Happy Friday everyone! More budget buster information today.

Wedding receptions take power, lots of it. Reception facilities do have electricity in their ballrooms, but often it isn’t enough to accommodate all of your power needs. If you have one or more of the following “power-drainers” you may need to order extra power:

• Band with amplifier
• DJ with light show
• Pin spots and up lighting
• Chef attended stations with heat lamps

Keep in mind, paying for power isn’t a bad thing. Having these extras at your reception is wonderful, but you must account for the additional cost when you are planning your budget. Make sure your band, DJ or lighting contracts include information on what their power needs are and let your reception site know so that the catering manager can give you a cost estimate. Each circuit can cost as much as $200.00 and if your wedding is on the weekend, you may pay even more in overtime charges. That can really be a budget buster.

How can you save money in this area?

• Ask your reception site if you can have the power dropped on a weekday so you don’t have to pay the overtime fees.
• Reduce the number of items that need power, for example, the fewer instruments the band has, the less power it needs.

Keep in mind that most reception sites use an outside company to get their power, so the hourly rate is rarely negotiable.

If you haven’t already, check out the free budget planning tool on PerfectWeddingGuide.com. It’s fabulous!

If you have questions or comments about this post, leave a message for me here or email me at susan.southerland@pwg.com.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan

I spent some quality time with brides from all over the United States over the past couple of days during my free Wedding Budget Boosters webinar. They had some interesting questions that I would like to share with you.

After discussing the importance of guest lists and targeting and planning a good budget, we moved on to the topic of “Wedding Budget Busters.” A “budget buster” is an expense that you may not have thought about, but that can really take you off target when it comes to planning what you are going to spend. The brides were really interested in how to deal with the bar, so I’m going to do a follow up to that topic today.

There are typically three options from which you can choose when paying for your reception bar:

• Hourly Hosted Bar: This option means that you are paying per guest over the age of 21 by the hour to drink as much as he wants. This is a great option if you want to know your bar bill upfront (this makes planning your bar budget very straight forward). There are some things you need to watch out for — If you have a lot of guests who don’t drink alcohol, you may pay less with a consumption bar option (see the next bullet point), Also, people tend to drink very heavily during the first couple of hours. Caterers typically account for this by reducing the hourly rate after the first one, so make sure that your hourly rate goes down with each passing hour.
• Consumption Bar: This is a great option if you don’t have many heavy drinkers. You will pay for what your guests drink. The downfall of this option is that your catering manager can only estimate what your guests are going to drink. You will not know your final bar bill until after the event is over. If you need to know your budget to the penny, this is not the option for you.
• Cash Bar: This is a less popular option for social events. Your guests will pay for their own drinks, however, you still have to account for this option in your budget because you will likely have bartender and/or cashier fees.

Your reception site may let you combine the bar options as well. For example, you could have an hourly, per person bar for the first two hours and switch to consumption or cash later on. Study your guest list before making your final bar decision and don’t forget to account for the service charge.

For more tips on serving alcohol at your wedding reception, check out this article on PerfectWeddingGuide.com

If you have comments or questions on this or any other wedding related topic, please post a message here or email me at susan.southerland@pwg.com.

Your Partner in Perfect Planning,

Susan

Happy Friday! It is still raining in Orlando. I can’t believe we haven’t all washed away. My wonderful bride and groom Akacia and Mike may have to move to plan B and have their ceremony inside this evening. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the clouds will part and the sunshine will return.

On to rehearsal dinners/parties. I love rehearsal dinners. They are typically a relaxed time for new friends and family to get to know one another. They are a perfect opportunity to do something fun!

Here are some tips to a memorable rehearsal celebration:

• Create a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Don’t shy away from doing something themed. Some of my favorite rehearsal dinners have been a beach side clam bake; a barbecue including an open fire to make smores; a southern-style picnic with red and white checkered blankets, fried chicken and potato salad; and an Italian dinner served family style.
• Have fun with the decor. Your guests will mingle more if there are interesting things to look at and discuss.
• Consider adding a fun activity. One of my couples who had the barbecue had a story-teller who sat fireside with guests telling ghost stories.
• Rehearsal dinners don’t have to be dinner. Try a breakfast or brunch outing so you and your guests have the rest of the day to relax. It may also save you money.
• If you are having a large rehearsal dinner, assign some friends and family to be hosts and have them introduce people to each other. No one should feel like an outsider at a rehearsal dinner.

If you would like more information on wedding rehearsal dinners, check out this article on PerfectWeddingGuide.com

If you have any questions or thoughts on this post or any other wedding related topic, please leave me a message here or email me at susan.southerland@pwg.com.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan