Planning a fully hotel based wedding

[Twin mummy]

Congratulations!
We got married 16 years ago in a hotel but did it all on a tight budget as our twins were 4 months old ( we brought the wedding forward as my Dad was dying and I wanted him there, he was and managed to walk me down the aisle).

We actually got married at the registry office but I was allowed “here comes the bride” as it actually isn’t religious! It was the only thing I was sad about not having a church wedding so a real surprise when I could have it!

Our friends all pitched in to help so a couple made and paid for the cake instead of a wedding present, another (who was a photographer) took a few photos, another drive me there, another did the table decorations etc.

[WhereIBelong]

We were on a budget and got married by registrars in a hotel and had the reception there.

Did not do a night "do" (saved a couple of thousand as we are not "party" people)

I had a car take me and my mum to the hotel, did not have a photographer - put disposable cameras on the tables and set up a sharing site for smartphone pics.

We did our own invitations on the computer - wrapped a bit of ribbon round and tied a bow. Beautiful, but costs were minimal.

No "favours" or anything like that, had a nice buffet with a dessert buffet too which went down really well. Mother in law made the cake as a present to us. Father in law gave us flowers from his garden (roses and peonies). Dress was the most expensive bit as I knew what I wanted. DH also looked stunning in a new suit that he could wear for work after.

We had our wedding at 1pm, meal at 2, day done by 6 - everyone went off and did their own thing - we did tell them beforehand that it was how we wanted it.

The thing about music is to remember that people have "walk in" music in a church because it is a long walk. Going from the back of a hotel room to the front can be considerably shorter. We just had some instrumental music whenever needed - Enya's Waterfall.

Congratulations and good luck - however you do it, just make sure it is what you want.

[wanye]

Originally Posted by Scaramouche

I've also said no to suppliers because they were a couple of hundred over our budget - and I don't want to go over anymore than we already are! (Our budget has nearly doubled!) All of them changed the price to within budget for us

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Hi, professional wedding DJ here.

whilst it's always worth trying to haggle a bit, also bear in mind that a lot of us *professional* wedding suppliers don't actually do discounts on their services unless you're getting married on a tuesday in february. (basically i don't discount for thurs-sun april-november - if you aren't prepared to pay my price, i only have a limited number of dates available each year, i will find someone who WILL pay easily enough. especially as 80% of my bookings are done at *least* 6 months in advance, and around 30% or booked at least a year in advance)

i may offer a bit of a discount for ordering multiple services (eg on top of the evening disco, having an early setup with background music during the meal, as well as uplighting and evening photography - order all three and get £50 off) but i would never lower my base price that i quote for clients. I find this is insulting to everyone involved.

those companies who come straight back and say "i'll knock £100 off as you asked so nicely" are no better than double glazing or car salesmen, and i would personally be a bit wary of them in the first place with their artificially inflated pricing structures.

personally though, i think the DJ and photographer are the biggest factors to a memorable day. one captures it, the other creates it. nobody remembers nice chair covers or an overly elaborate cake. the best wedding cakes i've seen are usually not even cake. the giant pork pie/wheels of cheese combo was great, as was the tower of brownies.

but get a bad photographer or DJ, and things could be ruined, or a lot more stressful than they should be. if you even remotely care about music, have a meeting with any prospective DJs, find out whether its them you are booking, or a multi-op where they will send along someone else. some venues only allow their resident to play. be wary of these venues, and if the DJ isnt up to scratch, be prepared to walk away form the whole venue (check this clause before signing/paying anything!) - some resident DJs can be great, but an amount of them are lazy hacks who just play the same playlist for all gigs and has no intention of playing that half hour grunge section you asked for in the client meeting... ask them about the sort of stuff you like, see if they are even remotely enthusiastic or engaging when they talk about your love of early 2000's pop-punk. if they gloss over it, and say they will see how things go on the night, and only play it if it keeps the dancefloor packed when they are playing abba and the cha-cha slide, be prepared to walk away!

if all you want is ed sheeran, recent chart stuff and the "classics" then go get that cheap/resident option. but if you want anything even remotely specialist, be prepared to pay a bit more, and make sure you are on the same wavelength at a meeting


if you have any questions about the evening side of things, just holler (a pm would be good if i don't reply within a day or two)

HTH

[Scaramouche]

Originally Posted by wanye

Hi, professional wedding DJ here.

whilst it's always worth trying to haggle a bit, also bear in mind that a lot of us *professional* wedding suppliers don't actually do discounts on their services unless you're getting married on a tuesday in february. (basically i don't discount for thurs-sun april-november - if you aren't prepared to pay my price, i only have a limited number of dates available each year, i will find someone who WILL pay easily enough. especially as 80% of my bookings are done at *least* 6 months in advance, and around 30% or booked at least a year in advance)

i may offer a bit of a discount for ordering multiple services (eg on top of the evening disco, having an early setup with background music during the meal, as well as uplighting and evening photography - order all three and get £50 off) but i would never lower my base price that i quote for clients. I find this is insulting to everyone involved.

those companies who come straight back and say "i'll knock £100 off as you asked so nicely" are no better than double glazing or car salesmen, and i would personally be a bit wary of them in the first place with their artificially inflated pricing structures.

personally though, i think the DJ and photographer are the biggest factors to a memorable day. one captures it, the other creates it. nobody remembers nice chair covers or an overly elaborate cake. the best wedding cakes i've seen are usually not even cake. the giant pork pie/wheels of cheese combo was great, as was the tower of brownies.

but get a bad photographer or DJ, and things could be ruined, or a lot more stressful than they should be. if you even remotely care about music, have a meeting with any prospective DJs, find out whether its them you are booking, or a multi-op where they will send along someone else. some venues only allow their resident to play. be wary of these venues, and if the DJ isnt up to scratch, be prepared to walk away form the whole venue (check this clause before signing/paying anything!) - some resident DJs can be great, but an amount of them are lazy hacks who just play the same playlist for all gigs and has no intention of playing that half hour grunge section you asked for in the client meeting... ask them about the sort of stuff you like, see if they are even remotely enthusiastic or engaging when they talk about your love of early 2000's pop-punk. if they gloss over it, and say they will see how things go on the night, and only play it if it keeps the dancefloor packed when they are playing abba and the cha-cha slide, be prepared to walk away!

if all you want is ed sheeran, recent chart stuff and the "classics" then go get that cheap/resident option. but if you want anything even remotely specialist, be prepared to pay a bit more, and make sure you are on the same wavelength at a meeting


if you have any questions about the evening side of things, just holler (a pm would be good if i don't reply within a day or two)

HTH

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No I appreciate that (my fiancé is a wedding coordinator and deals with this on a daily basis) but also I can’t stand it when people don’t put their prices online. It hasn’t been a cadence of “haggling” intentionally. I have had to go to people for quotes, and they’ve come back too expensive. Which I’ve said and then not expected anything back. But each time they have come back with a better deal. It’s not a case of “not being prepared to pay your price”. It’s those who don’t advertise their prices. If I can’t afford something, I don’t even ask for a quote.

I’m lucky in that we very much know that those who has discounted things for us ARE worth the money. It’s definitely not cheap! We haven’t got it for nothing, we’re still looking at shelling out an insane amount of money.

We had a videographer who kept trying to chuck stuff in, and wouldn’t accept no for an answer. Now he wasn’t expensive, we have actually gone for someone double his price. But he was pushy and annoying.

I’m not saying “refuse to pay full price”, but when it comes to those who don’t publish their quotes online, if you genuinely can’t afford to have something at that price, usually they can do a slightly better deal. These companies absolutely do put their prices up when they hear the word wedding.

I’ve got full confidence in my photographer and DJ .

[mitch84]

Originally Posted by Leggibone

Not getting married, but helped my close friend with her wedding planning, my thing to say is, if everything is in one room check where they expect you to go between everything - between the ceremony and ‘breakfast’ we had photos but prior to and after them we were ‘mingleing’ round the lobby whilst they were setting up the tables (and that was a different room!) then whilst they were setting up for the evening we all had to just loiter around the bar area which wasn’t ideal, but she wasn’t told that we’d have to clear out between, or whether they could provide a private area for us to grab drinks either (though the room we were in for the time did have a private bar)

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That’s a big reason we like this venue, it’s got a lovely pub style hotel bar with comfy sofas that would be perfect for chilling out in between.

There is 2 rooms, one that you have your ceremony in, and one that you have your wedding breakfast in, I believe then they make the ceremony one the night do area, but I do need to check that

[mitch84]

Originally Posted by WhereIBelong

The thing about music is to remember that people have "walk in" music in a church because it is a long walk. Going from the back of a hotel room to the front can be considerably shorter. We just had some instrumental music whenever needed - Enya's Waterfall.

Congratulations and good luck - however you do it, just make sure it is what you want.

See more...

The music is an excellent point I hadn’t thought of. It is a rectangular room so not much walking at all

[Scaramouche]

Originally Posted by hideinpockets

I am getting married in the U.K. I haven’t really posted anything in the wedding forum here as it is mainly Florida focused (understandably!) i’d recommend that Facebook group I posted! It’s so helpful!

I’ve actually planned a lot. Like you I’ve found suppliers were getting booked up! We’ve booked the venue (catering is provided by the venue), photographer, celebrant, hair and make up. Next year I’m going to sort the florist and cake and go looking for my dress! I feel like most things are sorted really! How about you?

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We’ve got; Venue (including catering), DJ, Photographer, Videographer, live band, cake, dance floor/uplighters, a surprise which I’m not sharing on here :P and quite a few decorations sorted out.
In conversation with a hairdresser at the moment. We know what photo booth we want - though waiting until after the holiday to put the deposit down on that one!

Going to start dress shopping in April/May I think! It’s very excited haha we can’t wait!

[Loopylooloo]

Congratulations Mitch great to hear you are so happy, good luck with all the planning!

[wanye]

Originally Posted by Scaramouche

No I appreciate that (my fiancé is a wedding coordinator and deals with this on a daily basis) but also I can’t stand it when people don’t put their prices online. It hasn’t been a cadence of “haggling” intentionally. I have had to go to people for quotes, and they’ve come back too expensive. Which I’ve said and then not expected anything back. But each time they have come back with a better deal. It’s not a case of “not being prepared to pay your price”. It’s those who don’t advertise their prices. If I can’t afford something, I don’t even ask for a quote.

See more...

thats a good point, and i know some DJs/providers who will only quote a price after they have met you in person. that way they can talk you round to their price.

I dont publish a pricelist on my website for events, as they all are different. but i do say "prices from £xxx" on the website, and then give the general price range in the email quote once they've given me all the information i need - for example, some venues require a much larger PA system. chatsworth house needs twice the PA equipment that swancar farm needs, so that is taken into account in the quote, as well as setup times (i generally do all day, or evening-only prices, but then there is extra on top is if goes on after midnight, or extra travel costs if its further than an hour away... that sort of thing, so my "ball park" figure is (for example) between £400 and £750 depending on exact requirements. I try to break various parts down as optional extras, that way theres a pretty clear price structure - base setup at £xxx, plus extras at £xx and £xxx.


but yeah, as a general rule, if someone doesn't give me a price after filling in an enquiry form and will only do it after a meeting, i'd be wary too. especially if youre the sort of person who is easily convinced to sign up for that timeshare/new windows/etc

[Scaramouche]

Originally Posted by wanye

thats a good point, and i know some DJs/providers who will only quote a price after they have met you in person. that way they can talk you round to their price.

I dont publish a pricelist on my website for events, as they all are different. but i do say "prices from £xxx" on the website, and then give the general price range in the email quote once they've given me all the information i need - for example, some venues require a much larger PA system. chatsworth house needs twice the PA equipment that swancar farm needs, so that is taken into account in the quote, as well as setup times (i generally do all day, or evening-only prices, but then there is extra on top is if goes on after midnight, or extra travel costs if its further than an hour away... that sort of thing, so my "ball park" figure is (for example) between £400 and £750 depending on exact requirements. I try to break various parts down as optional extras, that way theres a pretty clear price structure - base setup at £xxx, plus extras at £xx and £xxx.


but yeah, as a general rule, if someone doesn't give me a price after filling in an enquiry form and will only do it after a meeting, i'd be wary too. especially if youre the sort of person who is easily convinced to sign up for that timeshare/new windows/etc

See more...

Yeah exactly that - our photo booth that we want for example have a price on their website. No problem - happy to pay that and if we wanted any of their extras they do a bit of a discount (not sure yet if we do). But SO MANY suppliers say “enquire for price” and to be honest I most of the time won’t contact now if they do that. (Apart from the particular one mentioned above who did give us a discount because I wasnt able to afford their full price. But they’re amazing and I can’t wait!).

Like you say they should at least say “prices from... £xxx”. When it’s just “enquire for price” we find someone else lol.