It’s no surprise that the most expensive part of any wedding is the venue hire, food and drinks. These parts are always included in our packages, drinks we only include if they are compulsory as us Brits still tend to prefer a cash bar.

For budgeting purposes we suggest that the basic wedding and reception package not take up more than 70 to 80% of your total budget.

So for example, if you’ve a total budget of 15,000euros, the wedding and reception package should not be more than 10,500 to 12,000euro. Aim for the lower amount if you have big visions when it comes to flowers/decor.

This way you’ll avoid having to stretch things too tight when it comes to considering extras, or having to compromise too much, then not ending up with the day you envisioned as your budget just wont stretch far enough.

Having an additional 20 to 30% of your budget left over means you can have fun when tailoring your wedding day. You can really make the day unique to you and although you don’t need to add any extras, most of our couples do, it could be an extra time with the DJ or live music for the ceremony or even bridesmaids bouquets.

Having the option of doing this makes all the difference, even if you never use it.

This can be tricky as it involves looking at all the finer details of each package, and there is really no way to get around this. If a couple are struggling between two venues, we’ll suggest a Zoom chat or phone call with one of our planners to look at both wedding venues and packages in close detail. We can use our thorough knowledge of each venue and package to point out the key differences so the couple can really compare.

This is only really necessary when you’re completely stuck between two venues and are making a pro’s and con’s list. Luckily it doesn’t happen often, I tend to find couples usually fall head first for their perfect venue once they find it.

Here I’ve listed the items you should pay special attention too.

• Duration of hire of venue – this can vary quite a lot and adding extra hours can become costly especially for venues that charge by the hour. If the venue has a compulsory open bar you’ll also need to add this for the extra duration of hire time too.
• Drinks Packages – as mentioned above, these are compulsory at some venues, for others it’s optional – the price difference can be quite substantial.
  If you prefer to have a cash bar, then consider drinks prices, in some 5 star luxury venues the price of a drink can be substantial, make sure your guests will be ok paying these prices, there’s no fun having guests too afraid to purchase drinks at your wedding due to them being too expensive.
• Restrictions on suppliers you can use – does the venue insist you use their own suppliers. This might be the case with your DJ/Entertainment, especially in areas where there are noise restrictions. If you wish to provide your own band/DJ this may not be possible.
  Does the venue allow live music? Does this have to be acoustic or can music be amplified?
• Guest Transfers – is the venue remote, do you have to provide transfers or can the venue be easily found/located allowing guests to make their own way.
• Menus – does the venue tailor menus? Do they cater for special diets/children. More importantly do they offer the style of food/dining you want.
• Accommodation – Is accommodation at the venue necessary to get married there? This is not something that comes up often in our packages as we don’t work with many hotels, but if you’re marrying at a hotel find out if you have to stay there to get married at the venue, or if a percentage of your guests need to stay too.

Wedding Packages Abroad – make it unique.

When we start our first stage planning we really get stuck into the details of each wedding, to decide what each couples priorities are and where they wish to spend more of their budget, or less.

The package is used as a foundation on which to build their wedding day, we take each element of the wedding package such as the flowers and ask the couple to send us their ideas, this could be the bouquet, buttonholes, bridesmaids and bridal party flowers, to the decoration they want for the gazebo, the table flower centrepieces they imagine, flowers at the entrance, maybe on the guest book table, or to decorate a sweet table.

More recently we’ve even been asked to hang flowers from trees, to decorate welcome signs and table plans and even create a flower wall that couples can use to take photos against.

The sky is the limit, as long as your budget matches it!

Flowers can be expensive and their not to everyones taste, we once had a groom with a flower allergy which was challenging when it came to finding ways to decorate the venue.  In the end we used lots of candles and greenery.

With each couple we take ideas, we request quotes and we find what works within budget and for anything over budget we’ll look at alternatives. This is the fun part of the planning, and due to the way our packages work, you can allocate a flower budget from the outset for any extras your considering.

It’s all completely optional and every wedding is unique, and that’s what we love.

This process is repeated for every part of the day, with the photographer we look at the style of images you’d like, the duration of your time with them, a 2^nd location photo shoot, even pre/post photo shoots. Or with entertainment, when and where the couple want it, the style of entertainment etc there are a hundred different things to plan and consider and we walk our couples through each.

Food and Drink is often a key element of each wedding, some really prioritise this part of the day, others have a very casual approach to food, it’s interesting for us as planners to see how each wedding is moulded and shaped to suit our unique couples.

It’s one of my favourite parts

Once we’ve made all the adjustments, agreed any extras it’s then time to put the whole day together, at this point the couple will have a good idea of exactly how their day will be. This is when things really start becoming real!

Some couples prefer to stay away from wedding packages feeling they are too restrictive and they want to feel that their wedding is completely tailored to them. I hope the above assures these couples that even though we use wedding packages no two weddings we plan are the same.

The power in using a wedding package is that you know where you’re starting from, so you can plan with confidence. The result is having an amazing wedding you can afford and a stress free planning experience.

However if after saying all this you’re still tempted to go down the fully tailored option, here’s a few questions you should ask.

• Make sure you add VAT and local taxes where applicable.
• Ensure all your suppliers provide you with a contract with full details of your order and pricing.
• Ask if any annual increases will apply if your wedding is booked more than a year ahead.
• Ask for dates to finalised orders and make deposits and final payments.
• Speak to your venue about any restrictions that apply to sourcing and hiring your own suppliers or services and ensure you communicate any restrictions to your suppliers.
• Make a budget with your best ‘gestimates’ and update it frequently. Make sure you have at least a 10% contingency in the case of price increases, unexpected costs and exchange rate fluctuations.