How to plan for those hidden wedding costs

Bruce & Tara Live - BIO
Bruce Russell and Tara Fay are co-stars of RTE’s flagship lifestyle show My Big Day: Home or Away, have created a platform that offers expert advice and creative content that couples and planners can avail of and trust. With a combined experience of over 30 years working as wedding & party planners, Bruce and Tara have planned everything from intimate Irish weddings to elaborate overseas celebrations and everything in between. Bruce and Tara Live is a space to share their curated advice, professional experience and invaluable insight.

So, what are the potential hidden costs of your wedding?
Your wedding day may be one of the most important days in your life, but this does not mean you need to spend the rest of your life paying for it.

With this in mind there are a few important points to think of to ensure this doesn’t happen.

1. Guest numbers
· Remember your guest numbers determine your overall bottom line in your budget. Most venues will have a minimum number of guests that you have to commit to.

Its vitally important that you are aware of this before you sign your contract as even if you don’t reach that number you will be charged for it.

· The total amount of guests that you confirm the week of your wedding is the number you will pay for.

· Some venues request final numbers a week before the wedding, if you are unsure of some of your guests attending its better to err on the side of caution.

2. Timeline

· Your timeline that is created for the wedding day is the working document that all your suppliers will use to schedule their day.

It’s a good idea to have someone who knows about the flow of the day to review this for you.

For example if there are going to be delays that can cost money its good to factor these in ahead of time.

· Some of your suppliers can charge extra for going over time, so its important to review this in all the contracts ahead of signing and before sending them your timeline.

· Example if your photographer has quoted for a package including cutting the cake when you go into the meal but this is only for 5 hours, will may charge you more if you run over time.

· Check if the band or DJ is going to only play for their allocated time or their length of time. So for example if they have been booked to play from 10 p.m. to midnight, but you are late with speeches and room changeover etc, will they still play for two hours or only until midnight?

3. Printing of stationery

· Your on the day stationery needs to be given as much thought as your invitations. The number of couples that misspell their own names or names of their bridal party is quite phenomenal. It’s a costly mistake to have to reprint 100 orders of service.

· If your table plan has been printed two weeks ahead of time and suddenly the week of the wedding, you have to make lots of changes or reprinting the full plan its another cost you had not factored in.

Check with your stationery company what is the latest date you can send them the table plan to print.

4. Suppliers meals
· Check your supplier’s contracts, as some of them specify that you provide them with meals and some also require specific changing areas that you will need to factor in with your venue ahead of time.

5. Third party Suppliers
· If its your dream to bring in a décor supplier for your wedding venue, ensure ahead of time that your venue allows you to do this.

Don’t go ahead and assume that you can use any supplier in any venue and pay a deposit, only to find out there are restrictions in place.

· Similarly, if you wish to use your ceremony flowers as part of your reception flowers, double check with your ceremony location that these can be easily moved.

Alterations - ensure to include an alteration cost for all your bridal party clothing, not just the bridal dress. Bridesmaids dresses can become very costly items once alteration fees are factored in.

Thinking of taking out a wedding loan?
If you're thinking of taking out a loan for a wedding, Comhar Linn is here to help. You can borrow up to €40,000. and repay within 5 years. With our competitive interest rate of 7.8% A.P.R. for wedding loans, and flexible repayment options, we've got you covered. Check out our loan calculator below to estimate how much you could borrow for your wedding!