Apples to Apples

To compliment Colby’s post, I thought I would write my first piece about research – one of the most unglamorous yet important tasks of a new bride. I got engaged three weeks ago and am new to the process of wedding planning. While I was initially overjoyed to spend my days googling wedding stuff and pinning reception photos, I learned nailing down specific price details is very overwhelming. 

My fiancé, Phil, and I are trying to determine the city where we will get married ; we have three great choices (all of which involve planning the wedding at a distance with vendors with which we are unfamiliar): 1) Charleston, South Carolina; 2) New Orleans, Louisiana; and 3) Nashville, Tennessee. Because we love all of these cities and have personal or family ties there, we decided that price may be a good determinant. In order to determine if there was one city that was clearly more affordable or too expensive, we began internet-based research to collect quotes/prices and came to an early conclusion: this is overwhelming! Based on the information provided online and in response to inquiries, it is nearly impossible to figure out which venues are in our budget and which are not. Why? The quotes you see online include or exclude a variety of different elements; it is really a lot of work to try and turn the quotes into comparable apples.

In order to turn the quotes into comparable numbers, I turned to an old friend – Excel. I created my first wedding spreadsheet! Each venue received its own row. Then, I made separate columns for each component of costs associated with the wedding (those that vary by venue – I left out baseline expenses that would apply no matter where the wedding is, like invitations). Columns that I chose included:

· Price for Venue (a flat venue fee that includes nothing is the norm in Charleston, but not Nashville or New Orleans) (both reception and ceremony were combined in this column)

· Minimum Catering Expense Per person? If so, how much? Included in venue?

· Separate Catering Expense (for venues where no food is included, also included catering staff expense here)

· Open Bar Fee (hiring an outside service or the costs for that provided by the venue)

· Ceremony Chairs (included or rental fee – I was surprised the first time I learned these weren’t included in several quotes)

· Ceremony sound system

· Table rentals and linens (included or rental fee, if renting, don’t forget napkins!)

· Glassware

· Silverware

· Plates/bowls/china

· Tent rental (some venues in Charleston require a tent; I included dance floor rental in this column)

· Sound System and DJ expense for the reception

· Transportation Costs (some places were out in the sticks and would require a bus for our guests, other places charge the hosts or guests for parking)

· Cost for additional hours

· Cost Savers ( I put this column in and would add negative dollars where venues through in extra bonuses that would cost money at a different venue, like free cakes, or free DJs or waived gratuity)

· Hidden Costs (for places that had extra costs or fees that I wouldn’t have anticipated; for example, some places require that you hire a wedding planner that is local)

Filling up this many columns was taking over an hour for some venues. For example, the Legare Waring House in Charleston is beautiful, but the home can only hold 75 people. I would need a tent, which means I had to research the costs of renting a tent, then renting a dance floor, and tent lighting. Are surge protectors and extension cords included? Who will provide these? All of these very basic items take a lot of research and phone calls to coordinate. Additionally, researching this sort of data for one venue does not mean you can auto-populate that data for other venues... many of the venues have lock up agreements with caterers and rental companies and require you to work from a pre-approved list of vendors. This often drives up costs (read: anti-competitive), but it also makes sense from the vendors’ perspectives: they need reliable business relationships to ensure their venue is not trashed by out of towners, and they can build relationships with vendors who work with them repeatedly. However, vendors that are outside some of the lock up agreements in town may be willing to give you a really good deal at non-exclusive venues because they need your business.

Before you make the spreadsheet, you will need to make a few assumptions that you can use to build a price total. How many guests will you have? (You will need one consistent number, even if it changes later, just so you can compare all the venues at that level). I assumed we would have 100 guests, which is close to our draft guest list and also super easy for multiplying. ($3.00/chair * 100 guests = $300 in the chairs column). You will also need to assume the day of the week you will be getting married. Fridays and Sundays are generally cheaper in terms of venue. Using your assumptions, you can ballpark an estimated total for your venue. The total column will be more easily comparable because by this time, you have broken down the rates and determined what is included in the initial bid, what you will have to get from other companies, and roughly how much that will cost you. Remember that these totals are a starting point and should not be the last word. Remember to take Colby’s advice and contact vendors and start negotiating with them – you have a lot of research done and are be able to tell them where they are higher than other vendors and that you know they can chip away at certain expenses.