Hidden Costs to Plan For
Look, it’s no secret that weddings can cost a bundle. With the average wedding hovering in the $20,000 range, that’s pretty much yesterday’s news.
We also talk a lot on this blog about how to bring your wedding costs under control through careful planning and being open to creative alternatives. After all, we don’t want you to go broke and we do want you to get the most bang for your buck.
But one thing we don’t often discuss is all the hidden fees that can blow your budget if you don’t realize they’re looming on the horizon. What fees? These fees.
Taxes. Sure, the price tag is on every item, but that isn’t the whole story. In most places, you’re going to be dealing with sales tax. Double check what’s taxable in your area and calculate it in.
Alterations and delivery fees. Your wedding gown will need at least some alterations. The florist will be bringing all the bouquets and arrangements to your hall. The baker will have to get your cake to the reception site. None of this will happen for free. Make sure you know what these fees are.
Tips. Your caterer may include a gratuity charge in the contract, and it could run as high as 25%. Your bartender, hair dresser, make up artist, limo driver, or DJ may also be expecting to be tipped. If you’re not sure what’s expected from you, ask around and plan for it.
Extra postage. Before you mail out your invitations, be sure to have them weighed at the post office, in case they’re too heavy to get away with basic postage. Don’t forget that you’ll be putting stamps on the RSVP envelopes! Also, if you pick oversized, undersized, or unusually-aligned invitations, those will cost you extra to mail, too, because they require special handling.
Set up, clean up, corkage, and overtime fees. Check the contracts carefully. Will the florist charge a fee for putting out all the arrangements? Will the bar charge per bottle opened? If your wedding runs long, will you owe the photographer overtime? Are you feeding the band? Know what you’re paying for so you don’t get ugly surprises to your bank account.
Hey, these are all important points to ponder on, with all the hidden fees in wedding, boy, no wonder most people get a wedding planner to relieve them of the stress!!! Nice post.
I can think of some more too (at least these are some that are commonplace in Australia) –
* extra cost for chair covers, sashes and their laundering
* extra cost for cake cuttage by the reception staff
* extra cost for centerpieces, even if they come supplied by the reception place
* extra cost for hiring out a microphone for the speeches
* if guests don’t vacate premises soon enough you may get charged with extra hiring time fees
* meals for vendors who stay throughout your reception (eg. photographer, DJ, videographer)
When budgeting anything for the first time, there are too many things that go unnoticed and they start springing up at a time when you actually start executing your plan. All the commercial aspects involved start getting haywire. The above will help some of the most commonly ignored aspects involved when budgeting your wedding to spare you from the horror of the wedding budget blues.