more, ect. The climate is quite nice during this time (for Florida, which is really hot most of the year) and if you want a beach wedding, which is what I'm doing in January, it works out very well. But in Naples, it can still cost you a bundle if you're not careful.

The few things I can think of that we've done to keep costs down are that we're getting married on a Sunday. We're also trying to keep the guest list to less than 100 and still cover all of our bases (so far so good). And we're bringing in a photographer from another city who is running a "$200 off of any package" discount right now and isn't charging us for his travel as well. I think he is running a discount most likely for the reasons stated in the article, where he lives there are probably less weddings during the winter, so it worked out for us. We looked at photographers in Naples, and we couldn't find anyone that could compete with his prices (at the same level of quality)..and now that I think about it, nobody was offering any discounts either.

[Slinky]

I'm getting married the week before Thanksgiving. They dropped the food and beverage minimum for the room we wanted by more than half for that Saturday only. We really wanted a Saturday for our out of town guests who are driving 6 hours to get here! It worked out pretty nicely.