The Venue (decorations) and rooms

To complete the whole ‘venue’ package the final thing to secure is the decorations of the venue itself.  Here is where you can really let your creative juices flow.  The first step is to take a really honest look at your venue.  The best decorative embellishments I have seen are those that seamlessly match the ‘style’ of the venue.  So for a contemporary venue, the contemporary decorations and for a classic/period venue then a vintage look works very well.  Having said that, I nice eclectic mix of old and new can also look very striking.  For those new to the whole wedding planning scene here are a few basic things you can expect to have as decorations:

·         Flowers for the tables

·         Table covers

·         Chair covers

·         Napkins, paper or cotton.

·         Seating plan

·         Name cards for the table

TIP: Where you can try always ask the venue if they could supply these to you free of charge.  For weddings they will want to charge you extra for the use of table cloths and napkins.  However, any decent venue is likely to have all these ‘in stock’ for corporate events and Christmas parties, if not then they are also likely to have better deals with suppliers.  Also, a good point here is to remember what the venue told you when they were justifying the increased menu price from standard event to wedding.  They are more than likely to have said they have additional costs associated such as, table dressing.  Catch them here if they then request you are paying extra for cloth napkins, name cards and printed seating plans.   If they won’t absorb the cost ask if they can let you have them for cost price. This could save you about £500.

These are the basic things, and you can do much more such as:

·         Star light back drops

·         Swags

·         Fairy lights

·         Bunting

·         Lanterns

·         Disco floors

·         And much more…..

You can out-source all this to a company, who will take care of it all.  In south Yorkshire the price for this (as of 2013) is £1000-£1500 per venue.  However, as this is the ‘hand crafted’ wedding I am here to give you some tips about how to do it yourself! With some useful links to other peoples Vlogs, which I have found useful along the way. Keep reading this blog to find out more!

The Drinks

‘A glass of wine and I’ll be fine’

I have to say that the one thing I am most looking forward at my own wedding is that first glass of cool, bubbly prosecco.  The guests, unless they are T-Total, will probably join me in that. 

When I was looking for venues, I came up with this saying (I have no idea why I put it in German, it just came out that way!) Hunger, Pee pee, Durst!  I had come to the conclusion that if my guests are well fed, had nice loo’s to frequent and had drink then they would be content.  As we have already covered the food, here are my top tips for the booze:

1.    Bring your own!

Check with your venue if you are allowed to supply your own wine/booze.  Most venues will charge corkage-expect £10 per bottle for wine and £16 for prosecco and champagne.  This is expensive, as this is almost pure profit so it might be worth having a go negotiating this down.  If you are wine buffs and want to serve up some very nice wines/champagnes then this will probably work out cheaper for you.

2.    Break down the ‘drinks package’

Just because the venue have labelled up ‘drinks package’ don’t be fooled into thinking you are getting a fair price.  Break the package down so you can see what the price per glass is.  For example : £25 per person drinks package includes, 1 x sparkling wine on arrival,  2 x glasses of wine with the meal and 1 x sparkling wine to toast.  This works out an average £6.25 a glass.  Ask ‘what is the wine?’ from the wine menu and ‘what is the sparkling wine?’.  Then, what are they classing a glass standard 175ml or large 250ml? Sparkling wine, champagne is usually always 125ml.  Look at the advertised ‘menu’ price of these wines per glass and see if you are paying extra, if you are then you have your cue to negotiate.

3.    Buy by the bottle it may be cheaper!

Once you have done the above step it is a logical progression to see if buying the bottle is cheaper.  Rule of thumb is 750ml bottle of champagne will give you 6 glasses and 750ml wine will give you 4 glasses.  This is how I approached my venue and it has saved us £600 on alcohol costs from ‘the package’.  Not only did I ask the venue to charge me by the bottle (which was MUCH cheaper at £22 a bottle instead of £37.50) but I also asked for discount.  I managed to get even more money off.

4.    Don’t forget the kids, designated drivers or plain healthy T-Totals!

It is also a good idea to ask the venue to supply plenty of jugs of water, squash and orange juice. That way everyone can stay hydrated and guests don’t have to battle through a busy bar to just get a squash or glass of water.

5.    Be Creative!

Don’t let the standard drinks package stop you being creative! I love these Prosecco Pops! Really fun! But there are loads of other ideas out there that you can add your individual style to. Margaritas, Mojitos, the world is your cocktail bar!

The Food

After you have decided a venue, a season, a date and the times of the wedding then next step is to sort out the nitty gritty of menu choses, drinks packages and planning decoration and entertainment.

The food 

Now this is where my major bug bear comes in and where I start to stand on my soap box.  I have lost count of the times I have experienced the following: menu choice for corporate or family event, five courses priced at £27 per head, the same menu for a wedding is £55 per head.  Is it just me or does that make your blood boil? It is consumerism gone mad.  My first rule before confirming anything with a venue is to enquire or research (as most venues will publicise menus) the corporate/non-wedding price of a 3, 4 or 5 course meal.  When you talk to them about weddings and when you notice the price is extra, simply ask what extra am I getting?   If they say nothing, then ask simply state that the advertised price for that menu is X, you are clearing a profit with that so what extra are you seeing for your additional pennies?  This will at least force a conversation about fair pricing and start the negotiation.  I have often in the conversation managed to get table decorations supplied, canapés, additional sorbet course and petit four instead of chocolate.  A good tip here is to think ‘more’ instead of ‘discount’.  Be warned, not all hotels/venues will negotiate and be prepared for a ‘computer says no’ response.  It is then your choice then whether to proceed with that venue but be aware of their inflexibility on price.  We chose our venue, the Rutland Hotel in Sheffield, because they beat the other competitors on the basis they listened to me and were flexibly to my needs.  Hotels that listen to you make you feel like they care, these are the ones that are going to really look after your big day!

The next tip is use the power of economies of scale.  Before, yes BEFORE the venue know your wedding figures find out the price they will give you per head for a menu.  This is tricky as most ask straight away but keep it up your sleeve.  For example, David and I are having 150 guests.  We knew before looking we were having 150 guests, I told the venue we were looking at about 75-80.  When we agree the price, I then explore what could happen if we have more people.  If we ended up inviting 125 could we get a better price? And what if that was 150?  Again, if there is no discount can you up sell to a better menu? I managed to upsell the menu and reduce the price saving us £900 (it all counts!)

With the food, just like everything else what is a must, should and could?  Do you really need seven courses or will 4 do?  Do you even need a formal sit down meal? Have you considered a hot buffet?  For the evening, if you are laying food on for evening gests when will you feed them?  Most weddings I have been to the wedding ‘breakfast’ and evening the food comes out and you are so stuffed you don’t want any.  So make sure you can negotiate with the venue that you only pay for a proportion on the day guests, a good rule of thumb is between 60-75% and all the evening.  Also, before you get sucked into the crazy world of wedding just take a reality check.  I once saw a wedding package from a hotel that quoted me the price of a roast pork sandwich as £14.95 per head! In the world of weddings you may hear yourself saying ‘oh, that’s cheap’! STOP!  If you rolled up at your local butchers/greggs and they charged you £15 for a pork sandwich, what would you say?  This where I refer to the previous blog ‘the right mind set’, weddings are vital business for hotels that help them sustain business in quieter periods, so some additional margin is to be expected, however let’s not call in the bailiffs yet.  Talk to the venue about their pricing, be honest and say it’s highly expensive and you don’t feel the price point is fair for the product, can we find a mutually agreeable price?  This all has to be done BEFORE you have paid your deposit, or else you will be trying to shut the door once the horse has bolted.

Quando, Quando, Quando?

One statement you need to get into your head when planning a fabulous wedding on flimsy funds, is flexibility = financial feasibility.

The time of year and the day greatly determines your wedding costs and your ability to negotiate.  It is simply a matter of economics.  If demand is greater than supply then this pushes up the market price.  This is true of every commodity, weddings are no exception.  Peak season for wedding is April-October and increasingly popular is winter weddings Dec-Jan.  Venues are likely to be less accommodating to negotiation for weddings in these times, even if you have the skill of a Jedi master!  That said it is not impossible.  Our wedding has been booked for August-peak wedding season and we still got a bargain and I am here to tell you how, here are my top tips!

1)    Know the must haves, should haves and could haves

Know the times, days and months that you are willing to compromise on and the things that you are not.  For us we wanted summer (July or August) but were flexible on both days and times.  This is good to identify for looking at ways to reduce cost further down the line (which I will come to at a later point). 

2)    Time (day) is money

Be flexible on your day.  Saturday is premium price territory that is a fact.  It is not to say you can’t save some money, but you are unlikely to get a great deal off.  If you are really looking to get the best value for money then opt for a midweek wedding.  It is true that most of your guests will need to take time off work to attend, but if you mean something to them this shouldn’t be a problem.  If you like this option, then I would suggest you pick a midweek day in the school holidays.  Teachers don’t have the flexibility as others to take days off in the week in term time and therefor booking midweek in the school holidays considers this.  In my own wedding we were happy to be flexible on the day of the week, choosing a Thursday (in school holidays).  This was great for our venue as they have an assured event mid-week and allows availability for Friday and Saturday for another wedding. 

Guaranteeing you will increase a standard Sunday-Thursday daytime/evening trade for a hotel (probably by a substantial amount) is a great platform to negotiate better menu prices, drinks packages, room rates etc.

3)    Wedding breakfast or evening meal?

One of the largest costs in your wedding will be your food and drink provision.  If you have a lot of guests this can quickly bump up a budget wedding to a bumper wedding.  David and I come from two large catholic families (and we are still breeding – queue mental image of monty pythons ‘the meaning of life’) and this was a major hurdle for us, as we had 150 guests.  I will talk about venue options more specifically later but for now let’s focus purely on timing.

It’s not rocket science to understand that if you feed your guests once, i.e later in the day, you will save yourself a lot of money.  Opting for an afternoon wedding, with perhaps a high tea (usual cost within hotels varies from £6.95-£15.00 per head) followed by an evening meal/buffet/bbq might just pay for your wedding dress, in the money you would save.  For other money saving options, look at moving away from a formal sit down meal for an informal buffet or BBQ later on in the day.  Run the numbers and see.   

4)    A wedding later means less expense for guests too

You might not be the only people on a budget, your guests shell out quite a bit of money too for your wedding, not just on the gifts but the outfits and accommodation.  Opting for an afternoon wedding gives your guests the option to travel the day of the wedding, saving on a hotel fee.

Getting a deal at a hotel - the right mind set

The right mind set!

I am a huge advocate for reciprocity and the collaborative solution.  Your aim in negotiation should always be to find win/win and not to get all you can at the expense of others.  Your wedding day has to be everything you hoped and you only get that if all parties helping to deliver that want to go the extra mile for you.  And, guess what, people go the extra mile for people they like!  You have needs and requirements; your venue also has needs and requirements.  This has to be profitable for you both.  Never forget that.  I believe really good business relationships start with mutual respect, honesty and good listening.  Just like your relationship with your fiancé.  Treat this no different and you will find yourself effortlessly knocking the price down without even realising it.