Just about every couple, no matter the wedding budget, worries about it. In a survey I did across 12 Facebook Groups, I asked a very simple question about wedding worries and got one simple answer among most of the groups.

The question asked:

The most important thing you worry about for your upcoming wedding. (You can choose more than one if needed)

Overwhelmingly, couples said the wedding budget was the most important thing on their minds when it came to be worrying about the wedding day.

Listen, I’m a wedding expert, I completely understand it.

Many times, and much like my competition, we get things like this “… we LOVE your work, but we just can’t afford it in the budget…” or something to that effect.

Today, I’d like to explore that worry just a bit and help give you some insights on how to overcome it how to best solve the issue and how best to overcome your wedding worries.

Why You Worry About the Budget

Couples alike worry about the budget because, let’s be real, getting married is an expensive process.

If you’ve read anything about weddings and the planning process, you’ve seen where a typical wedding can cost roughly $38,000-ish dollars in 2019/2020.

That according to Wedding Wire and theKnot websites, you can do a WHOLE lot with that type of money and it’s a big pill to swallow if you’re fairly young and getting started in life.

Sure, some couples do it for far less and honestly, some, do it for FAR MORE.

But, what’s the reason why weddings are expensive?

Some people will say that because it’s a wedding, vendors charge more.

Eh, that could be the case for some but honestly the main reason weddings are expensive is that traditional has dictated weddings should cost lots of money.

Venues, photographer’s, dresses and cakes, videographers, DJ’s and wedding receptions all add up in cost.

The other reason is that couples have demanded far more than previous generations did.

People want spectacular weddings that are over the top and that will translate into entertaining events to help celebrate the day.

And thus, weddings cost a lot of money.

Take my part of the wedding industry, wedding video.

Years past, people sought after basic wedding videos with 1-2 cameras at the ceremony and reception. Fast-forward to today, couples wants drones, floating video, great lighting, great story telling and that all cost money.

In Carole’s world of wedding photography, it’s changed too, people want more light images, edited, images that show some of the ‘raw’ emotion and especially images that are good in low light receptions, and that’s partly why good photography gear cost thousands of dollars.

The more couples want, the more it costs us to run our business and in return, the more it costs to hire me for me services.

I’ve also seen many within the wedding industry to raise prices and do less work.

Sure, that is a trade off to a point and there is a market for higher priced videographers, but if the number one concern among couples is the budget, why are vendors raising rates far more than what their others around them offer if they’re offering the same thing?

It’s a good question to think about.

Ideas to Think About & How to Overcome the Worry

If you’re worried about the wedding budget and it’s of concern, then you have a couple of choices to do.

A.      You could stick to the budget and not adjust it finding vendors that fit into the number that you’ve setup.

The problem with this scenario is that vendors prices might not be what your budget expectations are like.

If for example you have a budget of $800 for a venue when in reality the lowest range in your wedding market is $2,200, it’s highly likely your number isn’t in alignment with the local market number.

B.      You could change the budget to reflect a more accurate or realistic number.

That means if your market has an average cost of X number of dollars, then you need to adjust the number to best reflect that.

Again, the issue with that is that your expanding the budget and having to spend more money for the wedding day. Is that a bad thing, of course not, it’s all relative in how you look at things.

C.      You could adjust the wedding planning to have a smaller wedding.

A smaller wedding equals less costs overall.

The biggest expenses of any wedding are the venue and the guests. Each category can be adjusted.

For example, a venue may have an off-day or off-season rate that’s much different than a weekend rate.

Instead of having 125 guests, cut it in half and suddenly the wedding cake can be smaller and less costly, the food and booze, again cut down dramatically.

One thing that I’ve told couples is that you can always shift funds around in order to find money in the budget for a wedding video. For example, instead of buying a $1,400 wedding dress, buy one at half the cost and put that money towards a wedding video.

I recently spoke about micro wedding’s and how more and more couples getting married are seeking a wedding where you still have everything, just on a smaller time-frame and smaller guest list.

D.     Monthly Payments, it’s something that we offer here at Wedding Photography and Films and something that a handful of vendors also offer. Instead of having to come up with a large sum of money up front and then another huge amount of money right before the wedding.

Let’s be real for a moment, shall we?

When you bought your car, did you pay for it in cash with a lump sum at the dealership and another when you drove it off the lot?

Or, when you buy a house, I’m willing to bet that the majority of you reading this didn’t put down 50% of your home.

Well, by offering a smaller deposit and payments over time before the wedding, it makes it an easier pill to swallow than forking up credit card or loans to pay back over time.

The Truth About Wedding Vendors

Many wedding vendors will tell you that price, experience and quality often don’t translate, it’s almost a taboo thing and truthfully as a wedding vendor, I get a lot of gripe from fellow competitors and wedding photographer’s in the business.

The belief is this, you are either cheap and low-end or you’re expensive and high-end.

Sure, there IS some truth to the process, but that’s assuming that the vendor is in it for the money and not for the love of what they do.

Years ago, I would charge far more than I charge today for my services.

But I’m not full time anymore, this is no longer my livelihood, it’s a side business where Carole and I make some fun money, enough to replace gear and have some money for vacations and expenses, but we enjoy doing what I do.

If Carole and I wanted to charge far more we could, but we choose not too to do so.

Yes, you can have wedding vendors that are affordable and offer great quality, the key being affordable here.

Affordable doesn’t mean cheap.

Cheap is a guy charging $300-500 for a feature film on some low-end camera and low-end gear that can’t make great images in low light situations.

Affordable means just that, reasonably priced and we’re just that.

Now don’t get me wrong, in the world of video production and wedding photography, you need high-end expensive gear to have a great experience.

If you look at the data from earlier in my article, you’ll see that couples’ expectations and wedding vendors prices are far from matching up.

Couples getting married just like you want a great experience at an affordable rate and that’s something that I offer them.

I recently had a groom I filmed describe me as best, “Josh is like the Honda or Toyota or Nissan of the Wedding Video business. He’s not the most expensive and not the greatest out there, but he’s affordable, reliable and does great work!”.

While I greatly appreciate the kinds word from him, I’m glad to know that I’m reliable and that I offer good work.

As a wedding couple, that’s what you need to look for when selecting a wedding vendor.

Find those that are within the range of your budget, find ones that are the “middle ground” when it comes to being reliable as well as affordable.

Well, what do you think about wedding planning and stress?

I’d love to know your thoughts on the subject here, drop me an email message and let me know what you think!