Vendor Prices!

Well, in the cases he mentions, I agree. Just because you can get the flowers for free doesn't take away the time putting them together and making them look nice. Certainly, that is something you should pay for. (And bringing your own servers? People do this? WTF?)

But. If I want floral centerpieces with roses for an event, the price shouldn't be different if it's for a wedding or for a high school reunion. If I want to rent a room at a hotel from an event, the rental price for that room shouldn't change if it's a wedding or prom. If I want you to do my hair, it shouldn't cost twice as much for a wedding as it would for prom.

There are places where the price difference is justified (shooting a family reunion is NOT the same as shooting a wedding), but there are places where the standard of service should be the same regardless of the event. I think it's in THOSE cases where brides get upset.

This looks like a blog of wedding vendors venting about being just that, wedding vendors. And we're a forum of brides who do the opposite, vent about being brides and how hard it it.

I'm sure that some vendors jack up the price when they hear wedding and others don't. It's true that they need to earn money, but it's unreasonable for them to charge markup on products provided by someone else. They're already going to charge by the hour for assembling them and they simply didn't do the work of getting the products so why should they make profit off of them.

On the other hand, vendors are totally entitled to say that they have a creative process and don't want to share their job with someone else, but then the bride may take her business elsewhere - there is always a vendor that will be willing to do what someone else wont.

I think his personal blog is more about the wedding industry in general, and the many different aspects, although i agree they do tend to be vendors who post and are active and he is a vendor so it is from his point of view. I just think he does a good job explaining why florists coast what they do, why photographers charge, why wedding planners charge, not in the article I posted but through out his blog.

I would like the say the vendors who jack up their prices do it because they are sought after. Same as you are going to pay more for a shirt from the gap as oppose to a shirt from walmart and those who aren't worth it, don't bring business in. Just my opinion, some times hell ya i am going to go with the walmart shirt but not at all the time, same things with weddings.

I am not saying I don't understand and I don't get frustrated but just trying to say there are two sides and maybe one side isn't being explained properly to brides, thats all.

I mean this sincerely, but I'd love to hear the explanations from vendors who don't have as much creative license. And like you said, if someone is willing to pay your prices, you'll find clientele. I think WW tends to skew more towards budget brides, though, or at least more budget conscious brides, so yeah, we'll vent about prices on here.

I remember reading a post once where a vendor told a bride the difference in price for the same food from a wedding vs any other event was that they had to make sure it was perfect for the wedding. So the food wouldn't be as good for a family reunion? That's a standard I would expect regardless of the event, and paying more still doesn't guarantee perfection or even better food/service, ya know?

If this post is open to vendors, I'd love to hear from their side. Caterers, hotels, MUAs.

P.S. - There is a reason I avoided flowers altogether.

Totally agree reenski! I would love to hear from the vendors who don't have the creative aspect to their business

I get the price difference between pizza and a 5 course meal but for the same mean I don't understand! agree with you 100 % on that side!

And like i said budget brides rock the socks off of me! I'd rather put 40 000 down on a house and have a 10 000 wedding instead of just having a 50 000 wedding. I mean unless i could afford both than my 50 000 wedding would go nice with my million dollar house!

In general, I agree. It's always mind boggling to me that brides do not take into account equipment, education, experience, talent, etc. All that goes into vendor prices. And vendors do not have to work for a minimum wage. It's also true that WW is tends to have more budget brides. Recently I started having a feeling that making and spending money is somehow morally reprehensible.

That said, some things are unreasonable. Lindsay had a flower post the other day, where a small cube with a couple of gerbera daisies was $100. That's really jacked up, even with set up, delivery and profit.

It's a case by case sort of thing. I definitely agree with Reenski. I don't see why the same meal is $20 a plate for any other event but $30 for a wedding. I've been to weddings catered by well used caterers, and there's no reason for the price increase that I've ever seen. The food was not extra good. It was the same as usual. A steak dinner shouldn't jump in price just for a wedding.

I don't begrudge vendors getting paid. Like I recognize that the photographer we went with has a lot of experience, and has an art background and her artistic touch is worth what she charges. I did not however purchase prints from her, just the disc, because while I understand that hers are better quality than walgreens prints, $500 for a book the same quality as other photographers on par with her had for 1/4 that price is too much for me. Artistic license or not.

I agree with this author on the specific points that they shouldnt be expected to be working for free because you are providing the materials. They are artists creating something for you. However why should they charge a markup on the flowers being given to him to use? No you should be charging your fee for creating a design and not providing materials. And as Reenski said, what is the excuse for the other vendors who add markup for the word wedding. I have experienced this first hand when a venue gave me the rental fee of $1000 for the whole day. Then she said oh wait you said this was your wedding? Its $3000 for 6 hours. Umm seriously? What extra benefits are you giving me for that extra $2K!? In less time?!

I don't mind people charging me extra for travel if it's an hour or more, or charging me for things like providing linens and dinnerware. They paid for those as an investment in their business, so of course they should make their money back on that. I only have a problem with some people chraging what it would cost to buy the dishes and table linens, and refuse to give you the option to get them elsewhere. I think most of the time brides who do vent about prices vent because every vendor in their area charges more for weddings than other events, and when that happens you really have very little choice in vendors

"However why should they charge a markup on the flowers being given to him to use? No you should be charging your fee for creating a design and not providing materials." my understanding with floral, and just floral is due to the quality/season/mass spiel, so that I understand. Maybe that could be applied to food, rentals, etc? Maybe it is the quality you are getting is the price difference. But i think it's hogwash to assume that because I am having a wedding I am going to get nicer linens compared to the same linens ordered the next day for a family reunion.

Pan i completely agree you in regards with caterers rentals (ie dishes linens!). why can't I shop around for the best price, maybe not dishes but the linens for sure, same with venues!

Agree different areas are different cost, the difference between the average rural wedding compared to city is 5000, which to me at least is a lot of money.

I think the overwhelming point that can be made is that before I started planning my wedding i was very very very naive as to the cost, but in the same breath I also believe that you are paying for what you get. I am not saying you can't do a beautiful budget wedding, its been done time and time again on WW! But I am just saying that it is a shock the first time you hear how much a florist/photographer/dj is! But if you break it down you can understand their costs better. I think that is what the article is saying. To me it did any ways.

SamanthaJ - while I understand that you, and other vendors, see things from a different point of view, what I as a bride have witnessed examples of vendors doing exactly that:

1) I wanted to book a photobooth company who was running a special - $300 for 2 hours for 20-40 people, perfect for my wedding guest size. I spoke with the owner and all of a sudden it's "that's the regular party price, the price for wedding for that time frame will be $650." Umm, really?

2) When looking at transportation companies, as soon as they heard the word "wedding", price quotes would suddenly go up an extra $100-150. I eventually just stopped telling them what it was for until the very end of the conversation because of it.

I'm sorry but when it comes to vendors pulling stunts like the ones I've mentioned, I can't possibly grasp the concept of gas prices and cost of living going up simply because I'm having a wedding.

I get a little tired of this too. Weddings are more time consuming for most vendors. There is product, there is expertise, there are usually more meetings for a wedding than for a simple party (but then, if your wedding is a simple party planned as such, the pricing should be the same). If your vendor is telling you that a wedding arrangement, limo or food is more, they should be prepared to tell you why; it shouldn't be for no reason.

Even my simplest elopements will consume about 4 hours, from consult, to samples, to performing, to followup. My big wedding can take up to 12-14. I just sigh when I hear, "but it's only 20 minutes".

Thanks for the article.

I get a little tired of this too. Weddings are more time consuming for most vendors. There is product, there is expertise, there are usually more meetings for a wedding than for a simple party (but then, if your wedding is a simple party planned as such, the pricing should be the same). If your vendor is telling you that a wedding arrangement, limo or food is more, they should be prepared to tell you why; it shouldn't be for no reason.

Even my simplest elopements will consume about 4 hours, from consult, to samples, to performing, to followup. My big wedding can take up to 12-14. I just sigh when I hear, "but it's only 20 minutes".

Thanks for the article.

@SamanthaJ, it's great that you and the vendors you work with have consistent pricing -- I'm sure there are a lot of other vendors in your same boat. The problem is when you find vendors like the ones Tina had to deal with. A limo ride is not different if it's prom or a wedding -- people get in and you drive them. The photobooth example is an even better one. What tangible upgrade do we get for that extra charge? And if there is something, what if we don't want it?

Again, if you are spending more time, labor to plan a more elaborate wedding, of course that's going to cost more. But in an apples to apples comparison, some vendors unfortunately do jack up the price without a good reason or without giving an added value.

I have to disagree because I don't think it's about the vendor's making money, I think it's about being marked up just because. If a caterer does a family picnic for $20 a person for the Jones family, why does he want to charge the future Mr. Brown $25 per person for the same menu as the picnic just because its a wedding? I say that vendors need to price thier products and services at a rate in which is fair to the customer but still affords them a good standard of living, it isn't fair to charge people less money for general occassions and then expect future brides and grooms to make up for thier lack of income by jacking up prices.

@Celia, this is all I can think of in your case to ask, since I'm not sure what else you would officiate, but are your prices different from a wedding to a vow renewal? The second won't require the legal paperwork, correct? But everything else, your consults, writing, rehearsal, etc. would be about the same, right?

I feel like we're talking about different things here. We've already ceded that some of the "creative" vendors would get leeway for things that would change, such as the type of flowers, or the time put forth to put things together for a wedding.

The things we DO NOT understand are fairly concrete items, such as a limo. I doubt that gas prices increased enough to justify the cost being $100-150 more in the span of one phone conversation. I don't think the photobooth technology improved $350 worth in the span of one phone conversation.

Hotel space will be there whether someone has a wedding there or not. Why is it half price for a family reunion to rent the space (not food, not anything else, just the four walls, ceiling and floor) than for a wedding in the SAME space? That is what I see brides complaining about much more often.

I know this happens have seen it first hand with my experience booking our high school reunion - adding up the hotel room costs and min for a ballroom on a Saturday nite - was $12K. Thinking that would be close to the same for a wedding, I inquired and was shocked to find out the min for the wedding regardless if you booked a block of rooms for guests was $23K PLUS the 1,500 fee for setting up the ceremony. I call BS - the only difference in labor for the wedding and the reunion is cake cutting for the wedding. This was for any Weekend day you wanted it.

There is a mark up and it has nothing to do with demand and prestige of having your wedding at XXX. It has to do with greed.

All of the limos around us have jacked up prices for weddings, you can get a prom package for 3 hours for $300, for our wedding package for 5 hours is $1089 + $250 in a required tip for the driver, I live in a small town and everything for me is in super close proximity so he may be driving up to a total of about 15 minutes