Take The “Expense” Out Of Your Wedding Expenses.

It’s no secret that weddings are very expensive.  The Average wedding in Sonoma County costs $33,000 according to costofwedding.com  In this article I’ll explain how you why wedding supplies can seem very expensive and how you can trim some of  expenses and even improve the quality of the services you get.

First and foremost, wedding related services and supplies can seem pricey but if you really look into it the costs are actually quite reasonable.   Obviously wedding related supplies & services are very high quality and thus cost more to purchase or to render which is passed on to the client.  Another factor is that wedding supplies and services like tents, toilets, venues, DJ’s, photographers etc. mostly work a day or 2 a week, i.e. Friday & Saturday.  Thus their margins have to be higher so they can put food on the table.

In Sonoma, Napa & Marin counties high season for weddings is between May & September because these months are highly unlikely to get any rain. During these months vendors & venues are less likely to give discounts because their services are in high demand.  Last year Fancy Flush struggled to keep up with the demand for our luxury restroom trailers, sometimes we’d have a trailer turned around in an hour and other wedding rental agencies struggled with the demand as well.  Your best bet maybe to schedule a wedding outside of this period as some companies like mine have low season prices. 

If your committed to having a wedding between May & September consider having it on an “off” day, when wedding related services aren’t in such high demand.  Logically Saturday is an extremely busy day for weddings with Friday & Sunday in second and third place respectively.  You might be able to convince your friends and family to hold back a few vacation and/or sick days to take off for your big day.  During “off” days you can typically haggle a few bucks off your equipment & venue rentals too. 

Consider having a backyard wedding.  Even if you don’t have a large backyard you might know someone who does,  it be your boss, friend or family member you could save thousands on the cost of a venue.  Even if you don’t know someone you might get a great bargain if you solicit the help of a neighbor with a bit of land.  You might find they’re willing to rent out their land for a few days for a couple hundred dollars.   Just remember that you’ll need to budget for restrooms, tables, chairs & tents among other things.  Two popular choices for tents and wedding related supplies are “Party, Tents & Events” in Santa Rosa, and “Wine Country Party & Events” in Sonoma.

Attend an Expo.  There are Two lovely Wedding Expo’s in Sonoma County several times a year such as the Sonoma & Napa Wedding Show & The Wedding Expo.  At these expos vendors are much more likely to give you a discount or upgrade.  There’s also a chance you can win wedding services and equipment.   Most importantly there’s a wealth of information & ideas that you can implement at your wedding.

Lastly,  weddings can get very stressful, but being polite and nice can go a long way for some extra perks.  Though anyone who rents from me regardless of their demeanor will get the highest quality restroom out there, those who are nice and chatty might get my help setting up other wedding supplies or decorations while I’m there, some have even gotten a free upgrade (when available) due to their demeanor over the phone.   Just remember to pay it forward by rewarding good service with a review on Yelp, Google, or one of the wedding websites out there like theknot.com for example.