Wedding Blog

Happy Tuesday everyone. Recently I have had several brides ask me about the service charge that their wedding location was charging them; specifically they wanted to know, how much to expect it to be, why are they were being charged that fee and whether or not it is taxable. These are all very good questions, especially when it comes to planning your budget.

Most hotels and restaurants charge service charges beyond the price for your food and beverage. The fees are used as a gratuity to the service staff. I have seen service charges that range anywhere from 18 percent to 24 percent. This service charge can add significantly to what you are spending overall. If your food and beverage charge is $75.00 per person, the service charge may be anywhere from $13.50 to $16.00 per person. If you are having 100 people at your reception this can add up to $1600.00 to your overall budget.

Furthermore, in most of the cities I have worked, that fee is taxable. Depending on what the sales tax rate is at your wedding location, that can add another $100.00 to $200.00 to your overall budget.

Do not forget to allow for this when you create your budget. Also, make sure that the service fee is mentioned in your contract. I have seen some contracts that state that the service charge is subject to change. It doesn’t happen often, but it may increase by a half of a percent or more.

Many catering companies that I work with have a flat service fee rather than paying a percentage. Once again, make sure that it is accounted for in your contract.

If you have questions on this or any other wedding related topic, please post for me here or send me an email to susan.southerland(at)pwg.com. Also become a fan on Facebook by clicking here and follow me on Twitter by clicking here.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan

At this weekend’s wedding seminar in South Florida, I spent a bit of time discussing contract negotiations and working with vendors who will help you maintain your budget. I truly believe that a good and ethical wedding professional will look beyond pure profitability in order to make recommendations for ways get services you want without overspending. Sometimes, the vendor’s recommendation may be to suggest another vendor who can accommodate your budget, others will work with you to shave costs of their own packages in order to work with you. In either case, knowing what you can spend is critical.

As we were discussing this, a bride name Megan offered up her story. She has found her location and hired a number of vendors. Almost everything of hers has been contracted. While she was reviewing what she was spending, she realized that she was spending a bit too much. She needed to find a way to cut costs. This is no easy task once a contract is signed.

Megan was very lucky. She went to her reception site and told her representative her plight. He suggested to her that she change the time of her reception in order to save money. That is exactly what she did. She moved from an evening wedding to an afternoon wedding and saved 10 percent on her bottom line. Just enough to help maintain her budget.

I want to emphasize that this is a very risky maneuver. It is much better to plan your budget in advance and stick to it. Going back to renegotiate a signed contract is very difficult.

Do you have a story about saving money at your wedding? Send it to me and I might just publish it on the blog or our Facebook Fan Page.

If you have questions on this or any other wedding related topic, please post for me here or send me an email to susan.southerland@pwg.com. Also become a fan on Facebook by clicking here and follow me on Twitter by clicking here.

Your partner in perfect planning,
Susan

I met a bunch of wonderful brides from California, Indianapolis, Arizona and Colorado this past week during my webinars. As usual, they had some fantastic questions for me.

Lisa, from California asked: I know wedding vendors take deposits when you book them. Do I need to plan on having 50 percent of my overall budget available now to pay them?

This is an excellent question. Many of you who are planning your weddings are very focused on your budget and not going into debt. Bravo! That is the best plan. Coming up with large sums of money for deposits, however, can be difficult especially if you aren’t planning to use credit cards. Here was my advice for Lisa:

Lisa is planning her wedding for June of 2010, so she has plenty of time to spread out payments. In order to avoid having to layout a full fifty percent of her overall budget right now, I advised her to contract the vendors who can only do one event on her wedding day… her location, her photographer, and her entertainment. Those vendors, once they are booked, they are gone. Vendors like florists, invitation companies, pastry chefs and gown salons, can do more than one wedding in a day, so it isn’t as urgent to contract them immediately and pay deposits.

I encourage all of you to be upfront with vendors regarding your feelings on payments. Shop for all of your vendors early. If you like one of them, but you are not able to make a full 50 percent deposit right away, tell them you need to work out some sort of payment arrangement. Suggest that you give them a small payment to hold the date and then a larger payment in sixty days. You may also mention that you are trying to stagger all of your vendors’ payments so you don’t have to empty your bank account entirely.

Be aware that not all vendors will go for it, but if you have listed your priorities, you will know which vendors you are willing to let go if they won’t work with you versus those that you will have to figure out a way to pay right away.

If you would like more information on planning your wedding budget check out this article on PerfectWeddingGuide.com If you have any questions or comments on this or any other wedding-related topic, please leave a post for me here or email me at susan.southerland@pwg.com.

Have a wonderful weekend. I understand that I am being taken on a grand adventure. It’s a surprise. I will report back next week when I return on Wednesday. My regular blog will be here Monday and Tuesday, so you won’t miss me while I’m gone.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan

Happy Tuesday everyone. I am back in the office after a hot, hot, hot Orlando day and now I am getting ready for my webinar this evening. I am looking forward to chatting with you brides out there again. I find that all of us learn from each other when we share information at these webinars. I will share any tidbits I get this evening.

This month’s webinar is entitled Wedding Budget Boosters. We discuss setting priorities, shopping for vendors who will help you maintain your budget and I give tips on avoiding “budget busters.” If you want to join us, there may be a few spots that will open up this evening or tomorrow evening. Send Perfect Wedding Guide your contact information to profiles@pwg.com.

Priorities are really important when deciding on a budget for your wedding. I have read the typical percentages that many magazines and books tell you that you will need to spend on services for your wedding, but I don’t think that all couples spend their money the same way.

Before you start shopping, or before you continue shopping, take some time to decide what items and services are most important to you. Do you want the best photographer in town? Do you want tons of flowers? Do you want the top reception location in town? Make sure to put more money into the items that are most important to you and less into those with less significance.

If you want some help setting your priorities, check out the Perfect Wedding Guide Wedding Workbook or email me with questions at susan.southerland@pwg.com.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan

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