Celebrity florist Desmond Talbot Ltd says budget-conscious couples could save significantly on their wedding expenses by sourcing and negotiating rates with suppliers without taking the usual commission that wedding planners are offered – and usually take!
Lee Talbot, Director of Desmond Talbot explains, “Every bride and groom is different and they all have very specific requirements and preferences for their special day. Our job is to offer them the right choice for their taste, location, and budget, and we can’t do that if we only work with a handful of suppliers who offer us payment for referring them.”
Lee’s 5-step wedding plan is simple:
1. Decide your overall budget for your wedding and stick to it! Once you have decided your budget, the challenge will be to get the most out of it. Do not let suppliers take advantage of you because you don’t understand their business and the fair price of the services they are providing to you. Within your budget, identify the amount allocated to the following, as these will be the most costly services for your wedding:- Hire of reception venue, Catering, Flowers, Photographer and Videographer, Wedding Cake(s)
2. Choose the reception venue, caterer, florist, photographer you prefer. Provide them with the detail of everything you wish to have for your wedding and ask them for a quote to provide the service you have requested. Ask them to send with the quote a detailed breakdown of the estimated costs, as follows: Cost of hire (if applicable); Cost of materials (e.g., food, wine, flowers, and cake contents); Cost of time; Premium for wedding (Desmond Talbot does not charge couples any premium for flowers, simply based upon the fact that the flowers are for a wedding).
3. Once you have received quotes from your chosen service providers, perform an internet search of the top 10 service providers in each of these areas. Forward to at least 3 of these service providers the details you provided to your preferred supplier and ask for a quote from them as well! That’s competition at its very best!
4. Once you receive the quotes, you can either use the lowest quote as leverage to reduce the quote from your preferred supplier, or choose the supplier who provided the lowest quote.
5. Finally, call in a wedding negotiator! You can save thousands of pounds simply by getting someone to negotiate on your behalf.
Find more great advice on our Wedding Planning pages!