Budget- cost vs quality

drandreasalazar

hello ladies I just started the wedding planning process and in every step of this process I feel like I come back to the same topic- cost.  My wedding wont be for another year and a half- Im not concerned about coming up with all the money needed for the big day but more of a concern that Im totally wasting money on one day, a  few hours.  So I wanted to get your thoughts on this...although I can afford what I want I keep wanting to go with lower cost vendors but Im scared about quality.  Anyone ever use "creative coordinating"? just having a meeting with them soon.
anyone use any less expensive vendors that you were completely surprised and happy with...?   anyone who was on the low end and you wouldn't recommend? thanks

spartybride3

They cost more money for a reason It depends on what your budget is and for what particular vendors in order for us to give an opinion on what a lower cost vendor is. For me, I spent $$ on the photographer ($2000), videographer (1700), & our food/drinks (I don't even want to think about that price). I'm going to have to look at the pics & video forever, so I wanted them to be good. Food & drinks because I've had far too many "ok" meals at weddings & I wanted my guests to leave feeling they had a good meal & free flowing alcohol.  

Start to get an idea about what you really want to spend the $$ on and work from that. Have you picked your venue?? My venue & church are beautiful in itself, so I do not need to spend much on flowers or linens. If your venue is on the plainer side, you may have to spend some $$ making it look nicer (if that is important to you). 

Check reviews & go with your gut. I met so many bad vendors that had stuff I wanted and good vendors that didn't have what I was looking for. Just remember, cheaper isn't always better. 

I hope I didn't scare you!! 

drandreasalazar

No you didnt thanks for replying. I met with a wedding planner who by the way is a 4k costwise of a wedding planner and she essentially shut down the photographer i wantamanda williams because 'she didnt cost enough'. I love her pictures . It just made me not like the wedding planner . I bet she just wants me to use her vendors. Yeah im planning on spending a little over 4k for chairs linens flowers and decor.

lauraprevost

FWIW, check out the vendor sticky up top. A bunch of people on this board have used/are using Amanda Williams and so far I've read nothing but good things about her!

Sue-n-Kevin

I think a lot of brides struggle with the "cost vs quality" issue, especially when you haven't been involved in working with this type of vendor in the past. Who amongst us has personally used a photographer, DJ, florist, etc? I was always comfortable with my gut about catering (no pun intended) because my Mom used to be in the business years ago, and I am a foodie. I think I was also comfortable with my decisions and had less angst because I'm older and able to make decisions with the perspective that age provides. In other words, by being an "older" bride, I sort of knew what I wanted because I've already thrown big parties for my kids: christening, HS & college graduation parties, etc. I already knew what things cost, what made sense, what would give us more "bang for the buck", etc.

I'd also always been involved in crafts my whole life: sewing, arranging flowers from my garden, making "stuff" like jewelry, decorating multiple rooms in my home. These were all things I'd already accomplished and knew my style. This is all stuff that takes experience with yourself and decision making, something younger people don't have.

Having said that, I think what most brides do is look at the entirety of the day and decide where they feel their money is best spent. If photography is very important to you, that could eat up a very large part of your budget. We didn't get a videographer, because for US it did not make sense. To others it's very important.

My answer in a nutshell:

- Most weddings will have 50-75% of the costs in the food and alcohol. I think this is true because you are basically hosting the best party of your lives and want to make sure your guests walk away feeling like you honored them with a lot of thought about this. This was the one area I put the most thought into and did the most comparison "shopping" so to speak. It's also one of the areas where you are often making decisions about 2 things simultaneously: the look and feel of the venue/hall, AND what the food tastes like, how it's presented, etc. Sometimes you like one but not the other. I have to say though that when I look at the reviews of the brides on this board, everyone is generally rating their venue + food as an "A" or "A++". So that is worth the work.

- The remaining 25-50% of the budget goes to the rest of your vendors. There is a certain level of comfort you must feel, but in the end you are essentially making your decision on gut, or gut + recommendations from brides here on the Knot who have posted reviews, or from family or friends who have used them. For these vendors there is often a wide disparity in costs and that's the area you are probably going to find the most available vendors to compare. Many of us have used the same vendors for hair + makeup, Day of Coordinators, limo/transport services, florists, etc. The ratings we provided on the top of this board, with the push pin, marked "Vendors" are time consuming to read, but I highly recommend doing so. Most brides are pretty honest, and where there were problems it's identified. Many vendors are seen repeatedly, used often: that's a good sign. They may or may not be the most expensive. Other than my caterer and venue (we didn't have an "all inclusive" banquet hall), I think every vendor I chose had been recommended by someone here.

The Knot is affiliated with www.weddingchannel.com. The Wedding Channel website has multiple vendors plus reviews by people who have used them. You can search by geography or name. (I think the same info comes up if you search for the vendor on the Knot's vendor site, not sure).  

The bottom line is what you and your fiance want to remember from that one 8 - 10 hr day, and what you want your guests and family to remember. It IS just one day.

drandreasalazar

Yeah that planner upset me with some of her comments

hjewell29

I would make a list of the things you are willing to sacrafice quality on and things you must have the best of the best of. For me my bottom tier things were the invites, the flowers and the DJ. The invites are only a piece of paper, flowers will die regardless of quailty and with the exception of just not showing up, how bad could the DJ really be? But that's me and how I feel about it. One of my top items was a photographer. (Which I just got booked, YEY!) But even there I searched around for work that I liked, reviews I appreciated and a cost I could handle. In the end I keep saying to myself it is one day and while it is special it's not practical to go overboard and broke on it. The only things that will last are the people, rings and the memories. Good luck and remember to try and have fun with it

acaponi87

As PP's have said, you need to figure out what you value the most.

And for what it's worth there is no way I would work with a planner who told me not to book someone because they didn't cost enough money!

For me and my FI we wanted to get the most for our money and it was extremely important for us to find people who we have complete faith in their ability to make our day and the year or so leading up to it, easier.

We are planning from 5 hours away so good communicators were a must. My coordinator at our venue is seriously amazing. We met her and both felt so good that we knew we had to book there. Also they had an incredible package that had a ton of stuff in it. When we got done we had a price per head that included EVERYTHING. Gratuity, chair rental, food, top-shelf bar, cake-cutting...all the those little things that end up biting your ass later, we didn't have to worry about it.

Our photographer gets back to us within an hour of us emailing her unless she's at a job. We were able to create a custom package that included everything we DID want and were able to get rid of the stuff we didn't.

We loved the "look" of our florist. When our initial quote came back from her it was a bit more than we wanted to spend so she went ahead and made us 3 other different options for us until we found something that worked for our budget and what we wanted.

Some things we scrapped completely. No videographer (I would never watch that, no reason to spend thousands of dollars), no cake (FI and I both hate cake so we opted for a much cheaper pie).

We spent a lot of money on our rings because they are one of the few things that will last us past our wedding day. We'll be wearing them our entire life so we picked bands that will last that long. We also splurged on our honeymoon because we love traveling and that's one of the few things that again are for US. After spending so much money making sure our guests were happy we wanted to take care of us too

Planning is a very long process. Take your time, do a TON of research and try to enjoy it. Let us know if there is anything else we can help with.

spartybride3

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_michigan-detroit_budget-cost-vs-quality?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:88Discussion:03811d7c-57b5-4ee7-be37-89d764c3cd01Post:b30c302a-01e6-436f-998b-281106b784e6">Re:Budget cost vs quality</a>:
[QUOTE]No you didnt thanks for replying. I met with a wedding planner who by the way is a 4k costwise of a wedding planner and she essentially shut down the photographer i wantamanda williams because 'she didnt cost enough'. I love her pictures . It just made me not like the wedding planner . I bet she just wants me to use her vendors. Yeah im planning on spending a little over 4k for chairs linens flowers and decor.
Posted by drandreasalazar[/QUOTE]

<div>
</div><div>I wanted Amanda Williams too, but she wasn't available on my date. I ended up going with Kelly Dobson out of Plymouth. I really liked her pictures & her personailty & I felt like if I didn't like a pose or shot she was doing I could say "I dont like this" and she would do something else. I didn't get that sense from other photographers. Her rate is 2k just for the job & online viewing...that does not come with pics or a DVD. Those are separate packages. I like that she has you pay in 3 installments (for her servies & then for pics) so you're not shelling out all this money at once. If you want a pricier photographer, we looked at Blaine Seisser (friend of a groomsman) but he was just outrageous & felt that he was so awesome & couldn't understand why I didn't want to pay $6-10k for his services. </div><div>
</div><div>Our flowers are from Uniquely Yours in Northville. My fiances aunt owns it, so I don't know how much our flowers will cost. She also does event coordinating/wedding planning. For linens we are using Affairs to Remember. She was the best price for chiavari chairs, linens, & napkins. She's really nice and easy going too. Her rate is either $7 or $8/person. </div><div>
</div><div>It sounds like your coordinator wasn't really listening to you & if I were you, I would have a problem with that! I know they have experience & have done a lot of weddings, but this is also your wedding not hers. Also, if shes telling you someone "isn't expensive enough", I'd be curious about how much she will adhere to your budget. </div>

ermjdecember2015

Just an FYI, as far as Amanda Williams goes, I was very disappointed with her customer service before I even met with her, so I went with someone else and so far I am over joyed I kept looking!
I agree that its hard to figure out what to spend. I of course want a fairytale wedding and my parents want me to have hot dogs and water in the back yard. It may only be a few hours, but its your wedding, its your day. You do what you feel comfortable with. I think everyone struggles with these concerns.

aloisk57

I'm using Amanda Williams for my wedding and I absolutely love her - her work is fantastic and she is so much fun to work with.  We did our engagement photos in Detroit and she took us to some really cool spots that I would have never thought of.  For $1500 and ALL of the pictures (with a bunch edited), I think she is a great value.  Her schedule shows it, too - she is booked up at least a year in advance I believe.


I would say pick the top 2 things that you want to spurge on and then keep the rest in check. 

sparkles776

I agree with everything PPs have said. If you know you want Amanda Williams, do not wait to book her. She is so reasonably priced and books up extremely fast. I contacted her 1 year and 5 months before my wedding and she was already booked. It is ok though because I love my photographer :

drandreasalazar

Yeah i agree invites are where im saving money. Im trying to find another wedding planner because my fiance actually liked this rude one and we have met with 2 other ones and they didnt have their stuff together so he wasnt impressed. Shes just to intense for me and i dont want to pay over 4k for her

Milsey32

We used Rivercrest Catering in Rochester  - my aunt recommended them after she had used them for her 2nd wedding in 2001... they really lived up to our expectations of quality service and delicious food. I loved working with them and they were very, very affordable. We were able to get plenty of appetizers, a large selection for the buffet, and late night pizza. They provided non-alcoholic drinks and we provided the alcohol that they served (you can have them provide it and you pay per consumption but I liked our way better so you know exactly how much you spent on alcohol). 

And our DJ, recommended from the board's past moderator (Liz), was incredibly affordable and definitely fit our needs. DJ's are something that (imo) can be stressful because anything can happen day-of. He was outstanding and really just wanted to get through everything so we could have some fun! I loved that. (Matt from W.E.D.)

Milsey32

And fwiw, there were some things I wish I didn't bother spending money on because nobody actually cares/is going to remember anyway. 

MMRoberts11

I think you just have to go with vendors that you like and have the same visions.  I know a lot of people say if it costs more it's got to be worth it but really in the wedding industry some people just try to charge more because they can. 
For example, my DJ package costs $750 for a 6-hour reception and 30 minute ceremony plus some music before the ceremony starts.  I know DJs that charge easily up to $1200 and beyond for that but I really liked my DJs personality and he sounded great.  Some DJs charge way more than him but sound terrible because they don't get how to tune things properly and usually have way too much bass going.
My photographer is also like that.  We're paying $1000 for all day coverage the day of with two photographers and our e-pics session.  I know photographers that charge $3000+ and only do well because they have a great camera, however their talent doesn't have much to be said for. 
Good luck picking your vendors and just go with your gut.

spartybride3

I'm curious...is there a reason you are using a wedding planner? I feel like that just takes away from all the fun of wedding planning. 

Kburns1

I dealt with the same issue when initially planning our wedding.  Since my fiance and I are have paid for the wedding without additional help (except one friend who paid for our DJ) we immediately set a budget for how much we could afford to spend (both of us are slightly anti-credit cards due to our parents financial stress). Then I began to look for the things that were most important to me.  I knew I wanted good pictures, a great reception place and a beautiful dress.  still, I am fairly cheap so i shopped around til I found the prices I wanted. I ended up finding a great deal with my photographer and dress and was then able to spend more money on some other things I really wanted. I don't feel as if I lost any quality from my vendors even though I spent less than my best friend who is also getting married around the same time as myself.

amandahugnkiss13

4k for a wedding planner??? there is the start of the problem.

bitsi420

Yeah for $4,000 you can get a good photographer and dj alone. Especially paying for someone who isnt't going to take what YOU want into consideration.