It’s hard to know what wedding details you should never skimp out on so today I am sharing with you my opinion as a wedding professional.
You know, now that I have been married for 7 years, It’s easy to look back and see all the things we are thankful we had at our ceremony and reception, but also the things we wish we had done differently. I watched my wife second guess and struggle with every decision she made. Truth be told, we tried to do it “on a budget,” as many couples do, but the things we splurged on and the things we went cheap on, looking back…didn’t make a lot of sense! The most important things, and often the most expensive, we cut corners on, while spending money on things that didn’t really matter! Here is how our breakdown looked:
THINGS WE CHEAPED OUT ON:
WEDDING DJ:
This was a big mistake. Your DJ is much more than just the person who plays some music and gets grandma out on the dancefloor, they are also the official MC of your event. It’s their job to make sure guests know where to go when entering, introduce the bridal party, the first dance, the cake cutting, the toasts, the flower toss. It’s their job to make sure the event is flowing smoothly and guests know what to do. There is nothing worse than having a beautiful wedding that was meticulously planned, only to see guests wandering around aimlessly because they don’t know what is what, and when is when. We went cheap here, and we regretted it. Our DJ wasn’t very good on the mic, didn’t communicate with us well before the wedding, and didn’t have a good run-of-show plan. We ended up stressed, having to frequently go to the DJ booth to tell him what we wanted to do next. Looking back, this is something that is, as the cliché goes, “you get what you pay for.” Don’t trust this important service to just anyone with a low price.
PHOTOGRAPHER/VIDEOGRAPHER:
Another huge mistake. My wife “knew a guy” and so we thought it would be fine…it wasn’t fine. Lighting was bad, we had no direction given, he had no real day-of photo plan, he seemed to be winging it and the photos reflected that. When it was all said and done, we had to hire a SECOND photographer to recreate some wedding shots, weeks after our wedding. Pay for quality once, and you will SAVE money. The sticker price of a good wedding photographer may seem shocking at first, but you only get ONE shot at this!
PHOTO BOOTH RENTAL:
At the time I thought, how hard can it be to make a photo a booth?! I stuck an iPad on a stick, ran a cheap app, and called it a day. Well, watching my guests fumble with it throughout the night and asking “how do I get the pics?”…surprise…there wasn’t a way, made me quickly drop my head in shame. What was supposed to be a cheap fix for a “keepsake,” ended up just making ME look cheap. When it was all said and done, I had a few dozen lousy, badly lit photos to look back on. Not very fun. These days, most DIY photo booths or cheap photo booth rentals aren’t much better than the rig I tried to put together. Most are nothing more than that same iPad, crammed in a box with bad light. A photo booth is supposed to be an EXPERIENCE, something to REMEMBER, to talk about, and have fun with at your reception.
Houston photobooth rental, Fotably Photo Booth (below) fits the bill for checking all the boxes as a wedding photo booth rental that is not only classy (styled like a vintage camera), unique, fun, and memorable, but generates hundreds of super high-quality photos that rival that of a wedding photographer. The service comes with a free online gallery, allowing you to view all the high-quality photos, for years to come. With prices starting at $599, it’s a small investment that will have a huge impact on the experience of your guests.
Hire these guys! Fotably.com
WHAT WE SPENT MONEY ON:
DECOR AND CENTERPIECES
When you think of wedding planning, often, flowers and table decorations seem to be the first thing to come to mind. Sure, you want your wedding to look nice and for your guests to go “wow” when they walk in but are the $2000 baskets with sticks and flowers going to be something YOU cherish looking back on? For us, if not for a few random photos, I couldn’t even tell you what they looked like, and I’m fairly sure not a single one of my guests can either. This is one of my wife’s biggest complaints, “I wish we spent less on those and spent more on (one of the things above).
THE BAR
You know what, no regrets here! Lol. There are 3 reasons people go to weddings 1. They love you 2. Fun 3. Free food and booze! If you can afford nothing else, have a wedding in your backyard with a well-stocked bar and spread of food.
In conclusion, at the end of the day, the end of the year, the end of the 10 year anniversary, it’s not the event itself you will look back on, but the memories that you made there. Invest in the things that create lasting memories for YOU, the only one who truly matters, and don’t stress about what others may think. This is your big day, make it for you.
