Splurge or Save?
What to spend the extra money on and what to save on..
As a Bridal HMUA and a past Bride in 2022, I have some knowledge I want to share with my Brides. Lets be honest, most of the time, going in to Wedding planning most of us have no idea how to Wedding plan, don’t know all of the vendors needed to make a Wedding happen, or how much they actually cost!
I get to talk to my Brides at their Bridal trials and on their Wedding day and normally they tell me about their Vendors at their trial and I give them recommendations of Vendors I love, if they are still searching for some. (See our preferred vendors page for these!) So in this article, I want to give my new Brides some advice on Vendors I think they should spend the big bucks on and which Vendors they should just save the money!
Hair and Makeup
SPLURGE!
Now, I may be biased because I am a makeup artist, but statics show that 84% Brides who do not pay to have their hair and makeup done on their special day regret it. 96% who decide to get their makeup done say they are happy that they did. I am a Bridal Hair and Makeup Artist and even I hired someone else to do my hair and makeup- why? One, because it takes A LOT of stress off of you day of. And two, because you only get one Wedding, pamper yourself! Get a Blow-out, get your brows done, get the Facial Package. On your Wedding day you should look and feel your best, not stress out over your eyeliner or your hair not curling properly!
Photography
SPLURGE!
Photos are going to be the one thing you get to have to look back on your Wedding day! You want a good, seasoned photographer, that produces GOOD quality photos and that matches your style. Good reviews help too! Look at some Wedding photos online and determine what style of photos you like and find a photographer you LOVE to have beautiful memories that will last a lifetime!
Food
Meh- depends on you and your partner.
Me and Paul (my now husband) are TOTAL foodies so we decided to splurge on our Wedding but looking back we actually both regretted it. I literally took 4 bites of my food, Paul ate all of his, but after talking on our honeymoon we both agreed it was TOTALLY something we should have saved the money on! BUT, every couple is different and for some this is more important. We did get amazing feedback from our guests saying it was some of the best Wedding food they have had, so there’s that!
Decor
Meh- depends on your Wedding goals and size!
So I totalllllly splurged on our decor. I work with Beautiful Wedding and Event Rental regularly and Marlene really brought my dreams to life. I actually am a HUGE advocate for Brides booking a Venue that is already decorated or has stock Decor included to help the cost. When we booked our Venue they told us they had a huge warehouse of stock but when we went for our consult I was not pleased. I called Marlene right after our appointment and she brought my dream to life and it took SO much stress off of planning because I didn’t have to DIY ANYTHING! I HIGHLY recommend if you have a larger Wedding with more space to cover SPLURGE!! But if you have a smaller Venue or find a Venue with Decor included SAVE!
The Dress
Meh- Personal Preference
If you find yourself, like me, having an exact vision for your Dress, CREATE IT! I spent around 5K total on my dress, veil and alterations and let me tell you, I was not ever sad about it once I put the finished product on! It was my dream dress! Now, if you are a less decided Bride and not sure exactly what you want, I recommend starting at a lower-cost shop first just to try one dresses, figure out your style and what you like, then if you cant find anything there, try a larger retailer!
Planner
SPLURGE!
Now let me start this off by saying, I would not have survived my Wedding day without my planner! He was AMAZING! Planners make the day such a breeze. They make sure all of the vendors arrive and get in ok, they make sure people are where they need to be when they need to be there, they do reception damage control, help with clean up and just make the whole Wedding experience that much better! If you decide not to get a planner TIP YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER! Normally the next in line if you don’t get a planner is your photographer. They have to make your photo timeline which normally meshes with your overall timeline, and when they don’t have a planner they kind of step in to the role because, well, someone has to! From a Wedding Vendor, please know, we have a lot of experience with Weddings with a Coordinator and without and we LOVE a Wedding Planner!
I hope you enjoyed this article on Wedding Splurge or saves! Email us with more Wedding questions you would like us to write about!
lushbeautybaratl@gmail.com
Article by: Halie Allen
1/19/2023
