As wedding coordinators we meet with couples who may be planning a very intimate wedding of 40 people or under, or on the other hand couples who are trying to keep the guest list under 300. After the engagement is official and the couple begins making selections for their venue and vendors, it becomes a question of where to start. There are many tools and checklists that are helpful, and we offer our assistance for every step of the way during the planning process even if a couple books us for Day of Coordination vs. Full Service. The biggest question that I hear brides ask is "what is the average cost of _________?"
The reason this question isn't always easy to answer is because there are many variables to cost, therefore the photographer or venue for one wedding may not be comparable to another event due to some of these reasons:
♥ Location
♥ Time of Year
♥ No. of Expected Guests
♥ Specific Package Selections
♥ Demand for Service/Product
♥ Level of Experience of Vendor
Watching the Wedding Programs on TV or flipping through a magazine may have skewed your grasp of what a realistic budget is in your area. While it is important to understand what is realistic, it is even more important to establish your budget based on what you feel comfortable with. Even if a $2k floral budget is average in some areas, it may not be a number that you can or want to spend for your event.
When clients contact us, we ask them to complete a questionnaire and rate what the most important areas of their budget is.
We ask questions such as:
From 1 -5 in importance (1 being most important) rate the following:
- Abundance of Fresh Flowers
- Extensive Photography and/or Videographer Package (over 6-8 hours of photography and printed images in album)
- Luxury Linens, Centerpieces & Decor
- Venue
- Food & Beverage
If budget was no option we would splurge on:
a. Gourmet Food & Premium Drinks for our guests
b. Chandeliers, Draping & Up lighting
c. Modern Furniture & Lounge areas
d. Gift Baskets /Custom Favors
e. An over the top Wedding Cake
f. Custom Stationary (Invitations, Save The Dates, etc)
g. Other(s) ______________________
These types of questions give us insight on helping you establish your budget, and pair you with vendors that can not only provide the products and services you are looking for but also stay on budget. We can assist clients prioritize the expenses so that all of the major areas are covered and we can identify some of the "extras" to have on standby if budget permits.
We support the DIY Couples in their projects and creativity, and can even help you budget for your DIY projects to estimate your savings and cost effectiveness for each project. Our goal for the DIY couple is to help you organize all of the projects and elements that you have worked on creating, and put them together into a smooth timeline with tasks and detailed information to keep everyone on the same page. If you would like information on our packages, or our upcoming DIY Workshop please shoot us an email at info@The530Bride.com
We will be seeing our Northern California Brides at the upcoming Bridal Shows!
Yuba Sutter, January 27th at the Yuba City Fairgrounds
Chico Bridal Show, February 24th at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico
Want tickets? Shoot us your information from our contact us page to get on the list for fast pass tickets!
Specializing in creatively capturing your memorable moments and milestones. Artistic, natural light photography for fresh, fun, modern people in Chico, Northern California, and the Reno-Tahoe area. Emily Hajec Photography is a fresh face on the Northern California wedding scene and is looking to meet lots of new clients. As an introduction, she is offering excellent pricing on her wedding collections.
