By Geoff Williams
Everybody knows weddings are expensive. According to last year’s annual survey by theknot.com and weddingchannel.com, getting hitched costs an average of $28,427 – although it really comes down to where you live. It’s far cheaper to get married in Manhattan, Kan., for instance, than Manhattan, New York. Still, no matter how prepared you are to spend whatever it takes for you or your son or daughter to have a phenomenal wedding day, it may be difficult to prepare yourself for the not-so-obvious costs that come with weddings.
“Unanticipated costs can add 30 percent or more to a client’s budget,” says Maggie Daniels, associate professor at George Mason University and the author of the textbook for wedding planners, “Wedding Planning and Management: Consultancy for Diverse Clients.”
That’s because there are often many moving parts. You may hold the ceremony at one place and the reception at another. You may have a team of professionals helping organize your day, such as a wedding planner, photographer, florist and caterer. And no matter how well-intentioned or prepared you are, there’s likely some expense you haven’t factored into your budget.
Here’s a look at some of the hidden costs you may encounter during wedding planning.
Taxes. It’s all too easy to forget about the tax tacked onto every product and service. Sales tax adds up, says Ginny Kozlowski, an adjunct professor at the University of New Haven, who teaches courses in event planning. “For example, a $5,000 dress with sales tax is $5,475 in Connecticut. This will vary state by state, of course,” Kozlowski says.
Service fees. “I notice service charges creeping in mostly in country clubs, private clubs and sometimes on catering bills,” says Karen Bussen, a wedding designer in New York City. “These are not necessarily gratuities. Sometimes, for example, a private club will just charge an 18 to 22 percent service charge for administering the wedding. This money is not distributed to tipped employees, and gratuities may be left to your discretion, which could double the money you need for service.”
Bussen adds that you can often negotiate service fees – but read your contract carefully, she cautions. You aren’t likely to get far in negotiations after you sign the contract.
Odd fees in contracts. Speaking of which, if you don’t read your contracts, you’ll miss many of these hidden fees, says Cassie Brown, chief experience officer at TCG Events, a national event planning company based in Charlotte, N.C.
“The first hidden fee that comes to mind is a cake cutting fee,” Brown says. This is the fee for someone from the catering company or venue to cut the wedding cake and pass it out to guests. According to weddingstats.org, the average cost in 2013 ranged from $1.25 to $1.72 – per guest.
She also says she has heard of cake “corkage” fees. Corkage fees are fees some restaurants charge if you bring your own bottle of wine to the restaurant. A cake corkage fee comes into play if you bring in a wedding cake from an outside vendor, Brown says.
“I’ve seen them priced out as much as $12.50 a person, which, when totaled, would have been more than the cost of the cake,” she says.
Tips. Forking over extra money to the limo driver is probably the last thing on your mind, Daniels says, since by the wedding day, “most couples have already overspent their budgets.” But it’s something to consider.
Daniels says tipping isn’t mandatory, of course. Still, it is a nice gesture – and who wants bad karma on their wedding day? People to consider tipping include hair stylists, florists, delivery people, wedding reception attendants and musicians.
Tent costs. Tents are “the most misunderstood by clients in terms of costs,” Daniels says. “Brides and grooms on a budget may think that holding a tented event will save them on venue costs, but they are sorely mistaken.”
Bussen agrees. “People always ask me, ‘What does a tent cost?’ I tell them that for the most part, the canopies themselves are not all that pricey. It’s the floor that gets you.”
Flooring can easily cost in the thousands, but that’s not all. Daniels says beyond the canopy and flooring, you’ll want to consider “sidewalls, entrance canopies, lighting, fabric liners, power generators, heating or air conditioning, staging, tables, chairs, linens, tableware, executive restrooms, permits and labor.”
As you take all that in, Daniels adds, “A fabric liner alone can cost $4,000 or more, while custom lighting can cost up to $15,000. If done well, the total cost for just the tent and necessary rentals easily exceeds $30,000.”
Bussen recommends getting proposals and estimates from at least two tent companies during the planning stage.
Lighting and other expenses. Whether in the tent or a reception hall, lighting can get expensive, says Liz Drew, a Tustin, Calif.-based marketing professional who is getting married at the end of the month.
“Who knew that additional lighting would cost another thousand?” Drew says. She says because her parents are still buried under student loan debt, her generous in-laws are footing the bill for the wedding, which could top out at $50,000. That includes at least $10,000 in unexpected costs, Drew says. Although her in-laws are paying for the wedding, she has been the one writing the checks.
And the expenses come up a lot. “Linens and chairs was an expense that didn’t seem necessary when I booked my venue, but it’s something a majority of other brides do to dress up the room, and I felt pressured to do,” Drew says, adding that it will cost another $1,200. Why the extra lighting? Her venue has lighting, but this cost is for “uplighting,” in which lights are placed on the floor and projected off the wall for an atmospheric effect.
As the venue representative argued in an email to Drew, the uplighting “has a dramatic impact on the space as far as enhancing the florals, linens, chairs, etc.”
Suddenly, you can see why many people spend more than they intended on a wedding. After all, if you’re already spending a fortune on flowers, linens, chairs and so on, you probably want it all to look amazing.
Avoiding the fees. You can minimize some of the damage or at least spend wisely, asserts Daniels. She argues that hiring a professional to help you spend your money is one of the best ways to save money. “The smartest move that any couple can make is to hire a wedding consultant who has a stellar reputation for respecting a client’s budget,” she says.
Daniels argues that staging a wedding on your own is like selling a house solo. You can do it, but a planner or real estate agent will save you money in the long run. And saving money is the goal. Well, having a happy memorable day is the goal – but so is not putting yourself in the poorhouse.
Read the original article in US News and World Report.
