Budget Reality Check!!!

Dear Brides and Grooms,

I hope you are all doing fabulous!

I know there are many tools out there to help you set your budget, but are they correct? My take on it is that it really takes having a professional wedding consultant on your side who knows the area you are planning to have your wedding in, and understands the industry averages for things in that area so that they can help you plan out a budget that is just right for your needs.

Since I'm a specialist at California weddings, I'd like to impart some basic budget starting ranges for a wedding of 100 guests to help you get a peek into what things really cost now in our market. I'm also going to impart one cost saving piece of advice per category to help you if you are on a tight budget.

Venue - $6,000-$10,000 and up - Tip: Pick a venue that is all-inclusive, meaning it has a kitchen with a caterer on site that can handle your food and beverages, and has tables and chairs you don't mind using.

Catering - $15,000 and up - Tip: It's all about the ingredients, choose reasonable ingredients like short ribs vs. filet mignon. Also, choose the best service style to reduce labor costs which is typically a buffet.

Officiant - $600-1,500 and up - Tip: If you have a professional wedding consultant, often times they can run your rehearsal without the officiant there (officiants suggest this), and this can save you from having to spend on paying the officiant to come to the rehearsal AND the wedding day.

Floral Design - $4,500 and up - Tip: It's all about the creativity. Find a floral designer who has a lot of different containers for you to rent, and is open to floral design plus non-floral design elements to give you bang for you buck without breaking the bank.

Photography - $5,000-15,000 and up - Tip: Ask your wedding consultant to help you formulate your timeline so that all of your important activities are up front so that you don't have to pay your photographer to be at the wedding until the very end of the night.

Videography - $5,000-15,000 and up - Tip: Same thing as photography!

Hair and Makeup - $600-1,500 and up - Tip: Go with who you love. This is your one special day. Look at the value of looking your best on the wedding day, and in your photos and video which will last forever and try not to get hung up on the costs. They are fair.

Live Musicians - $300 per hour and up - Tip: You don't have to have the whole string quartet! Sometimes you can do with a duo, or trio instead to save costs.

DJ - $1,800-3,500 and up - Headache Saving Tip: You get what you pay for, so be sure that you choose this vendor wisely with your professional wedding consultant's guidance! They can make or break your event! Don't just hire any old guy cause he's cheap! That's like handing someone you don't know well a microphone and giving them permission to say anything they want at your one special wedding day! No no no!!!! There are good DJs on both ends of this price spectrum. Don't try to save costs by cutting out things like having them do sound support during the ceremony, you'll be sorry if you don't have that and you need it. And please don't do an iPod wedding, it's all bad!!!

Bands - $5,000 and up - Headache Saving Tip: Choose a band that has worked the venue before, or has done tons of weddings, has ample sound support and sound support flexibility, understands that they won't be drinking alcohol at your wedding, has a designated Master of Ceremonies to make annoucements, and can DJ their breaks so that the dancing doesn't die when they take one of their two or three 20 minute break sessions throughout the evening. If you must use a band that doesn't have these qualifications, at least get in writing how they will dress, that they won't drink alcohol, and hire a professional wedding DJ to accompany them and provide flexible sound support and MC'ing capabilities. It'll be a mess if you don't.

Rentals - $Toooo variable!!!! - Tips: Upgrade the linens (Polys $18 and up each, Mid range $28 and up, High end $39 and up per linen)! It makes the biggest impact on a budget. If you have a professional wedding consultant ask them if they have any specials or offers through their preferred rental companies to pass along to help lessen the blow of this cost, I know here at NLWED we do!

Transportation - $Toooo variable!!! - Headache Saving Tip: Don't just hire who is cheapest, hire who your consultant tells you works with weddings all of the time and knows how to treat such an event. The limo company you use at your work for airport transfers is the wrong choice unless it's one of the few that works weddings also.

Invitations and Paper Goods - $2.50 per invitation to $25 per invitation and up - Tip: If you are on a tight budget, don't feel like you can't have pretty stationery, look at websites like http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/ . Then work with a custom stationery place like http://www.marizette.com/ to match up table numbers, escort cards, menus, programs, etc...

Lighting, Draping, Rigging - $1,500 to $5,000 and up - Tip: Do a minimum of adding uplights around your room to wash the walls with color. Make sure you choose a lighting company that includes the cost of a technician staying on site to monitor the lights they install in case you need them lowered, or the color changed for different stages of the night. Lighting and Linens, the two L's everyone forgets about, makes a world of difference!

Desserts - $600 to $1,500 and up - Tip: If you have fondant taste and a buttercream budget, make sure your wedding consultant suggests you to a wedding cake designer who is skilled in icing wedding cakes with buttercream so smooth that you have to take a second look to see if it isn't fondant=) Skip the labor intensive and expensive sugar florals for fresh ones.

And Nicole's #1 cost-saving tip of the day is...HIRE A WEDDING CONSULTANT, SET A REALISTIC BUDGET FOR YOUR WEDDING BASED ON YOUR NEEDS, VISIT THE WEDDING PROFESSIONALS YOUR CONSULTANT REFERS TO YOU BECAUSE THEY WILL BE MORE WILLING TO HELP YOU WITH BUDGET ISSUES SINCE YOU ARE A REFERRAL FROM A REPEAT CUSTOMER OF THEIRS (YOUR WEDDING CONSULTANT), DON'T VISIT 100 OF EACH TYPE OF WEDDING PROFESSIONAL IT'S RUDE AND IT WASTES THEIR TIME, KEEP IT TO 2-3 PER CATEGORY, TRUST YOUR WEDDING PROFESSIONALS TO UTILIZE YOUR BUDGET IN THE MOST VALUE WAY POSSIBLE GIVING YOU THE MOST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK. IF YOU KNEW HOW TO DO IT YOU WOULD, BUT YOU DON'T, SO TRUST THE WEDDING PROFESSIONALS YOU HIRE, DON'T PUT A LOT OF RETRAINTS ON THEM ALONG WITH YOUR TIGHT BUDGET.

Sorry for the CAPS, but I'm feeling strongly about this advice.

I wish you all the best.

Much love,

Nicole

Wedding Professional Inquiry Etiquette

Dear Brides and Grooms,

This one is for you.

During your search for the right wedding professionals to fulfill your wedding day needs you'll likely inquire with a minimum of 3 wedding professionals per category.

Since this is prime booking season, I'm here to give you some sage advice on the right way to find your wedding professionals, inquire with them, and communicate with them during this daunting process.

Step 1: Where do I find good recommendations?
1.From your wedding consultant that match your personality, lifestyle, and budget needs is the best place.

2.If you don't have a wedding consultant, look at the preferred wedding professional list from your venue, make sure you ask if the professionals on that list are on there because they are good, or because they paid money to be advertised.

3.From great online resources such as Here Comes The Guide, Style Me Pretty, or Wedding Chicks, to name a few, that list only professionals that are qualified to be there.

Step 2: How do I inquire with them?

1.Because many wedding professionals are busy people, one man entrepreneurial operations at times,  the best first way to reach out to them is with a well thought out e-mail. Make sure to include the following at a minimum:
a.Your name, your fiance's name
b.Your wedding date
c.Your wedding location, remember to mention if your ceremony and reception are in the same location
d.Your phone and e-mail address where it's ok to reach you at all hours
e.When the best time is for you to be reached, or meet

Most professionals can take this simple information and get back to you with details on if they are available, and when they can either do a phone call or in person meeting to discuss your event in more detail.

2.How do I NOT inquire with them?
a.Don't leave out mention of your wedding date, you'd be surprised how many times couple's forget this, if you don't have a wedding date yet, let them know the general calendar time frame you are considering
b.Same thing with the venue, it's ok if you don't have one yet, but just let them know the areas you're open to
c.Don't ask them to send you a quote for their services. A professional wedding vendor will not provide detailed pricing information over e-mail only without first at least having a phone or in person consultation to discuss your detailed needs for the wedding day.


Step 3: How to follow up with them?

1.Reply to them NO MATTER WHAT. You wouldn't believe how many inquiries we've gotten from potential clients who say they want more information about our services and prices, who never respond to our replies. Have common courtesy and let them know you at least got their response even if you don't plan on using them. Here are NLWED ee have a special three strikes your out rule, so on our third time following up, we tell our potential clients that it is the last time we'll be reaching out to them as a courtesy to them and ourselves.

2.Be honest with them, tell them exactly what you think you need, and how much you have to spend on their services per your wedding budget. If you don't know these things you shouldn't be inquiring with any wedding professionals until this prep work has been done with your wedding consultant. This is the best way to save money and reduce your frustrations during searching for your wedding professionals.

3.Remember, it's not about price, it's about value. Don't ask a wedding professional for pricing information through e-mail until you have either talked with them on the phone or in person and have given them a fair chance to quote you. If you don't know where to find the wedding professionals that suit your budget needs, you need a consultant to steer you in the right direction, don't just e-mail everyone on the preferred list, or everyone you find, be courteous of wedding professional's time and energy.

Step 4: How to get a proposal from them?

1.Meet with them for a complimentary initial consultation, or however they tell you they work. After the initial transfer of your knowledge to them and vice versa, the wedding professional will be able to draw up a proposal for you.

Step 5: How to respond to their proposal?

1.If you loved the wedding professional you met with, but the proposal was either inaccurate, or was out of your budget, make sure you take the time to respond to them and give them feedback so that they can adjust the proposal to fit your needs as closely as is realistic. Any good wedding professional will do this for you. Most couples give up to easily when they see a proposal that is too high for their budget and run off to a cheaper professional. Remember, you get what you pay for, and good high value wedding professionals will work with you to fit your needs within reason.

Step 6: Book with them once the proposal looks perfect

1.Most wedding professionals require a signed contract and deposit of some sort to hold the date and move forward working with them. Most wedding consultants will review your wedding professional contracts on your behalf before you sign them so that they can make sure your needs are being met and give you advice if they have concerns for you to address with each professional.

Another small note to make is that you can do this leg work yourself, or you can hire a wedding consultant to do it for you. When a wedding consultant helps you hire your wedding professionals they help you plot out a budget, a plan for when to hire each wedding professional, they arrange the first meeting with the professionals after assuring that the professional is available for your wedding day, and suits your needs, they attend the first meeting with you, help you ask the right questions, review your proposal and contract before booking, and overall help give you advice that will help you save lots of time and money along the way. Remember that professional wedding consultants are repeat customers for wedding professionals, so good wedding consultants have a lot of pull that you won't have as a first time, and probably only time customer. It's good to have us on your side=)

I hope that this advice has helped you! Happy booking!

Love,

Nicole

Did you know Nicole specializes in reverse destination weddings?

Hi Everyone!

Well, it's Friday, and it's 6:01PM, and I told myself..."Self, you have to blog!" So, I picked a topic off of my blog topic list I use to brainstorm for each week. This week's topic is something you may or may not know about us here at Nicole Lisanne Weddings and Events by Design, but we are finding that not a lot of our wedding professionals or clients know this, so here goes!

I don't know how it happened, but we have had the fortune of working with many clients who live in other states, or other countries, who are having their wedding here in California. When a client does this their wedding is considered a "destination wedding", and when a consultant helps them plan it in the town they are holding their wedding it is considered "reverse destination wedding planning" because the consultant isn't going anywhere to do the wedding, but they are helping their client plan their wedding while they are no where near where it will take place.

What does this mean for Nicole Lisanne Weddings? Well, I thought about it today after meeting with our client in from Hong Kong, and while speaking to a new potential client in MN. Both of these clients are having their wedding in our backyard, but they live far far away. I asked myself what it is about our company that makes us specialists in this type of planning. Here are the reasons I came up with:
1.We are good listeners. First and foremost, we care about everything the client says, we have to be really good listeners in order to understand their wishes and execute them for them here.

2.We are excellence communicators. We know how to speak to our clients in an organized and well thought out fashion so that details don't become too overwhelming. It's hard enough planning a wedding in your own backyard, but try planning your wedding in CA while you live in England! Eeeeek! You definitely need a consultant who understands that you don't need any more complexities added to your situation.

3.We are good with technology. We are not afraid to use all forms of technology to make the gap between us and our clients smaller.

4.We are good at acting on our client's behalf. We can speak straight from our client's wishes and needs when we speak to our wedding professionals in order to secure them for their wedding day. We make sure we protect them from things they do and don't want, we communicate what they want to spend, what they need, why they need it, and help make things happen!

5.We are flexible! We understand that a long distance client is not a typical client. They are going to need more phone consultations, more e-mails, more help with everything! We don't make them feel like they are an inconvenience to us, rather we make them feel understood and taken care of by being flexible with their time and distance difficulties.

I'm sure there is more to it than this, but I'm very very proud of our unique specialty, and I am happy that so many fabulous couples from around the world have trusted us with their wedding day plans.

I hope you all have a fabulous evening!

Much love,

Nicole

Ok, I got engaged, now what?!?!

You fell in love, you got engaged, now what?!?!

If you're feeling like you have too many thoughts running through your head after your engagement about what the next step should be in planning your wedding, you're very normal.

Here's the order that most brides and grooms do things in:

1.The dress

2.The site

3.The accomodations

4.The transportation

5.The invitations

6.The photographer

7.The flowers

8.The caterer

9.The music

10.The hair and makeup

11.The videographer

12.The wedding consultant

This doesn't include everything, but it gives you an idea of what typically happens. Right after being engaged it's so exciting that the bride tends to run out and try on gowns with Mom and her best friends or maids and matrons. That's great and all, but without knowing your budget first of all, this can be the first and biggest mistake you make.

Here's a better example of what a bride and groom should do:

1.The wedding consultant

2.Set a budget

3.Find a venue

4.Set the date

5.Set a rough timeline with your consultant

6.Hire a wedding officiant

7.Set up accomodations and transportation

8.Make a wedding website to annouce this information

9.Send save the dates, get them through the same stationer who will do your invites, get those ordered too

10.Find the gown

11.Do a hair and makeup trial run to hire the right artist

12.Buy your accessories

13.Find the wedding party and Groom attire to match the gown and location and feel

14.Find a caterer

15.Book your photographer

16.Book your videographer

17.Book your floral designer

18.Book your music

19.Book your desserts

20.Do your site visit and timeline meeting

21.Work on decor with consultant

22.Book your rentals

23.Book your lighting and draping and rigging

24.Work on small decore touches and favors

25.Send your invitations so they are in your guests' hands no later than a month and a half out

26.Do your wrap up meeting with your consultant

27.Rehearsal

28.Wedding day

This also doesn't include everything and isn't meant to be your planning schedule, a planning schedule of when to do what, and hire who, should be created by you and your wedding consultant together, and be customized to your needs. The main reason I show you this is that it isn't what brides and grooms are doing today. The biggest reason? They aren't hiring their wedding consultant first like they should.

Why should I hire a wedding consultant first?:

1.They can help you start out on the right foot by setting a realistic budget

2.They can bring you on tours of venues that suit your needs

3.They can negotiate contracts for you with the venues

4.They can hand carry you to the best wedding professionals to fit your needs

5.They can negotiate each of your wedding professional contracts for you, and give you access to their discounts

6.They can author your site layouts and timeline document set that communicates all details to your wedding professionals

7.They can make sure to finalize your plans with your wedding professionals

8.They can be there to make sure rehearsal runs smoothly

9.They can manage your wedding professionals on the wedding day as well as set up your personal items, coordinate the day, and clean up everything at the end of the day so you can be a guest at your own wedding

One of the biggest reasons to hire a wedding consultant right after being engaged is that you are basically getting help with the whole project. By hiring a wedding consultant you are bringing on a person who does weddings every day of their lives, they can be your point of contact for realistic advice and resources that can make your job of planning the wedding more fun, and easier. They don't take away from your fun of planning, they simply suppliment your planning and support you along the way.

A lot of brides and grooms don't think of hiring a wedding consultant first because they think it's not in their budget, but the truth is, they can't afford not to have a wedding consultant. We know the industry, we have insider information to help our couple's make the most of their budget, we are the key to the wedding industry lock. With a consultant by your side,  you'll save every penny you spend on their services plus more.

All wedding consultants offer a complimentary initial consultation before you book, so you have nothing to lose! So, be ahead of the couple pack and do it the right way! Hire your wedding consultant first!

Happy planning!

Nicole

Nicole's Tip of the Week...No Consultant = No Savings

Dearest Followers,

This tip of the week is brought to you by frustration...

It is called "No Consultant = No Savings".

There is a false belief  that hiring a wedding consultant shouldn't be the first thing you do after getting engaged if you wish to stick to a budget and save.

The FIRST thing you should do after saying "I Do", is to hire a consultant!

Why you ask? Couldn't you just go it alone?

Of course you can plan your wedding on your own, if you know how to set a budget, if you know everyone in the wedding industry, and if you have specials and discounts to pass along to yourself to keep you on budget, but unless you are a wedding consultant yourself, you shouldn't plan your wedding on your own. (I'm even going to hire one someday!)

A professional wedding consultant will first help you set a budget that is realistic, then they will bring you to their friends in the wedding industry that do flowers, hair and makeup, transporation, have sites, gown shops, that are photographers, videographers, DJs, etc...who fit your needs and your budget. They will make sure you get the best of the best from each of their wedding industry friends, and that you are happy with your choices. A service like this is invaluable, and can save you tons of money, and tons of problems.

Not a lot of you know that you can hire a wedding consultant for just these services if you wish! You can hire a wedding consultant to help you with as little or as much help as you want, it's not all or nothing. In our past experience we have noticed that clients who hire us for even a little bit of help end up saving a whole lot of time, money, and stress, and sometimes end up hiring us for more help because they love the experience so much.

Good consultants don't double-dip and take fees from your vendors and also charge you, they also don't surprise you with big bills for their services at the end of your wedding, so there is nothing to fear! Professional wedding consultants refer wedding professionals based on their good industry reputation, nothing else, and they also charge you for exactly what you agree to pay them in the beginning, and if there are extra fees that need to be incurred along the way, they'll let you know before charging you for work you don't approve of.

Also, good consultants should be able to save you as much if not more than you spend on their services.

So, I'll say it until I'm blue in the face, it's not about saving money, it's about VALUE. If you get quotes from wedding professionals and they are too high, DON'T RUN AWAY and find another vendor, DO COMMUNICATE with the vendor you love but don't think you can afford, and you'll be plesantly surprised by how much they help you. This goes for when you are interviewing consultants, as well as all other wedding professionals.

Happy Planning!

Much love,

Nicole