Need serious help! - repost from BHB

I have so many questions I feel a bit overwhelmed...

I will be meeting with a bunch of different vendors in the coming weeks and months and have NO CLUE where to start. I don't want to go into these places letting a florist tell me $6000.00 and me think that is OK. What is the norm?

- Florists, what do you go to an appointment asking them? I know you obviously have to have a vision of what you want but I have no idea how much all the flowers you will need for a wedding go for! What is a good place to set my budget at? and what kind of questions do I ask a florist?

- Photographers/Videographers ? DUH where do I start? Another thing I have no idea for a budget!

- Limo company? no budget here either!

- Invitations... nope no budget

As much info as you ladies can give me on this would be SO helpful. I am making myself crazy trying to think of everything you could possible ask and none of it makes sense to me!

Here is a link to a wedding budget by percentage.

budget

Typically, start w/ a # you can afford/are willing to spend, then work from there.

The best thing to do is check out a few vendors in each catecory and go with who you like best and for the best price (not always necessarily the cheapest).

HTH!

Good Luck and Happy Planning!

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Posted by BoxOfRocks

There's always the DIY option, but if you want to use a vendor, here are some tips.

Also, check out the book 'Bridal Bargains' by Denise and Alan Fields.

FLORIST
The cost will depend what kind of flowers you want and the scope of the job (how many centerpieces, bouquets, etc.).

If you want a flower that's in season, that will cut down your cost compared to getting the same flower out of season. Roses are available year round and are reasonably priced to boot (unless you're getting married Valentine's Day).

Pricewise, low centerpieces < medium centerpieces < high centerpieces.

Typically, a job will include: a bouquet for the bride and each BM; bouts for the groom, each GM, the ring bearer, the fathers, and grandfathers; corsages for the mothers and grandmothers; centerpieces; petals or pomander for the flower girls. Frequently the florist will add in throw petals for the place card table and flowers for the cake at no additional cost.

Don't feel obligated to get all of the stuff listed above. There are tons of ways to be creative.

FM me if you want details on pricing and what we got.


PHOTO/VIDEO
Getting photo and video from the same place. That will be cheaper than getting them from two different places. Or, enlist a skilled friend to do either of these.

You could contact an area college to get an upper class student to take them.

Ask your photog how much it will cost to get only digital pics. Then you can assemble the photos in a hard copy album yourself.


LIMO
Get a Town Car, not a limo. Or use a regular rental car company and get an exotic car. If using a limo company, ask to have the return price (from your reception venue back to hotel or home) in the price.


INVITATIONS
The DIY would definitely be the cheapest way here. There are plenty of cheap online sources for paper.

GL!

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you give great advice

im bad and we didnt really set a budget for anything...we just figured out what we wanted..and went for the reasonably priced places, then we chose one that gives the most for the money that we seemed to like the best

for photo/video- u can find a lot of places for 5000 and less..plus there are things u can add and things u can take away from the package

dj/flowers- it depends a lot on the extras mostly.. u have to decide which things u will really want and which u dont

Also ask your friends, coworkers, parents friends anyone who has attended a wedding in the past. I find you get a good idea of whats what. that way. Referrals are great. Everyone here is more than happy to share.
Also check a few places and then pick what fits in your budget or what feels the best pick (maybe the higher price so you cut a bit somewhere else). I want to mention to be an educated shopper just looking at the posts recently on unhappy brides Do yourself a favor and check BBB.ORG they are reputable. You may be getting a really low price for a reason. HTH

there are so many factors to consider with a lot of these vendors.

photographers i met with were all in the $3200 -4500 that included an album for me and 2 parent albums along with the proofs and some prints and at least 75 thank you cards.

video ranged from 1700-2100 and i found it was much cheaper to book video with the same people who did the photography this was for at least 2 dvds with basic editing.

invitations... the range in price on those is so crazy. you have to decide what is important to you. do you want a really elaborate invite? or something that just gets the job done and looks nice? the invites we fell in love with were $15-$30 EACH! there is no way we're paying that. it's just not that important to me. there are plenty of really nice invites for $3 a piece

flowers- again, do you want a lot of flowers? do you have your heart set on specific flowers? out of season flowers are super expensive. i'm allergic to flowers so i most likely won't have many at all. flowers arent important to me.

we decided that entertainment and photography was the most important to us. so we put extra money towards those BUT we'll spend less on other areas to make up for it.

PerfectWeddingPlanner.com has a nice budget calculator that you can adjust to fit your needs and i've fond it to be the most accurate for a Long Island wedding. I'm not just saying that b/c i booked them either.

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Posted by SoVic08

I have so many questions I feel a bit overwhelmed...

I will be meeting with a bunch of different vendors in the coming weeks and months and have NO CLUE where to start. I don't want to go into these places letting a florist tell me $6000.00 and me think that is OK. What is the norm?

- Florists, what do you go to an appointment asking them? I know you obviously have to have a vision of what you want but I have no idea how much all the flowers you will need for a wedding go for! What is a good place to set my budget at? and what kind of questions do I ask a florist?

- Photographers/Videographers ? DUH where do I start? Another thing I have no idea for a budget!

- Limo company? no budget here either!

- Invitations... nope no budget

As much info as you ladies can give me on this would be SO helpful. I am making myself crazy trying to think of everything you could possible ask and none of it makes sense to me!

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FLORIST - have you picked out a RH yet, if so your RH should give you a list of the florists they use. THe prices they give usually depends on the CP's you want (hi or low) and the kinds of flowers you want. You shouldnt pay more than $4000 for flowers

PHOTO/VIDEO: Again your RH should give you a list of their recommended vendors. You should def get your photo/video from the same place. You shouldnt pay more than $6000 for this.

Limos and Invites I have no idea on these either, I still havent looked into these. Def do a search on here for the vendor you like and you can read the different reviews brides had or have had so you can get a better idea of what you want out of these vendors

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Posted by Irishny8

hi I'm new here... what the heck does DIY stand for!?!? lol thanks!

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UR funny

FOr example, some brides will make their own invites or wedding programs, that is DIY

DUH! Thank you!

I just ordered bridal bargains the other day! I can't wait for it to come. I want to do as must as I can on my own. I was thinking about making my own invites, centerpieces, favors.... as much as i can to keep costs LOW.....