Wedding Services - prices and value?

guardiangirl

Also, my band has cost me ab out £1500 - very expensive but I loved them.

ceh209

Things like bands, photographers, DJs - I wouldn't expect a venue to be providing these, but it'd be helpful if a venue had a list of suppliers it worked with regularly, to give people an idea of where to start. I got a little booklet when I booked my venue with all that sort of stuff in.

My venue is somewhere you normally pay to get in to, and it impressed me that when I turned up unannounced to have a look at it (having had email conversations with the wedding co-ordinator previously), they let us in for free and gave us a tour. Very accommodating :T. We went unannounced to most venues we looked at, and the standard of welcome etc we received was definitely variable.

Our venue has two choices of chairs, one would need chair covers and one wouldn't, so we're going for the ones that don't, as I think that's an unnecessary expense aswell.

The wedding co-ordinator is also the master of ceremonies on the day.

Our venue has no permanent kitchen so did have a choice of 2 caterers we could use that knew the place well. They did heavily steer us towards 1, and that turned out well as the other one is just going bust! They also don't charge corkage, which is a big plus. They also tell us the bar for after the meal is pub prices, not hotel prices, another plus.

Only downside so far is we can't have real candles - but given it's several hundred years old with plenty of original fixtures and fittings, I'll excuse them!

Lavendyr

piglet25 wrote: »

I am interested in what services you are having at your weddings, and how much they are costing you. For example, hog roast, sweet buffet, chair covers and sashes, planners etc. ( with the number of guests too)

I am also interested in which services you would have liked but which were too expensive, or if you are already married which services did you think were a waste of money, and which were worth every penny. I would appreciate you taking time to post answers If you don't want to post your prices on the thread then please feel free to PM me,

Thank you xx

Would have loved a horse & carriage to take me to the church, but at over £600 for a distance of approx 30 mins walk, we just couldn't justify it.

We were very careful with our choices for the wedding so nothing we chose was a waste of money. Our 4-piece (plus caller) Ceilidh band came in at around £400 (married in 2011), our reception venue charged a flat £5k to include welcome fizz & canapes, three-course meal with unlimited wine top-ups, champagne toast and evening cheese & pate buffet.

Our two-tier chocolate wedding cake (to feed 70) was made by a friend for no charge. Our flowers were made by the church florist for a minimal fee, and we married the week after Easter so she kept the Easter flowers refreshed for us at no extra charge. Wedding rings were bought online for a fraction of the high street price and are superb.

My dad kindly paid for the wedding car, about £100 (a Mercedes all decked out with ribbons), the hairdresser cost around £150 for bride, three adult bridesmaids and three flowergirls, I did my own make-up and we got my dress, bridesmaid dresses and groom/groomsmen outfits from the same wedding shop so got a reasonable discount on all.

So really the only thing I would have liked was the horse & carriage! We were delighted with the cost of everything else.

Ruby_Roo

I have to be honest I have had quite a few of the things I want included in my wedding package:

DJ
Chair covers with sashes
Light-up sash around the top table
DJ

We're doing our own candy buffet, which should cost about £120-£150 for 100 people as we're borrowing bowls/vases from friends/family, getting bags and scoops from ebay and will buy our own sweets from the cash and carry. The table will be unattended but we will ask a friend or family member to keep bowls topped up. It was going to be £400+ to have someone do it for us.

We're having a balloon arch behind the top table which is costing us £120 for the arch, 10 lots of 3 balloons with weights and delivery/setting up. I thought this was pretty good value.

We thought about having a photo booth or something to entertain people but this is quite expensive so we've decided to have party games - not everyone has to join in but the option is there.

We'd also have liked a string quartet or similar for the drinks reception before we arrive but at £320 I think this is a luxury we can't justify.

We'd have loved fireworks at midnight, as we're marrying on NYE, but we can do better things with £595 plus VAT (plus any premium for NYE).

piglet25

Some beautiful ideas! Your help is really appreciated Ladies, and its making me think that maybe brides would prefer a very basic package, with a list of optional extras to mix and match in, plus the list of regular suppliers is a good idea - the bride and groom would know that they are reliable and the suppliers would be used to the venue - win win

bowledover81

piglet25 wrote: »

Thank you or your reply, had never thought of a magician Are they going around the tables doing'close up' magic? xx

Yes, I've actually met him and seen him do it, he is amazing.

minerva_windsong

ceh209 wrote: »

Things like bands, photographers, DJs - I wouldn't expect a venue to be providing these, but it'd be helpful if a venue had a list of suppliers it worked with regularly, to give people an idea of where to start. I got a little booklet when I booked my venue with all that sort of stuff in.

I agree with this, but would like to add that it needs to be kept up to date. We got one of those booklets when we booked our venue and half the suppliers in it aren't in business any more, whereas it would be maybe half a day's work to ring round/email and check they were still going. If you haven't got one it could be worth including a question about whether the couple would recommend a particular supplier on your feedback forms (if you have those).


My main thing would be being very clear and upfront about what you provide - it sounds daft but we have had to ask about things like covers for the registrar's table at our venue, because we didn't know if the venue provided that or if we'd provide it ourselves. I appreciate some people might find that level of detail irritating but for me it would be really helpful.

ska_lover

Hog roasts - extortionate and not very well received.

I have been to 3 weddings (as a guest) over the last 18 months, all having hog roasts - and they never seem very well received by guests.

I have seen other guests rolling their eyes ''not another hog roast'' and saying how off putting it looks with a pigs head still attached - and IMO it does - unless you are used to working on a farm or a slaughter house, you are not used to a ''meal'' being served to you as a corpse with it's head still attached. They make me feel queasy

Hog Roasts tend to offer burgers and sausages etc, and seems the burgers etc that are requested and most of the pork gets left so basically ends up being cheap barbq meat, but costing hundreds - If you were having a Barbie at home you would probably have more than burgers and sausages on it, and it wouldn't cost the best part of a grand

rosie-lee

I think you are spot on there Piglet & Minerva.

The most important thing is for the basics at the venue to be 'just right'.
Very clear to the couples what is included.

People have such different tasted & ideas for their special day and most brides I know want to source their own 'extras' & shop around themselves according to personal tastes & wish lists.

There are also a great many couples who want to keep things simple & looking at a venue where you don't 'need', many extras because the room decor, the linen, the chairs etc present well as they are is very appealing to those who don't want to fuss & plan.

CoconutJay

Hello!

This is my first post and my tuppence worth of opinion!

I'm getting married next July and looked extensively at wedding packages. Luckily my Uncle has offered his beautiful acre garden to put a marquee in so I've spared the massive expense of a specific wedding venue.

My main annoyances were:


Venues charging several grand just to walk through the door. Food, tables chairs etc etc all came as extra.
IMO the venue, furniture, cutlery, plates, glasses and food should come as a whole package. Different food options should obviously be in tiered pricing options.

Most venues also listed a cake stand and knife as coming 'free' with the package or charged extra for it. Seriously?! This should just be included as standard in the package as it's almost a given that there will be cake.

I echo the responses about chair covers- these should be included or the chairs be nice enough not to be covered.

Anything more than £2.50 per bottle corkage for bringing your own wine is a rip off (I even find £2.50 too much really).
Some venues charged no corkage for bringing your own wine but insisted on a cash bar after the wedding breakfast which I thought was fair enough as you save money but the venue still makes money.
I found one venue charging £15 corkage per BOTTLE!! Absolutely insane.

If the venue does not have accommodation attached then they should have deals with nearby hotels in place for guests.
The venue should also have an area/room for the bride to freshen up and safely store gifts

Things like DJ's, decorations, cake, photographer etc should be optional extras however if the bride wishes to supply her own then this should be allowed also.

That's all I can think of for now. Hope it helps!