Ah The Wedding, possibly the most joyous and expensive day of our lives 👰 💰

Dress, shoes, rings, suits, photographer, cake… it’s easy to see how things add up. It’s essential that couples set out a budget that they feel can buy them the wedding of their dreams without having to put the rest of their lives on hold in the meantime.

The venue is often one of the first aspects of wedding planning to get ticked off the list, our couples are still early into the planning process and still attempting to understand the true cost of all things wedding.

It’s hard to justify $300 for a bouquet 💐 when you can buy a beautiful bunch from your local florist for $50 right? And don’t get us started with photographers 📷, $3000 for 8 hours work, that’s almost $400 an hour, I’m in the wrong profession!

It’s important to consider the time these services take to create, the 3am trips to the flower markets to source the perfect peonies and weeks spent editing to finesse those forever photos.

These days wedding vendors have an array of products and services to pick from, so comparing apples 🍏 with oranges 🍊 will often produce a confused and probably over-priced juice.

And that’s where we come in *cue fairy godmother* 🧚, we’re changing the way we tailor weddings and we would like you to consider your budget from a different perspective… Here goes;

So, you've pencilled your reception budget in at $*** per head, and alas you've identified a couple of nice places that are hitting the mark, woohoo! So that’s your food & beverage ticked off the list. Good work.

Let’s apply the same price per head strategy you have adopted to your other vendors (based on average wedding size of 100 people);

• Professional MC (who won’t get excited by our range of premium beverages and remember their cues)- $400 / $4pp
• DJ (who won’t roll his eyes when you provide him with your “must-play” list) - $500 / 5pp
• Those pretty Bentwood chairs you saw on pinterest - $8pp
• Centrepieces, candles & things to make the tables look spectacular at the reception - $20 a table or $2pp
• Flowers for the bridal table for the ultimate wow-factor - $500 or $5pp
• Arbour – Because who can even get married these days without a silk and chandelier backdrop? $800/ $8pp
• Wedding Cake (delicious and nutritious) - $150*/ $1.50pp

Total cost per head: $33.50pp. Well, that escalated quickly. All of a sudden spending $*** + $33.50 on an all-inclusive wedding package is looking a lot more realistic 💡.

Let’s throw in some of those things that you can’t really justify in your budget but you’re secretly coveting if only you didn’t have a mortgage or you worked as a wedding photographer!

• Festoon lighting (is there even anything more romantic than an evening shot of you and your love smooching under their warm glow?)
• Grazing station – there is no better place for your guests to mill over during cocktail hour
• Those twinkly lights that look so pretty in the first dance photos; starlight ceiling & fairy light backdrop
• Sparkly white dancefloor
• Partnering with a trusted venue who can give you all this and minimise managing multiple vendors –Priceless!

And if you’re one of our couples we have an assortment of other items which you can hire at an exclusive price; peacock chairs, photo booths, heaters, seating charts, welcome signs & stationary, card boxes and cake tables.

If you read to the end, congratulations. We hope we were able to save you some money and help you stress-less. Happy planning <3

*Voucher to the value of $150 towards your cake at local and specialised wedding cakers.

Melissa Bereta, City Beach Function Centre Wedding Coordinator