what should I budget for a decent dj, florist, photo, video? *NM*

what should I budget for a decent dj, florist, photo, video? *NM*

That's a tough call, but you should be able to get a decent dj doing five hours (including the cocktail hour) for around $1200. Depending on how eleborate you want to go, like light shows, special effects or even dancers will increase the price. There are those who have gotten djs cheaper and have had success and those who are paying more. But $1200 is a fair ballpark figure for just the basic, I believe. Flowers really depends on how much you'll need, like how big your party is, how many tables you'll need centerpieces for, and so on. The same applies to photos. Alot depends on exactly what type of package you're looking for, like how many albums and how many pictures in each album. Video will depend on how intricate you're looking to go. Do you want single camera coverage, or double camera coverage? I've seen video estimates from something like $1200 to over $4000. I know this doesn't really help, but try to prioritize what's most important to you, where you're willing to spend a little more, and where you'd rather cut some corners if possible. Start shopping and considering the types of packages you want from each vendor and see what prices you're getting. That will give you the best idea of how expensive you might need to go with each. Set a fair maximum you'd be willing to go on each, then try to stick with it. To be honest though, I started out trying to make a budget and keep in mind what we could spend on our vendors, but I haven't been keeping to it. As long as the prices didn't sound outrageous, and we liked the people we were dealing with and the work they do, we went with them. I first started with the thought of $2000 for each, but realized there could be balancing trade-offs. For example, our dj was under $2000, so that kind of allowed us to go over on flowers. Since our photographer's studio is also doing our video, we had a tradeoff there, where the photos balance out what we saved on the video. In the end, I think we're still in the same general range I anticipated, it's just dispersed a little differently.

Thank you so much Kel *NM*

Florist prices

For the florist, make a list of what you'll be needing and how many - bouquets, boutonneiers, corsages, centerpieces, alter flowers, cake table flowers, etc. Bouquets ranged about $150 for mine and $50 or $75 for the others. Boutonneiers were about $6.50, coursages about double that, maybe a little more. Alter flowers were $100 per basket or more if you wanted pedastals. Our centerpieces ran $40 each for a simple glass vase with an abundance of mixed blooms, ivy and berries. They did not look like your typical FTD arrangement. If you want tall pedastals or more extravagant centerpieces I'm guessing you'll be paying $75 - $150 per centerpiece. All the incidental flowers, like the dais flowers and the card table, seemed to range about $50 - $100 per arrangement. Our florist told us he had a standard amount for the bouquets and would work everything else into whatever we told him our budget was. You may want to give anyone you speak with a lower estimate by about $500 and see what they come up with. You can always upgrade to more expensive blooms if you're not happy with what they are showing you but it's a pretty sure bet that if you tell them your budget is $2000 then that's what your flowers will cost, and they'll probably come in with a net cost of around that and you'll have tax on top of it. Hope this helps....

Karen H. - Florist

May I ask who is your florist?

Karen H. - Florist

I was married this past April and we used Murphy & Co. in Bayside. There's a review posted on the Vendor Review section. I think we'll have our scanner hooked up this weekend so I'll have some pictures up on the web soon.

Karen H. - Florist

Thank you for the information. I would love to see the pictures.