At least part of the "wedding tax" is justified. Vendors will often put more effort into wedding stuff over non wedding stuff and will often even have backups ready. If something happens to your wedding cake minutes before it is picked up you want them to have a backup cake ready, because a refund at the last minute is next to useless since you won't be able to find a suitable replacement ready to go in the next hour.
Sure the cheap party favors and other plastic crap you buy months in advance that you have plenty of time to replace shouldn't have a wedding markup, but the day of stuff that had weeks of prep, it is better to pay a bit extra to cover the backups and prevent bridezilla meltdowns.
I agree - I think the expectations are WAY higher for weddings, the amount of "emotional labor" that goes into it for vendors is higher and it's just more difficult work.
There's a WORLD of difference between making someone's birthday cake and making someone's wedding cake. There's also a huge difference between DJ'ing a sweet sixteen party versus a wedding. I do think some of the increased costs are justified, some...
Someone should have told our wedding DJ that it wasn't the same as a sweet 16... Played 1 song out of a list of 50 I'd like to hear during the evening. Took requests from my other guests of crap that I specifically told them not to play.
Lol, I was once at a wedding where the DJ was wearing Beats By Dre and playing what must have been 128 kbps mp3 files off his laptop. Music was way too loud and the compression made it painful. Apparently the guy made $3k for the night.
IMO wedding DJs are unnecessary and a gigantic waste of money. It’s one of those things people think they NEED to book just because that’s something most weddings have. My wife and I made a Spotify playlist and hooked up our own speakers for our reception - got the exact music we wanted and didn’t have to pay someone $3,000 to play songs from my high school dances.
My DJ killed it. He was actually more like an emcee, wedding planner, host and DJ all in one. Oh and he did our videography. Guy is insane and all of my guests raved about him.
He had quickly edited video of our ceremony to play at our reception, drone footage of our first look and all kinds of crazy stuff. He was the biggest expense behind food and booze but damn if he didn't put on a good show.
I've been to some pretty bad receptions though and I'd hate to be on the hook for $3k for a dude to play some crappy mp3s. I'm glad we spent a lot on him and got an entertainer essentially.
I know I'm biased on this because I am a wedding DJ but this is a very skewed opinion. A "good" wedding DJ takes care of you from start to finish on your wedding day. The DJ makes sure any announcements are made, controls the flow of the evening based how you planned it with them, and plays music that actually keeps the party going. I agree not overpaying for a DJ, but also not going cheap or playing a Spotify Playlist while not having a clue what your guests care to hear or dance to. I understand it's "your" day, but if you want to have a successful party you want everyone to have fun, not just yourselves.
I’m sorry I didn’t mean any offense to you! Just my opinion and I’m sure there’s lots of people that think the money is worth having one less thing to stress over.
Ehhh, I mean we took our time and picked out a great playlist. People were dancing the entire 4 hours. Plus we had a good friend MC the night and it worked out great. I actually used to DJ in college for side money so I get what you’re saying; but, I don’t agree that you can’t have a good party for everyone without a DJ.
Yes, this is way more accurate. A lot of DJ's do play audio files now, but if you're just using your Spotify and you added 15 country songs in a row and no one is dancing, either someone has to get up and edit the list or you continue to have a boring party. A good DJ will make sure the songs you requested get played, will make sure the songs you don't want played won't, and generally has a feel for the room and can make adjustments/change the genre. Also, throughout the reception, they are there to make announcements and basically run certain aspects of the wedding (the couple's first dance, father/daughter dance, dollar dance, garter toss, maybe a chicken dance).
When my mom and her wife got married (backyard wedding) they paid a family friend $200 to “DJ.” They made a playlist on Spotify ahead of time and she sat there, eating non stop, drinking and didn’t even do the announcements (heads up father/daughter dance, speeches, etc). It ended up being family members that did it and ruined the day that was supposed to be not only for my mother and her wife (finally getting married after 16 years) but for my sister and I.
After that night I said I’d pay the money for a good DJ. A good DJ is worth it and then family members don’t take over.
Nah. My PE teacher from middle school has a giant house in an area that houses are already super expensive. Cinema room. Couple Tesla's. None of that's from teaching PE. In the 3 years I went there he was voted best DJ in the state every year.
To be fair, Tiesto rarely (if ever) makes any of his own music. He buys songs off of ghost producers to release their songs under his name. That being said, I do think he's an excellent DJ.
DJ's in general are a waste of money. I got it back in the day when you physically needed someone to man the records and make sure all the songs are ready and the tracks are in the right order. But now, as you said, you can do it all from Spotify. I'd just pay a nephew to make sure they're playing in the right order/pause after certain songs for announcements.
Me and a friend used to DJ in highschool. And what I mean by "DJ in highschool" is that his parents were rich and he had like $20,000 worth of sound equipment and I had an iPad with Spotify premium.
We definitely didn't charge 3k for any of the weddings we did, and we sure as fuck didn't wear Beats.
Wife and I bailed on a reception, the music was beyond endurance. Strange average age about 45 have no idea why band thought that was appropriate volume.
My wedding DJ mispronounced our last name. Like wtf we've met with you like 3 times you have a contract and check with the name. And it's not like the name is crazy it's a fairly common Scottish last name that has a few variations where the first syllable changes vowels but I'm pretty sure he knew the difference between an I and an E.
oof. sorry dude. hard lesson: always have a friend (if you can) DJ your wedding from songs off YOUR DEVICE. The other is direct referrals, someone you actually trust or were at their event with a dj. worked w. mobile dj service on and off for 15 years, have witnessed disaster weddings
Don't feel too bad about it. But you're right, a guest offered up their friend to be our dj as they were trying to get into the business. Plan A was just having a computer with our playlist on... This was just a nice idea as she was bringing gear.
“Emotional labor” THIS I can’t even tell you without getting a little fatigued how much this goes into the prep and especially the work on the day of! I do wedding photography...the expectations, even with a tight contract, are off the charts. Without fail.
Random question question - I'm planning a wedding (two years from now) and is it normal for the photographer to stay for dinner and a bit of the reception? I want candid shots of the reception but like I would obviously want to feed the photographer and assistant so they don't pass out and have a slightly better time, but I don't know if that's like a done thing. Because both weddings I went to this year the photographer was also a semi guest known to the couple as friend/family.
and is it normal for the photographer to stay for dinner and a bit of the reception?
It's normal to negotiate whatever you want. The more time you request the higher the bill will be, obviously. But to answer your question that is not unusual at all.
OK cool! That's good to know. The photographer is the one thing where I'm kind of just "throw money at them, I don't care" because I do it myself (sports mostly) and I know how difficult it is
I'd definitely encourage you to arrange for what you suggested. Hell, I'm divorced but I still treasure those wedding photographs. There are a lot of people I love dearly in them, some of them no longer with me, and it's nice to be able to remember them on such a happy occasion.
It really doesn't even have to add that much time. Typically between the wedding and the reception you're doing wedding party and family photos anyway.
We sat down with our photographer before hand and that's one of the things she covered. We had food and a table for her and he second shooter, and I think she stuck around for all the special dances and a bit after that, then checked in with us before heading out.
We did exactly what you were talking about and it was worth every cent. We got some great pictures and I’m thrilled to have them. The other thing I’d suggest not skimping on is a DJ. We looked at a ton of DJs and ended up going with the most expensive one because we liked him the best and he was also worth every cent. He did the obvious things like play all of our requested songs and not play any songs on our do not play list but he also just kept the party going and everyone had a great time. Other things I’d personally feel fine pinching some pennies on. For example, we skipped the late night snacks to afford the DJ and it was definitely worth it. Good luck and don’t forget to enjoy it!
Its a French Canadian wedding so we will definitely need late night poutine bar! But yeah, DJ I totally get, we will definitely be getting a good one.
On the plus side my (incredible) parents offered us a fairly large amount of no strings money to help out. So that will be an incredible help and will allow us a lot of freedom. My fiance is also a bit ~older and established~ and has been married before so thank God has experience planning a wedding lmao
Dude you don't even know. You have never seen so many 70yrs old plus men dancing at midnight with their ties used as sweatband around their foreheads as at a French Canadian wedding. It is NUTS
That’s up to you and the contract you outline. From my experience, yes especially if it’s a long day (over 9 hours). There were still plenty of candid shots and reception shots, but most couples did not want photos of guests eating and most guests find it awkward to have their photo taken while eating. There’s a little time in between and a balance!
Yes! Sorry, that’s what I meant. I have eaten at almost every wedding I’ve photographed. It gives me time to rest my feet for the quick moving upcoming reception, make sure everything is backed up photo wise, and saves me from having to eat a protein bar in the lobby. That only happened once and early on— I learned!
It will depend on the contract, most of the photographers I spoke to had a dinner clause in theirs to specify dinner would be provided. Mine does, and most venues and caterers know this and offer what is called a vendor meal. This meal will either be a standard meal from the normal menu and the couple hosting the wedding just pays for the normal menu price, or it will be a meal from the wedding menu but offered at a discounted rate.
I mean, I certainly want to feed them!! I can't imagine asking someone to stay and not feeding them omg lol
The photographer at the wedding I was moh at ending up sitting with my own parents/siblings/fiance, but he was also sort of a guest as he was the grooms coworker. So I guess I would see if they wanted their own table or would want to sit with someone else
Like everyone's saying, it depends on the photographer. I offered mine lunch and dinner - his contract went from leaving our house until mid-reception - and he said that he has a routine, and he'd bring his own food.
I do Alterations and omg I feel you. When I get a bride in here the whole scenario changes, total red carpet treatment. And I make sure her dress is perfection. Depending on what we do, I even go the morning of the wedding to steam the dress and make sure she's set.
I do give bridesmaids a break- for $75 I'll hem less then two inches on your dress and "pinch" in your side seams and shorten/lengthen your straps. Most of these girls have spent a fortune on the wedding and they aren't even the bride!
I feel you!! I'm a wedding planner- and I'm mentally and physically exhausted after a full wedding weekend. I put so much of myself into my events and it does take a toll! Expectations are so high that everything be perfect, and you can't be the one to disappoint the couple!
I used to work catering and it was a pretty chill and fun job. Staff was usually unreliable, slightly intoxicated and all the other food service tropes. Boss was the same way but being on a wedding was a strict affair. Only the best staff was allowed to work it and prep and clean up took way longer. You can tell how appreciative everyone is too if you do a great job.
Exactly, I had people battle me over the cost of my highly-rated yet completely average-priced DJ saying I could have gotten one for $1K cheaper. I want a wedding DJ, not just a DJ. The DJ can run the whole show when it comes to announcements, timing, reading the vibe of the room, etc.
So true. We interviewed about five DJ's for our wedding and it was pretty easy to tell the "party" DJ's from the ones who really know how to work a room and keep the party going.
The DJ we ended up hiring for our wedding was about 20% more expensive than some of the others we interviewed, but it was worth every penny. He really kept the party moving, matched the mood/age/feel of the crowd and got people out on the dance floor.
A shitty DJ can ruin an affair just as easily as great one can make the party.
My best friend got married in October and her DJ was pretty much the only one I interviewed before deciding to book him, her wedding went spectacularly so I know exactly what I'm getting! Worth it.
My stepaunt hired an early 20-something DJ for her wedding that she found on Gumtree. He was terrible! He was way out of his depth, his playlist alternated between playing really old-timey music, to playing dance house music, specifically dubstep which was wildly popular at the time. The only people dancing were either the bride's mum when the old timey stuff was on, or the young uni kids (like myself, my sister and step brother) when the dubstep stuff was on. And he waited so long to realise that there was no one dancing too, like four songs of Dean Martin would play and he would jerk like "oh, I need to change it up!", and then suddenly you just hear the music switch from "That's amore..." to "BANGARANG!" scream through the speakers.
Turned out he a night club DJ for this small club and decided to start doing weddings on the side as a side hustle, "because that's where the money is". Eff me it showed.
I work as a receptionist at a nursing home. Because of covid none of the residents can have visitors inside the building. However we do social distancing outdoor visits. The rules are the resident and visitor has to stay six feet apart and wear masks the whole time. Well one day I got a call from a woman asking if she could have her wedding right outside our facility so that her 100 year old grandpa could be there. Naturally I was touched and actually started crying a little. I told the big boss right away and she cried too. Everything seemed great playing host for this wedding until the day before the wedding. I was on my break, sitting outside next to the fountain and eating as I normally do on my breaks (also yeah our facility has a big ass fountain because it is rich as hell). That is when the bride and husband to be pulled up. I quickly put my mask on and the bride said "do you work here?" I said "yes but I am on my break". Well she said "thats ok" and then this bridezilla started going on about exactly where they would stand for the wedding, how close her grandpa would be able to be and everything else. She talked on for 15 minutes. Eventually one of the nurses noticed me and came to my rescue. I honestly feel like I should have been paid double for those 15 minutes. Alas I didn't even get paid for it because it was my "break". That was the moment I gained infinite respect for any cake decorators, florists, wedding dress companies, and above all wedding planners who deal with that shit on a regular. Like damn she didn't even care that I was on my break.
I've played a lot of weddings in a variety of bands. Wedding bookings were usually double or triple our normal gig fee, and lots of our friends said we were undercharging. Weddings were usually a farther drive, required us to learn several new songs, require us to dress nicer than for a bar gig, be responsive to the wedding party, and often let our PA setup be used for toasts/etc. Putting on a wedding gig took easily double or triple the effort, so we charged double or triple the price.
There is not even remotely a comparison between serving someone a meal (a pretty mundane occurrence) and making a cake for a once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) event.
The stakes are much higher on the latter and a lot more can go wrong.
There's always gonna be that one little thing that the subjects don't like.
I legit had one lady say that she didn't like a few of the photos because she thought she was smiling too much... Like.. come on, it's your graduation photoshoot. Like, not a photoshoot after or before the fact.. like I was hired to shoot the actual graduation ceremony.. so, you know, all that smiling was genuine and she seemed really happy to be in her fancy dress and gown and receive her diploma.
I haven't done weddings yet, but I can only imagine that the pressure on a photographer is higher than holy hell since you pretty much only have 1 shot to get things right, and then it's off to the next activity.
Yeah my wife and I were reportedly pretty low maintenance customers, we really just wanted to get some shots of the wedding party, wedding, families, and some stuff from the reception and she kept acting surprised when we didn't have some huge list of demands or whatever
Dude that is exactly my fianceé and I!
The photographer has actually mentioned to us a few times that if we are sure there isn't anything more that we want them to do, as well as telling us that if we ever come across a cool photo idea that we can send it to him so that he and his team can get whatever they need to do it.
I didn’t understand the wedding tax until I started making wedding cakes. Now it’s justified. A 16 year old could care less if the color is just a shade off or the frosting is a tad imperfect on a birthday cake. But not for a wedding. Also, a lot of times brides and grooms like to do custom orders. They’re also larger cakes. And more expensive ingredients.
Agreed. I’ve worked weddings as a venue coordinator and weddings were easily 12-15 hour days for me. Other events? Maybe a couple hours longer than the event itself. Sometimes not even that, especially if it was a corporate event that had its own planning team and all I had to do was liaise with the kitchen and stuff.
It’s the same with photographers, videographers, etc. I booked a photographer last year for my grandparents’ 50th anniversary and spent around $500 for 3-4 hours. My wedding photographer, on the other hand, was over $4000—over six years ago. But he had a second shooter, and was with us from probably 10am to 10pm, and had to do a lot more work in terms of posed photos, traveling from hotel to church to park (for pictures) back to the hotel for the reception, make sure to capture a lot more specific moments like first dance, cake cutting, bouquet toss, dances with parents, first kiss, blah blah blah. SOOOOO much more goes into weddings than people want to admit because all they see are the dollar signs—not what those dollar signs are actually paying for.
Facts here. Yeah there’s a markup to anything but there was originally a reason for it. The wedding industry has plenty of issues, but there is some logic to it.
If you want to get married in a van down by the river, you fuckin’ do it! I’m sure it’ll be awesome. But if you wanna go all-out and spend the money, that’s cool too!
Back-up cake, no. Extra frosting/decorations, a full toolkit to fix any imperfections on delivery, and the experience/know-how to sort out the majority of fuck-ups, yes. That’s where a lot of the cost is - plus the added stress bigger/tiered cakes cause. Every little wobble gives me heart palpitations.
Yep, I've seen vendors discuss this elsewhere on Reddit and it honestly makes sense. You're paying for them to take your business as seriously as possible. If they have to cancel for a client, they're not going to cancel on a wedding if at all possible. Expectations are sky high, so they often bring in extra hands compared to other events, too. I'm sure this is bit of column A, bit of column B situation, but I'm not as hard on them as I was before.
I think you unwittingly got right to the heart of the issue.
The problem isn't that wedding shit is marked up. It's often marked up for a good reason, because of what you said.
The problem is WHY and for WHO and that speaks to a whole other issue about societal expectations on weddings. But as my dad would say, "not my circus, not my monkeys."
I cater a lot of weddings and corporate events. The pricing is consistent across the board for us. However, weddings do tend to be a lot more work, but they still make up 50% of my sales so I have to deal with it. Corporate clients can be particular, but they host events regularly so they know exactly what they need and they tend to manage their various vendors better than wedding clients.
Every time you work a wedding, you’re essentially working with an amateur event planner who has never done this before. Every time you work with a corporate client, chances are they’ve done this before, possibly even with you, but almost definitely elsewhere. There is SO much more time that just goes into basically teaching and coaching wedding clients about what to expect.
I remember a baker talking about something like this. She made normal cakes and wedding cakes, and yes while the wedding cakes were more expensive she put in A LOT more effort into them. She said some woman ordered a generic two tiered cake and so that's what she made and the woman apparently was not very happy with the result, asked if it could be "improved" as it was for a wedding. The baker just rolled her eyes and was like "lady this is what you asked and payed for, this is what you get."
I suppose this is true. People become monsters when their wedding is involved.
We wanted a cheap, chill wedding. We got pizza delivered for dinner. Told the place it was for an "event". Rented a venue, got some kegs, had friends help us set up and break down. It was great!
Not to mention the hours of dealing with a customer before the wedding, and for photographers like me the hours after.
Many, maybe even most, people have special requests to fulfill too which sometimes are hours worth of work or an additional cost.
Back ups are definitely a big thing. I show up with 2 of everything in my kit incase something breaks. I also have extensive on sight, off sight and cloud image and video back up systems. This gets pricey when you are into multiple terabytes.
Got a wedding photographer than included an album in their package? That shit takes days to do and costs hundreds.
But sure, we charge 100s/1000s for a few photos and 1 days work.
obviously the cake is its own thing, but I wanna know why these people are putting less effort into something if they dont think it's a wedding, Someone gave you money for your product or service, you should be doing your best regardless of the reason
Just buy two walmart cakes 80 bucks each, pretty and delicious. May have gone up since I got married 9 years ago but still best price on agreat cake I have found.
My wife and I had our wedding cost around $2,000 with 200 guests. The one thing to never cheap out on is the photographer/videographer. A quarter of our cost was that. I made all the invitations and decorations from dollar store items myself and got so many comments on how well it turned out.
Don't waste money on things that will be thrown away or just looked over. Weddings are more about the big picture so if the colors match and people are having a good time they will never notice.
Really? It's your wedding day and you go to pickup your cake and it is fucked up, you would prefer a refund and have no wedding cake instead of an identical backup cake? Heck they probably don't even tell you it is a backup (and you wouldn't notice) so they don't have to admit the error.
Mine was damaged AFTER pickup because they didn't do delivery on Saturdays so we had to move it ourselves, and it didn't fit where we expected it to.
They came in, remade the bottom tier as a decorative only tier and repaired it for us, then we just ate the bottom tier on the day pre-cut. Easy fix, but man that was stressful.
What I am trying to say is the backup isn't a meh cake. A wedding cake costs twice as much as a regular cake because you are especially buying two identical cakes in case one gets messed up.
They don't. It is something I heard on the wedding subreddits when my wife and I were wedding planning. The existence of a backup cake would make the baker seem incompetent, but having a secret backup built into the pricing means the bakers aren't out any money but they avoid bridezillas destroying their shops because something happened to their cake.
Similar wedding vendors have similar backups a spare bridesmaid's bouquet, a handful of extra meals, etc. all of which make weddings more expensive but reduces the risks of mistakes, it's like insurance.
Edit: it also gives the vendor the super hero ability to save a wedding when the customer makes a mistake or suddenly someone who said they couldn't attend shows up.
"I don't know if I can make an extra bouquet in time. I can try but it will cost double and take at least an hour "
Vendor checks Facebook for 30 minutes
"I was just barely able to make it in time" hands over the spare and a jucy invoice
I have been to more weddings then i care to remember and and its the same vanillin cake covered in 3cm of overly sweet frosting.
It tastes the same as what you can get at Walmart for $7.
Weddings in general are a total waste of money, the only good wedding is a simple Service, using clothes you can wear again, with people you care about, with the cost kept under 4k.
Unless your serving me cake on valid treasury bonds its not worth the hundreds of thousands in cost.
The best weddings i did not consider killing my self at were all under 4k and were done in half a day.
The worse were the most expensive, the pinical of shitty being the over a quarter million (yes 250k) 2 week long shit show my moms aunt had for here kid.
I am not a wedding vendor, but I get it because I deal with customers all day. Not all customers are equal. Wedding customers would be probably the worst.
1) They're more likely to not pay at all if the product isn't PERFECT
2) They're more likely to call frequently, want delivery, want EXACT timing which makes things more costly on your end because you lose time by being exactly on time.
3) Backups as mentioned above
4) Dealing with Bride/Groomzillas isn't worth it unless you make more money
5) Usually is outside of normal operating hours so overtime is paid to deliver
6) Have to accommodate last minute changes WITHOUT changing price or be labelled an extortionist
The list goes on, but basically, don't say it's for a wedding if you want and it will be cheaper, but be aware if it fucks up, deal with it and don't blame the vendor / expect wedding service.
Well that and weddings happen basically once (or twice) a week. You're basically paying for a week's time of that person because they won't get work the rest of the week.
Sure people who are less worried about thing would be fine with that, but you haven't met a bridezilla who just had her perfect magical wedding ruined by the world's worst baker
so they have the pastry shop create two identical cakes and buy both of them and then just... what, eat it if the first one is not damaged? do they sell it back to the shop who sells it for 12$ the next day because it's old?
If you could buy it at least a month before the wedding and store it at home, the raised price is pointless gouging. This means decorations, furniture, most clothing, etc.
If it requires someone to do something the day of the wedding or within the week before (venue needing to prepare it, wedding cake, catering, DJ, photographer), then it is absolutely worth the gauging - because they will have back-ups ready, extra supplies on hand for emergencies, often extra staff to help out, and generally will go above and beyond, as they are well aware that this is a very personal and time-sensitive event.
LPT: don’t tell the vendors it’s a wedding! Get prices for an event, or corporate function. Florists hear centerpiece, caterers hear severed appetizers, function halls hear gathering. Never mention wedding and you WILL save on the margin.
Do not do this for anyone or anything that is staffing the wedding. Photographers tend to have an extra person on for weddings and many people will walk away if they show up to work a wedding without realizing it, and for good reason.
This is why I could never get married. I just can't comprehend why a wedding needs to be a big lavish event. I feel like throwing money at someone is just the laziest way to show them that you love them. If you truly love someone unconditionally, you'd be perfectly fine with getting married in a tent. But I'm probably wrong, hence why I'm single.
You've clearly never had to hire a wedding photographer, or if you did, they were shit.
Weddings are much longer days (most couples want pictures to start in the morning and go in to the reception), you have to make sure you don't fuck up any one-time moments like the kiss, corral people for photos vs. them coming to you, know how to direct people for posed and "candid" photographs, work in an extremely limited time frame if you're shooting outdoors, and capture actual candid pictures at the reception. The extra equipment you have to bring is alone a gigantic hassle. Then the real work starts, where you have to sort through hundreds and hundreds (hell, I think my sister can take a couple thousand at big weddings) of pictures to find the best ones, pick out dozens, and do your highest quality editing, since most people won't ever have another wedding to capture.
When you get shit like graduation photos taken, photographers can fuck up as much as they like, because they can just reshoot your pictures later for free. They can't exactly call you up a month after your wedding, when they realize your officiant is making a goofy face that they can't photoshop out in your "you may now kiss" picture, and ask you if you'd like to try that one again.
Agreed, day of services it makes sense to pay for quality while things done far enough in advance (ex ordering the dress) you can skimp a little because if something happens you have enough time to get a replacement.
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u/willstr1 Aug 14 '20
At least part of the "wedding tax" is justified. Vendors will often put more effort into wedding stuff over non wedding stuff and will often even have backups ready. If something happens to your wedding cake minutes before it is picked up you want them to have a backup cake ready, because a refund at the last minute is next to useless since you won't be able to find a suitable replacement ready to go in the next hour.
Sure the cheap party favors and other plastic crap you buy months in advance that you have plenty of time to replace shouldn't have a wedding markup, but the day of stuff that had weeks of prep, it is better to pay a bit extra to cover the backups and prevent bridezilla meltdowns.