I have no idea about any additional server costs, but I know that 'round here buffet costs more per person than plated dinner.
indydebi Forum Matriarch
Joined: Jul 07, 2006
Posts: 22133
Location: Indianapolis IN
Birthday: Jan 19
Posted:
Sun Nov 09, 2008 8:25 pm
KoryAK wrote:
I have no idea about any additional server costs, but I know that 'round here buffet costs more per person than plated dinner.
WOw, things are different region to region!
One thing I tell my brides is "Never ask how much it costs ... always ask how much do I write the check for?" Because these numbers are very different. There's one caterer in town, who god luv him, posts this info right on this website so brides can see the actual numbers .... the plated meal starts at something like $29.95/person. But then he itemizes the linens, the cost for the plates, for the silverware, for the glassware, for the waiters, for the servers, for the dishwasher, etc etc..... and that $29.95 price tag ends up at something like $95/person.
...always ask, "How much do I write the check for?"
AsburyArt Junior Member
Joined: Aug 09, 2008
Posts: 33
Posted:
Mon Nov 10, 2008 9:31 am
Everyone wants to cut costs. It's human nature.
I think Indydebi is on the right track, as usual But, I would say the single biggest problem I face is "champagne taste, Budweiser budget". This manifests itself in four ways:
1) the client has a photo from a magazine and doesn't realize what the time investment would be and the typically high cost to reproduce said work
2) the client is enamored of "high end" designs and will not accept less, or wants a fondant only technique in buttercream, or wants a design executed on a cake for 300 on her cake for 75.
3) the client thinks there is one price and one design
and
4) Make a dummy, serve backups
What I would love to see is clients who are up front and realistic about their budgets.
I can't help the clients in example #1. Most magazine photos are high end work and should be priced accordingly.
I want to say to the clients in example #2 and 3, you'll save money by scaling back your expectations of what your wedding cake needs to be. I'm a designer, tell me your budget and I'll show you what I can do for the price.
There have been too many posts about client #4. I am continually amazed by the media who push this idea and by the brides who buy the rhetoric.
I think most brides need to scale back their expectations in general.
“There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey.”
-John Ruskin
cupcake Forum Fanatic
Joined: Sep 20, 2004
Posts: 1099
Posted:
Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:57 am
I think one of most important things is to be a good listener.The more you can get the bride to talk about her day and plans the more you can tell what kind of budget she is on. Being able to read people is a plus. If the bride is a budget gal then I offer ideas for her to save money, if budget is not an issue then I let her spend what she wants. Either way my job is get the bride to be comfortable with her decisions and to insure that I will make her day special.
1) DIY DOES NOT equal money savings!!!! By the time you pay for the supplies to complete even a "simple" DIY project you'll have spent more in most cases than what it would cost you to hire the most expensive person in the region. This is especially true when it comes to cake and food. A simple 50 pack of invitations from the Walmart Clearance aisle will save you money, 50 handmade pocketfolds with enclosures is going to cost you more than Carlson Craft. Time is money and yours is valuable!
2) If your guest list is above 175 have a smaller display cake and kitchen cakes to finish out servings. Kitchen cakes are undecorated yet have the same fillings as the main cake so all guests are treated equally. The decorating time is what adds up on the cost of the cake.
3) Do your math! You have to figure out "what you get for the money". A big box retailer with a bakery isn't going to tell you their wedding slice is 1x1x3 for that $1.57/slice cake or that you have to purchase a non-returnable "cake kit". Figure out what you're getting for the money. You can have prime rib for your dinner easily, if you want it to be a 2oz. steak...
4) Book early!!! Get as many vendors locked in at this year's prices as possible. Many vendors will be willing to lock in prices if you book before the year-end price increases (this includes some food vendors, but not all) such as reception halls, DJ's, etc.
5) Watch your pennies!!!! You don't need to spend $4/pp on cute little favors wrapped in tulle... Skip the tulle, oh hey, skip the favor. If you feel compelled to have something sprinkle Hershey Kisses or have a bowl of M&M's on each table, it'll cost you $11 at Sam's and you'll have enough for a large reception. Same goes for chair covers, the only detail on the chairs people care about is that they have one to sit on and they don't get a sliver up their butt from it. Skip the fabric aisle runner, the $15 one from the party store or JoAnn's/Michaels will get the job done and it's going in the trasn anyways, you aren't going to use it for anything afterwards except maybe a drop cloth for painting, in which case, the $2 one from Walmart is cheaper anyways...
6) The more greenery and filler you use for flowers the cheaper they're going to be. Refer also to #1...
7) Skip the limo!!! For $50 you can have one heck of a nice rental car for the whole weekend with your best man as chaufer. Or, better yet, $9 through the car wash and a vacume at home and you're good to go with no restraints on time.
Cash bar!!! Yes, sponsor what you can afford (at minimum NA's), but you don't need to provide intoxicate your entire guest list. If someone is coming over to your house for a party they either drink what you have (water, milk, coffee) or they purchase their own... Yes, provide at least a keg, and NA's but above that is bonus. Also people would rather have the opportunity to purchase something they like to drink instead of only serving what you're providing (Beer, water)... If it's o.k. for the Midwest where we have the highest per-capita consumption of alcohol anywhere in the country, it's o.k. elsewhere too...
9) Indydebi has gone over the buffet/plated stuff pretty well... Here it is cheaper to do the buffet because as Debi pointed out it's far less staffing and the staffing is where the majority of the cost of the event is, not just the food, equipment, dishes, etc.
10) Find vendors who include linens/plates/silver/glasses/table cloths in the price or usually less than a rental company. We paid $3 extra/guest to have this stuff provided otherwise it would've cost us at least double or triple that to have the rental company provide them for us.
11) DIY your own veil. For $15 you can purchase a pattern, supplies, and tulle for a blusher and cathedral length veil that would have cost you $$$ at the bridal shop. You can also purchase premade veils from JoAnn's/Michaels/Walmart for $8-$15...
small town where I got married buffet is definately cheaper. Here in the city buffet is usually $3-5/person more!
CoutureCake had EXCELLENT ideas for cutting costs. Several of which I used at my own wedding.
My dress - $810. 25+ dress shops and 4 cities (that I was going to anyway) but it was perfect and fit the budget. My dress came with a sheer shawl that I wasn't going to wear - I made my veil out of it. I hunted antique shops looking for the perfect brooch to make into a comb for my hair - $15. I bought my diamond and pearl earrings and shoes on ebay. $350 shoes for $50 including shipping! My husband bought his top choice Hugo Boss suit off ebay. Did my own nails.
I am a big DIY person but there are somethings you just need to let other people take care of. Fortunately I had 3 months after I finished school while I was job hunting and then waiting for my job to start (stupid HR- long story) so I had time to do things like make all the invitations and programs. My family also made all the favors - homemade crabapple jelly. My mom found the most amazing deal on the jars 12 for $4. Crabapples were free. Just needed some sugar and pectin and a day with some family friends. Less than $100 for all the favors and people are still talking about them, not one left on the tables either.
I wanted hydrangeas - they couldn't get the variety I wanted but sprayed white ones for free. They made the boutineers out of silk. Using only one type of large flower filled the bouquet. I bought white roses at the grocery store for $12 doz for the centerpieces. Bought all the vases and candles from ikea - and picked ornamental crabapples from our trees to fill the vases. Bought 3 big chinese lampshades from ikea to hang from the hall ceiling huge impact for cheap. MADE my own cake - not recommended.
We drove our own car and skipped the limo. Got married on my parents farm - chair rental, borrowed sound equipment. BOUGHT 2 big tents from sears just in case but returned them unopened.
Went on an inexpensive honeymoon to the Rocky Mountains, driving instead of flying.
Things to purchase wisely - good value for money.
Food
Location - make sure the space works for your event size!
Photography
DJ
We managed to come in less than $8000 for 170 people - dress, suit, flowers, food, everything included. Thanks to family and friends volunteering their time, being flexible and focusing on the 4 things above. Being ORGANIZED saves you money.
Edited to add: Buying vases etc. at ikea was the same cost as renting. and my brother and SIL reused all of my glassware pieces, candles and the hanging chinese shades at their wedding a year later. You would never have known.
cakerygirl Junior Member
Joined: May 23, 2008
Posts: 45
Location: Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada
Posted:
Wed Nov 12, 2008 4:56 pm
dinas27 wrote:
small town where I got married buffet is definately cheaper. Here in the city buffet is usually $3-5/person more!
Went on an inexpensive honeymoon to the Rocky Mountains, driving instead of flying.
Things to purchase wisely - good value for money.
Food
Location - make sure the space works for your event size!
Photography
DJ
We managed to come in less than $8000 for 170 people - dress, suit, flowers, food, everything included. Thanks to family and friends volunteering their time, being flexible and focusing on the 4 things above. Being ORGANIZED saves you money.
Hi! Your wedding story is a lot like mine! I had a about 160 people show up and came in arond $7000 for everything. I actualy paid 200 for my dress and then 50$ on details and tulle for my veil and altering my dress. I made a lot of things by hand but I was between jobs for a couple of months and I had already been planning for a year and a half (bit by bit). I didn't bother decorating my reception apart from a few streamers, the table centerpieces and a poster behind the head table. It was a fun day with no pressure. I just wish our DJ had worked out better..... lets just say he ended up using my little CD player to run the dance with.
We also did a camping honeymoon through the rockies and B.C.
kellymarie Regular Member
Joined: Nov 28, 2007
Posts: 158
Location: sk canada
Posted:
Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:06 pm
Must be an Alberta Girl thing! I am originally from Alberta, and My wedding story is very similar! We honeymooned in the rockies and camped as well.
I was fortunate enough to have many talented friends that gave me "services" as gifts; photographer, cake, dress ( It was amazing!! I love My Nonna! ♥)
We spent the most money on food and venue, and we picked a venue that needed zero decorating, the muttart conservatory ( google it!!)
I think the most important advice for brides is to pick the things that are most important to you, and budget, or cut the rest!
LOVE the muttart! I like to go for the orchid show every year. I think its a western Canada thing - I'm a SK girl . but live in Edmonton now. It really just comes down to your priorities - I have a friend at work who has been in weddings (in Edmonton) where the bride has spent $10,000 on a dress. Hello down payment on a house???? My husband sees it all the time at work too - he works for Fairmont Hotels. People spend sooooo much money its insane.
The DJ thing is touch and go. My brother got married 10 months after we did, same DJ. He was GREAT for us but OK for them which may have partially had to do with the set up of the hall.
One more cost saving - you only need programs for 50% of the people. I made enough for everyone and threw out a ton, although I had made fans and it was the perfect temperature that they weren't really needed.
-Tubbs Forum Fanatic
Joined: May 25, 2007
Posts: 1235
Location: Calgary, AB, Canada
Posted:
Thu Nov 13, 2008 9:38 am
Well, I'm not Albertan by birth, but I do live here now! I also had a wonderful DIY wedding, but back in the UK.
We were engaged and married within 6 weeks (had known each other 2.5 years though - it wasn't a whirlwind)! When you do it like that, you don't have time to sweat the details.
I made my own dress. My little nephew was my pageboy - my sister made his little suit from leftover silk from my dress. Went to Covent Garden flower market at 3am two days before the wedding to buy the flowers I wanted. My parents made the centrepieces. My mother made the cake and her neighbour (hobbyist) made beautiful gumpaste flowers for it. We had the reception in my in-law's wonderful English country garden, with a caterer who was just starting up and probably didn't charge enough. People still talk about how relaxed it was, playing badminton and croquet, mini-golf in the orchard.
All-in it cost around 3500 pounds ($7000). I am astonished when I see that this is what many brides spend on just their dress.
giraffe11 Frequent Member
Joined: Sep 09, 2007
Posts: 363
Posted:
Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:15 am
Do "real" people really spend that much on their dress? Wow!
I had a beautiful couture gown and because it was from a leftover bin and it was last year's design......I paid $650.00. You don't have to spend so much to have a beautiful affair.
My husband and I put on a formal, 254-guest, very nice wedding with all of the traditional trimmings. We had a caterer and a bakery and an open beer/wine bar. Yes, my friends and I pretty much did all of the extras and decor ourselves, but honestly nothing looked homemade. (Smile and repeat....Martha is your friend! Ha!) But my husband and I alone were footing the bill for everything (wedding and Manhattan honeymoon) with no help from anyone and only had 6 1/2 months to get it done. We did have to take out a small loan (~$5,000.00) to add to our cash flow and no doubt there are places we could have cut even further......but it was all done at a fairly reasonable cost. We didn't have any other options.
I guess if you're spending someone else's money, maybe you don't try hard to be so thrifty? The "air of entitlement" that bride's seem to get bothers me, though. It's one day in your life. Daddy shouldn't have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it.
giraffe11 Frequent Member
Joined: Sep 09, 2007
Posts: 363
Posted:
Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:22 am
Oh.......one other thing I did to save a lot of money, was I shopped a lot for accessories and supplies online. This was invariably cheaper than bridal shops and Ben Franklins and also gave a much better selection. Comparison shopping from your desk chair is a huge saver of time and gas money too.
You can often get a "free-shipping" deal to boot. And.......after the wedding, you can sell off whatever accessories (table vases/mirrors/etc) you don't need anymore on e-bay or Craig's list and recoup some $$.
cakerygirl Junior Member
Joined: May 23, 2008
Posts: 45
Location: Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada
Posted:
Thu Nov 13, 2008 1:54 pm
I think the biggest problem with weddings these days is that they forget that it is the marriage that is important not the party. The party is to celebrate the marriage. If you surround yourself with guests that know you and love you enough to want to celebrate your marriage - then it shouldn't matter how fancy trhe decor is, or how expensive your dress is or how big your limop is. I think people get so caught up on this vision of the perfect wedding -- why not work more on the focus of the reason you have a wedding - your commitment to your spouse. All I know is I went for simple and had a great wedding with people who cared about us -- I didn't care what happened the day of the wedding as long as my husband was there.
tatania199 Newbie
Joined: Jan 27, 2006
Posts: 16
Posted:
Thu Nov 13, 2008 2:54 pm
littlecake wrote:
well...i have a couple of cakes i've done so many times, i can almost do them with my eyes closed.....very little stress, and i can knock em out very fast....if they let me pick the design, i'll knock some of the price off...
I think that's a big one when you're talking about specific ways to cut cake costs - ask the cake designer!
When I was doing cakes, I obviously knew what I felt more comfortable doing, what would take less time to do and what cost less money. If you trust your baker (and you should!) and are open to suggestions/willing to be flexible, you'll get way more cake for your money.
Now I won a bridal boutique and the suggestions in the magazines are exactly the same - foolish. Yes, there are reasonable ways to save money. But just because you want a couture gown for a mass produced price does is not reason enough!
Personally, I find the very, very best way to save a little money and get a deal is to be pleasant and honest. Talk to me. Be really nice to my staff. Endear yourself a bit - we want you to be happy and if we can make that happen, we will. Same goes for cake designers.
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luv this phrase!!
But, I would say the single biggest problem I face is "champagne taste, Budweiser budget". This manifests itself in four ways:
Cash bar!!! Yes, sponsor what you can afford (at minimum NA's), but you don't need to provide intoxicate your entire guest list. If someone is coming over to your house for a party they either drink what you have (water, milk, coffee) or they purchase their own... Yes, provide at least a keg, and NA's but above that is bonus. Also people would rather have the opportunity to purchase something they like to drink instead of only serving what you're providing (Beer, water)... If it's o.k. for the Midwest where we have the highest per-capita consumption of alcohol anywhere in the country, it's o.k. elsewhere too...
