conversation starter: would you rather..........

ssdbk Posted: Jul 28, 2006 01:54 AM

conversation starter: would you rather..........

Would you rather..............

spend a large portion of your budget on a very expensive hall (maybe the hall of your dreams) but then be limited in your spending on the rest of the vendors and on favors and extras.

or

find a different hall for less money, but be able to afford any other vendor you wanted (or menu add ons, expensive vendor packages).

No Flaming Please and no criticizing anyone else's responses!!!!

I'm asking b/c many of my friends were at extremes (i.e. super pricey hall but spent very little on other things, or got a great deal on a hall and went crazy spending on other things).

I know, some people will say that they'd prefer to be somewhere in the middle, not crazy expensive on one thing but not cheap on anything. But I want to see if anyone has a strong opinion about this.

waterspout4 Posted: Jul 28, 2006 02:27 AM

Re: conversation starter: would you rather..........

To me: What's the sense in having a downright gorgeous hall if you get a photographer that can't shoot it right? JMO

CLMon7906 Posted: Jul 28, 2006 05:49 AM

Re: conversation starter: would you rather..........

HMMMMMM....

I think choice B. If I had budgeted in enough money by saving on my hall some, I could jazz it up so well that no one would realize or remember it was less expensive.

And actually, I've learned from experience now that many guests don't know the difference to begin with (unless you have extremes....Oheka Castle comes to mind) and you can so easily fool them, there's no sense in splurging much at all....I choreographed almost every moment of our wedding and was in complete charge, but no one knew. I handmade almost every detail that our guests saw but no one knew...they all believed these things cost tons of money and were professionally done. Right down to my dress...when I tried to tell people it was from David's (re: cheaper) some would say 'Yeah, but where is it from really?' Why would I say David's if Vera Wang designed it??

In short, unless you tell them, your guests will never know.

But I am still going with B.

AMGBride2008 Posted: Jul 28, 2006 07:57 AM

Re: conversation starter: would you rather..........

I would go with choice B.
If you go with the less expensive hall, it doesn't mean that the hall is a piece of cr@p... besides, you can do wonders to a pice of cr@p anyway. Also, I would shell out more $$ for a great DJ because people will have tons more fun with an awesome DJ than with a beautiful RH... AND... who wants all the guests' attention on the beautiful and expensive RH when their attention should be on the beautiful bride!

ChrisnAmy Posted: Jul 28, 2006 08:05 AM

Re: conversation starter: would you rather..........

My choice is option A

I think the Food and the Hall are very important. People are either taking off from work or giving up a day without their families to be with you. They should be treated special.

That's my opinion!

ali120206 Posted: Jul 28, 2006 08:08 AM

Re: conversation starter: would you rather..........

I'd definitely rather pay less on the venue. I have been to some wonderful affairs at less expensive venues and some horrible affairs at more expensive ones.

The most important vendor is the band/dj in my eyes, they can make or break a wedding.

I also think by spending less money on a venue, you are able to possibly invite more people than you would be able to at a more expensive place.

alioop4282 Posted: Jul 28, 2006 08:12 AM

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Definitely the second one.

kara10152006 Posted: Jul 28, 2006 08:24 AM

Re: conversation starter: would you rather..........

This was the exact dilemna we faced. We decided to go with the less expensive hall but we did all of the menu add on's, and have spent more on the other vendors. I really can't say if this was the right way to go (I'll let you know 10/16 ) but our families are huge foodies and love to dance, and we really felt flowers and photography/videography were really important to us so we wanted to spend the extra oney on the other vendors instead of the hall.

july06bride Posted: Jul 28, 2006 08:40 AM

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I would do a less expensive hall and get the 'extras' I wanted...

BunnyBride Posted: Jul 28, 2006 08:40 AM

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Less expensive hall. As long as the food is good and the drinks strong, who is worrying about the fancyness of the place anyway!?

greenfreak Posted: Jul 28, 2006 08:43 AM

Re: conversation starter: would you rather..........

We actually were in that exact situation and chose B. The food certainly wasn't an issue - it was still great food. But we were missing things like valet parking, grounds around the venue, huge ornate bathrooms, it wasn't a very large place, etc.

I think many women who have guest lists 100 or under are faced with this problem. There aren't a lot of sprawling, lavish places that will allow a guarantee of less than 100. We didn't want to invite an additional 25+ people that we didn't necessarily know or like just to make a minimum.

If we had done our wallets and albums through our photographer, it would have cost more than we paid for the reception hall. Besides food, it was the most important aspect for us.

MichLiz213 Posted: Jul 28, 2006 09:14 AM

Re: conversation starter: would you rather..........

Posted by waterspout4

To me: What's the sense in having a downright gorgeous hall if you get a photographer that can't shoot it right? JMO

Good point. I would go with the second choice.

Mandyin2007 Posted: Jul 28, 2006 09:20 AM

Re: conversation starter: would you rather..........

I think a moderately priced hall and then add on a select few things that you really want. No reason to not compromise.

Chrissywish Posted: Jul 28, 2006 09:30 AM

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I would go with choice B

Mooshyboo Posted: Jul 28, 2006 09:45 AM

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I am trying to be good & choose not the most pricey on everything since we are paying for everything ourselves...

Mooshyboo Posted: Jul 28, 2006 09:48 AM

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I do think if I would go pricey on everything I would want would be the photography/videographer ~ just because this is going to tell the story of your day and you will have them years to come. I am sure the day is going to go by fast and I know I will want to recapture every moment!

kam0813 Posted: Jul 28, 2006 11:10 AM

Re: conversation starter: would you rather..........

DEFINITELY without a doubt option B...

October Bliss Posted: Jul 28, 2006 12:34 PM

Re: conversation starter: would you rather..........

I think it depends on exactly what the hall of your dreams is. For example, if it's a choice between any of the Scotto Brother's facilities vs. another catering hall on LI, I think the choice is the less expensive catering hall with the extras (whatever hall that may be, so long as you like it).

But if the choice is Oheka vs. cutting back on other vendors, you go with Oheka. At least I would.

In my own planning FH & I set a budget of X for the entire wedding. Then we used some guidelines found on the internet and in bridal magazines to break that into little pieces for each thing (RH, DJ, flowers etc). We went over on invites, but went under on other things. Overall we stayed in our budget.

ejm1219 Posted: Jul 28, 2006 12:39 PM

Re: conversation starter: would you rather..........

In all honesty, I think neither. I am trying to do the least expensive for everything with the best value. I don't think spending more money means better quality. This is one day!!!!!!!! A very important day but one day nonetheless. I would rather save my money all around and have money to buy a house later on. People are the ones that 'make' a party. If I had it in my backyard it would still be a good time b/c the people I am inviting I love and will help me make the day special!