There is a common perception that when you mention the word wedding when booking suppliers for your big day, the price immediately goes up. But what if we told you, a seasoned professional photographer can spend more than 40 hours on a single wedding? Or a cake maker can take as long as a week to create that delicious masterpiece all of your guests will admire?
Suddenly, the money they charge pales in comparison to what you would pay to call out a plumber to fix a blocked drain.
Australia’s leading online wedding destination, Easy Weddings, found in their 2016 Annual Australian Wedding Survey that Australians are spending an average of $30,985 getting married.
Easy Weddings marketing and branding specialist Sarah Shaw said wedding goods and services could seem a lot more expensive due to the perception that weddings are extravagant, expensive events.
“We are conditioned to believe this is true, but when a couple is planning a wedding, they have no idea as to what to expect,” Ms Shaw says.
“The biggest celebration that they may have planned previously is generally a birthday party or perhaps their engagement party.
“But when planning a wedding, there is a bigger guest list and those guests also come with great expectations.”
Ms Shaw said what many people don’t realise is that while you may communicate with your suppliers several times, or have one or two meetings with them in the lead up to the wedding, they are also putting in many more hours behind the scenes to ensure each couple’s requests and expectations are met.
“A wedding is generally the biggest day of the couple’s life so far and they don’t want there to be any problems on the day, so suppliers will work hard to ensure everything is the best it can be and perfection takes time,” she said.
Dezine by Mauro photographer Mauro Cantelmi has been in the industry for 28 years and surprised himself when he crunched the numbers on how much time he would spend on each wedding from initial consultation through to delivering prints and albums to his clients – it was a staggering 42 hours.
“This includes meeting the couple, planning and the hands-on shooting as well as designing, re-touching and putting the albums together,” he said.
“Not only that, but wedding photography is a high-pressure industry. You only get one chance to capture this once-in- a-lifetime event, there are no second chances.
“This is why the industry attracts the true professionals as it’s not something that should be taken lightly. But unfortunately, photography is one of those things that many people take for granted.”
Mr Cantelmi encouraged couples planning their wedding to pay close attention to referrals from their friends and industry professionals when selecting vendors and to try not to exclude anyone purely based on their price.
Ms Shaw said it was important for couples to invest in industry professionals to make the most of their knowledge and experience.
“For a bride to have the trust and know that her special day is being managed by a professional will always help reduce any potential anxiety or stress she may have,” she said.
“Planning a wedding for 12 or so months with all of the emails, phone calls and with many hours of research to ensure that they are choosing the right suppliers is a new experience to them, so a professional who is in the industry every day will help guide her.”
Couples can also get a head start on selecting their suppliers by taking advantage of the one-stop shop of more than 5000 suppliers on easyweddings.com.au.
“We cater to every type of bride, from budget conscious, to extravagant spenders,” Ms Shaw said.
“We provide state-of- the-art planning tools for the bride on the go. iPhone, android, iPad apps are free to download, and will guide the bride through the process.
“It does not end there, however, as brides can take full advantage of our budget calculator, to-do list, gift registry and even a seating planner.”
So, before you fall off your chair when you look into wedding supplier prices, remember to think about the work going on behind the scenes and the investment you are ultimately making in your most special day as a couple.
High resolution copies of the attached images are available by contacting Roxanne at roxmofreelance@gmail.com.
To receive a full copy of the Easy Weddings 2016 Annual Australian Wedding Survey, please call the team on 1800 155 122 or email chris@easyweddings.com.au.
