It’s An Investment Not An Expense.
The UK wedding industry is a strange one, strange in many ways but in its worst way, in its very British way, everyone is wanting a bargain. Now, this may seem to link a rant, it’s not but it is a polite request for change, for change from suppliers because it’s not right that you’re getting squeezed by a person down the road because they can do that as well, yet have zero experience or actual skill. It’s also for those booking the suppliers in the hope they’ll have some kind of understanding that we’re not just doing it for fun, although it is fun.
Think of it like this, every person who isn’t a guest at a wedding is there for some kind of financial return, be it the barman, the waiter, the person who resets your bedroom after your stay, the DJ, the photographer, the videographer, the celebrant, the giant L.O.V.E. letter rental guy, the dance floor guy, all are there to support themselves, their families and their businesses and thus in need of financial return on their respective investment which varies wildly depending on the specific section of the industry that they work in.
Wedding industries all over the world are based upon local suppliers coming together to create one cohesive event for two people, their families, and their friends. It’s all because of a love of events, the excitement and the joy you can bring to people by supplying a thing to people. Our arrival into the industry was initially photography that morphed into videography with our partner business The Lincoln Picture Company from there another love for all things retro turned into a hand-crafted, home-built vintage photo booth that became Picturematic. All along the way whilst being a passion for the industry which we call home, it’s ultimately for money because sadly we’ve not reached photo booth philanthropy heights just yet.
After speaking to many industry friends we find that the UK market always wants the dream £50k wedding but 99.9% of the time it’s on a £10k budget so this naturally ends up skewing how couples spend their money or worse, what they expect to pay for suppliers. Everyone wants the £5K venue so gets it for £3k by doing a mid-week special offer. Everyone wants the woodland celebration and fire pit, the cocktail bar obviously all of which is inside a tipi, but they forget the most important parts like the entertainment for the 100 people they invited so can quickly end up with a really expense drink fest with no substance. Your guests may be mostly British and that means they probably love a good drink (it’s the law) but they don’t want to drink continuously from 12pm to 1am, so some way of breaking up the celebrations is needed. A way to highlight the day with moments of randomness is what all events should be about, moments throughout the day where people get to do different things that create unique memories.
This is the bit where the suppliers come in, the sweet cart, the lawn games, the flower lady, the photo booth, the DJ, the L.O.V.E. letter guy, the videographer, the lady who makes the insane wax melts that go in the gift bags. All these businesses are great additions and are what completes the picture for the beautiful, memorable wedding in your head. All of the above are their businesses, with differing levels of expenses, skill, and experience. Now, you don’t expect to pay the photographer the same as the girl with the sweet cart, the same way the lawn games will always be cheaper than the DJ however, all of these people can really only work three days per week since weddings of scale aren’t every day, the price goes up, they aren’t going to be able to work more than one event per each of those three days because they’re there for you, the price goes up and so on.
So I guess what we’re trying to say is, for the sake of the wedding industry, please don’t expect the flower lady to do it for £100 because you know flowers are only a fiver at Tesco or the sweet girl for £75 because in your mind “it’s just some Haribo in a jar”, or the DJ because you’d do it on Spotify if it’s too much money. Don’t try to knock down the £1400 photographer who has 20 years of experience and £15k of equipment, because the 20-year-old who lives down the road with their parents will do it for £350 for cash and a meal. If you wouldn’t be happy earning £1000 per month, don’t expect someone else to.
The same goes for suppliers here, the worst thing you can do for the industry is to undercut your competition to stand out. If you need to do that your product probably isn’t good enough then you need to work out a different way to gain attention.
Everything in life has a price and that price is worked out carefully by those offering that particular service, they’re not trying to rip you off, they worked hard to get to the point where they are in life. They also probably have a partner, kids, car, house, and a workshop to pay for before they even arrive on your special day.
This piece isn’t about bashing anyone, it’s a call to all humans and a request to ask you to stop and think about the world we live in and to maybe realise the people behind the industry. You wouldn’t ask your solicitor for a voucher code, would you?
Learn to love your suppliers and they will love you back, they’re doing this because you want the best day ever and they’re trying hard to make that happen. A happy wedding industry is a healthy wedding industry which means everyone collectively gets a better event and that can only be a good thing.
We hope you take something positive from this post and realise that it comes from a passion for events and a want to balance out the playing field because without a happy medium there is no happy wedding industry and without fair competition their is no business for all of us.
