Let’s Keep Wallstreet Out Of Weddings (Philadelphia Event Planner
Posted: February 24th, 2010 | Tags: Budget, Event Professionals, Events by Monroe, Trends | 3 Comments »
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came across an article on Monday during my blogging and Internet surfing that caught my attention. There was a link titled “ROI: What a Wedding Really Costs”. I was immediately interested, not only by the title, but by the fact that it was written in the Wall Street Journal. The idea that The WSJ had expanded it’s interest into the field of events excited me. . . until I read it.
After clicking the link it took me to an article titled “A Lavish Wedding Costs More Than You Think”. Here is the link to the article http://bit.ly/bNK65j. If you have the chance please read through it to fully understand my aggravation. If you do not have the time I will summarize it. The article begins by discussing a sale that was held over the weekend for brides to attend where they could get dresses between $249.00 and $649.00 as opposed to the normal prices of $900.00 to $9000.00. This point was their transition to stating that people are looking to find ways to save money on their wedding. Brett Arends (the author) then states that “the true cost of these things is more than most people realize.” AND that “if they did the math, they’d probably get married in flip-flops” “:twisted:” ! Arends’ argument is that the cost of every dollar is not what we take out of our wallets but what it could have been if we had allowed it to accrue with years of interest for retirement. He claims that each dollar we spend today if it was able to be in the bank to gain 4% – 6% interest over 40 years, would be $5.00 – $11.00 at retirement; hence spending $18,000.00 on a wedding could really end up costing you between $90,000.00 and $200,000.00. He then states that “people who spend more aren’t more married at the end of it”.
Just describing the contents of this article has my blood boiling to the point where I am struggling to keep my poise to write this blog post. Where do I begin?
First, if you are not an expert in the field, please seek the advice of someone who is. Brett states “The bride’s parents are back on the hook again”. This is not necessarily true. Although with the economy bride’s parents are again helping, they are not the only ones. I deal with brides on a regular basis, and what I experience is a collective effort of the bride’s parents, the groom’s parents, the couple themselves, and sometimes grandparents or older siblings.
What angers me most about this article is it is downplaying one of the most important days of peoples’ lives. To insinuate that people would probably rather “get married in flip flops” is an insult to the event planning industry, and all the hard work couples put into making their day special. It is a one-time event that will be remembered forever. If every time we pulled a dollar out of our wallet we thought this could cost me five to eleven dollars, we would never spend money on anything. Who would be content evaluating a $1.50 pack of gum to really be costing them between $7.50 and $16.50? Watch out Orbitz!
What I am struggling to figure out is why Mr. Arends chose the wedding industry to discuss? To play devils advocate I have done some research of my own on dining out and going to the movies. According to a National Restaurant Report the average American 8 years of age and older eats out 4.2 times per week. At least one of these times are at a restaurant rather then fast food. A recent Zagat survey found that in a big city like Philadelphia the average cost of dinner is $35.96 per person. With these numbers, and following the argument of Brett Arends, dining out with your spouse just cost you $359.60 – $791.12 for one visit, or between $18,699.20 – $41,138.24 per year! Also, the six movies the average American goes to per year is costing them $285.00 – $627.00 annually or $47.50 – $104.50 per ticket.
What the calculations for “the actual cost” of your wedding, dining out, and going to the movies do not consider are the experiences and memories they create. We are all aware that we are in a recession. This does not mean we need to stop celebrating and experiencing life, we may just need to alter the way we do it. This is why wedding professionals like myself spend so much time researching ways we can allow our clients to have a beautiful wedding within their budget. A marriage is something to be celebrated, enjoyed, and shared with you and your loved ones, not seen as retirement money that has been wasted.
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Real Weddings conducted a nationwide survey which included over 21,000 couples that were married in the US in 2009. The results along with the interpretation are very interesting and informative. If you are a former bride who was married in Philadelphia and you are reading this blog DON’T PANIC when you see the numbers mentioned in this report. Keep in mind these are national averages. It’s ok if you paid $1200.00 for your Wedding DJ and the report states the 2009 price as $892.00. We are in a highly populated city, where costs of living are higher then in some other areas of the country like Arkansas or Idaho.
important to you, maybe incorporate something about the m. For example, as you can see in the picture one couple gave “Grandma’s Cookies” as favors. If you are having a rustic wedding or green wedding give hand carved wooden pencils or seeds that can be planted. It is a fun to infuse yourselves into your event!
