Anyone who’s ever planned a wedding – hell, anyone who’s ever talked to anyone planning a wedding – knows it’s not a cheap process.
Despite a recent trend towards Pinterest-style wedding crafts and inexpensive online invitations, the average cost of a wedding remains between $36,200 and $54,000 — and that often doesn’t include the honeymoon.
Gulp.
Now, a consumer watchdog has revealed one disturbing reason those costs are so high: it seems suppliers ramp up their prices as soon as they hear the W-word.
CHOICE sent out two undercover shoppers to ask suppliers for quotes, with one woman saying she was planning her partner’s birthday party and another saying it was a wedding.
And of the 36 suppliers contacted, the watchdog found a number of florists, venues and hire car companies quoted the ‘bride-to- be’ more.
The categories most guilty of inflating their prices were:
Venues
Half of the venues — three of six — turned out to charge more for weddings, despite the fact both ‘celebrations’ involved the same number of guests and identical requirements.
The watchdog also reported: “one venue told (the ‘party’ shopper) they don’t accept bookings for any kind of function other than a wedding on Saturday nights, while another told her she would have to pay ‘wedding prices’ if she wanted to secure a Saturday.”
Photographers
CHOICE reports that photographers’ quotes were ‘very mixed’, but that one upmarket photographer quoted the ‘bride-to-be’ more than double the ‘birthday’ planner.
The bride was quoted a whopping $4750 for a five-hour package, despite her insistence she only needed two hours of photography– compared to the $1495 quote given to the woman planning a ‘party’.
One photographer tried to justify his costs using a hard sell built on emotion.
“(T)his is the most amazing day of your life – we capture that emotion, we tell that story,” the photographer reportedly said.
“You can go back and relive the whole day through the photos”.
Car hire
Three of the six businesses said they were happy to provide an hourly rate for the party shopper, but said there was a minimum call-out time of three hours for weddings.
In one case, that meant the minimum cost almost doubled — from $450 for an hour to $1000 for three, CHOICE said.
Cakes
Two of the cake shops quoted more for a wedding, although CHOICE reports that for a white chocolate mud cake big enough to feed 80 people, “the prices for cakes quoted to our shadow shoppers ranged from $200 to $700, depending on the store and the size of serving.”
Despite these troubling findings, the CHOICE shoppers found some areas that appeared immune to wedding-related ‘price inflation’: the photo booth suppliers — with the exception of one, who tried to charge an extra $50 to the ‘bride-to-be’ — quoted the same prices for both celebrations.
Of the six florists contacted, none quoted the ‘bride-to-be’ more. (Florists were asked to provide quotes on flowers to decorate the venue only, in case you’re wondering; the ‘bride-to-be’ shopper told florists a friend was making her bouquets.)
Overall, the watchdog’s findings build a strong case for telling suppliers you’re planning a birthday bash… that just happens to feature a long white gown and a lot of people throwing rose petals.
Did you feel ripped off when planning your wedding? Do you think the cost of weddings is getting out of hand?
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Top Comments
I think you can legitimately save on lots of things without misleading the vendors. I got a cheap wedding package deal for a florists because I wasn't fussy about the flowers (I wanted roses and my only stipulation was no 'babies breath'! ). Same with a dress - I found a pattern and fabric and got a dressmaker to make me a nice dress similar (but way less elaborate) than my preferred -simple- wedding dress style. And because we had a small wedding we had it at a restaurant, and had the ceremony in their courtyard - they knew it was for a wedding but because we didn't worry about decorations, or the other part of the restaurant being open, we got a good price.
The only thing i regret skimping on was the photographer. We got a 'friend' who was a photographer to do it on the cheap. We had seen the photos he did for his sisters wedding and they were good. Ours were not :( I suspect he either put mor effort into his sisters wedding, and/or he didn't have the skills for dusk/nighttime photography. Either way - they were crap photos - and they aren't some thing you can redo.
The simplest way to cut wedding costs these days is easy- Don't get married! I don't know why people bother going to all the trouble and expense of a "Dream Wedding" only to be divorced within a year or two.I think its a case if having more money than brains! Honestly,just because you splash out and spend all this money doesn't make you any more married and doesn't mean the marriage will last any longer.
If I had my time over,I wouldn't bother.At the end if the day,it's only a piece of paper.
Sorry to sound so negative,but I just call it how I see it.If you've got the money,don't whinge and if you can't afford much and you really feel that it is imperative to get married - go to a Registry Office or have a Civil Celebrant marry you in the park or similar.These days,couples have lived together and have already had children before getting married and they still get divorced! So like I said at the start- Why bother???