“The Business Resource For Wedding Entrepreneurs”

Calculating the allocation of a wedding fund is not an easy task, especially when the budget and expectations from the clients do not meet. This can cause disappointment from both the vendors and the soon-to-be-wed couple. Check out a few tips from these experienced vendors to help keep couples' spending on their budget.

1. Ask their priority

We all know that marriage has many contributing categories. According to Gisela Setyawan of HILDA, the most expensive wedding category is location or venue and catering, which can take 50-55% of the total wedding budget. However, all categories are possible to be reduced in terms of costs. What needs to be done is prioritizing which ones are the most important categories for the couple. Vendors can help by asking them what they want to remember the most about their wedding day, or what they'd like the guests to remember. Every couple has different preferences. For example, some will prioritize the venue which means they can press the funding for other categories, such as invitations and wedding attire.

2. Be ready for price negotiation

Gisela suggested, as a wedding vendor, you have to be prepared if the client negotiates your service rates, whether it is to reduce the quality or quantity of the results. "Don't take a project if you feel that it's an impossible task from the start. Don't force it because when something is done forcefully or in an unenthusiastic way, it will be reflected in the results and reduce the brand's standard," explained the Head of HILDA Wedding Consultant.

From the perspective of invitation vendor, Edwin Mulyono of Papeworks also recommended minimizing the design if the client cannot afford the initial service rate of their chosen design. One of them is to use one card invitation instead of having two to three pieces for different types of information. A more affordable type of paper can also be proposed to the client, such as fancy import paper, which is chic yet affordable.

3. Help clients make their calculation

The bigger the size of the wedding, the more costs the client have to spend. A way to help couples determine the right wedding size and follow the budget is to calculate how much money will be spent per head. For example, for middle-class marriages, the number of invitations is 600-800 people with a budget of IDR 500,000 per head. The total cost for this wedding can reach IDR 300 million to IDR 500 million. If this is too much for the couple to handle, several cuts must be made. Back to our first tip, prioritizing is the best, not only for the vendor category but also for the number of people who will be invited.

4. Don't hesitate to share tips

Many brides-to-be probably have not realized that smart little savings can mean a ton of difference in terms of reducing the cost of marriage. As a wedding vendor, your job is to help clients realize their desire and get them out of the financial confusion by providing several options for the solution.

Gisela also shared tips for vendors who are engaged in catering services. You can offer clients to choose to minimize food stalls and increase the buffet ratio. Instead of having a large variety of menu for buffets, couples can focus on reducing variations and increasing refill quantity.

Cindi Femi from Elssy Design suggested decoration vendors help clients stay on budget by maximizing existing decoration in the venue or what you already have in your storage warehouses, instead of building whole decoration from the start. "In addition, we usually redesign the concept that we have previously done so that we can utilize the goods we already have to reduce production costs. Also, offer clients local flowers, such as local roses, lily, puma, gerbera, chrysanthemum, and make a lot of use of artificial flowers, "said Cindi.

With these tips from experienced vendors, you can now help clients spend funds wisely so that they can realize their dream wedding without disappointment. Your performance as a vendor will also have the opportunity to increase due to your impressive work even though the budget is limited. Don't forget to share your tips in the comment box below!