I saw a photo online the other day with a message showing how although there is always someone to do something cheaper it is usually not as good. I’ve put the photo at the end of this blog entry.
That got me thinking about weddings generally, my experiences as a wedding guest and as a supplier at many hundreds of weddings, watching guests, talking to brides and groom and looking at my own research and studies.
When a couple become engaged they enter a totally different mindset, especially brides-to-be. Their capacity for information increases, they look at everything wedding related in a totally different way. They notice details they would never have noticed before. This is great in many ways as it allows them to choose what they want. On the down side the entire wedding industry is geared to ‘helping’ you lose sight of what is really important and instead to offer you lots of ‘stuff’.
But – at it’s most basic a Wedding is about 2 people getting married and celebrating that with their friends and family. All showing the love, having a good time and just enjoying. So, what do people enjoy? Well to answer this you really need to speak to ‘rank and file’ wedding guests, those who have been to weddings as just ordinary people and not those who are in the same mindset as you (arranging their wedding or who have recently been married).
So – have a read of this….
What do your Guests really remember?
If you were to suggest the following to a Bride:
Wedding Dress – Primark
Wedding Cake – Asda Essentials
Wedding Rings – Elizabeth Duke at Argos
Bridesmaids Dresses – Tesco Basics
Catering – Lidl and Aldi Buffet Range.
You’d probably get laughed at and told ‘not a chance’. I totally understand that! It’s an incredibly important day and you want everything to be just perfect.
Yet when choosing entertainment for the longest part of the wedding day with the highest number of guests and creating the memories which guests will take away at the end of the night why do so many brides go for the cheap budget DJs?
For many couples it is one of, if not the most expensive days of their lives yet so many finish on an ‘ok’ or ‘average’ note due to skimping on the things which make a real difference.
To put it into context, if you have a buffet on the evening in the middle of the entertainment you have chosen, then even if you choose the very cheapest buffet option the chances are that bacon sandwich will have cost more than your DJ. Many times more than your DJ. Sounds crazy, but that’s a fact. Even the very best DJs cost only a tiny portion of your wedding budget. Many couples pay more for a bacon butty than for their evening entertainment.
A few more facts for context.
1 – Most couples will spend more on chair covers for people to plonk their bottoms on than on their entertainment.
2 – Many couples will spend more on the cake which never gets eaten than on their entertainment.
3 – Most couples will spend more on ONE DRINK per daytime guest for their drinks reception than on their entire evening’s entertainment.
But, after the day you have only memories and photos (and probably a big bill!) so here is a little experiment for you – just for a bit of fun.
Find 20 people who are either not engaged or have not got married in the past 3 years.
Ask them the following questions and take note of their answers.
1 – Did the bride look amazing?
2 – What was her dress like?
3 – What did the cake look like?
4 – What did the cake taste like?
5 – What was the music like for the ceremony?
6 – Was the food good?
7 – What food did you have?
8 – What were the bar prices like?
9 – What was the evening entertainment like?
10 – What is your single most lasting memory of the wedding.
Now in true Derren Brown stylee I can tell you what around 90% of the answers will be.
1 – Yes, don’t they always?
2 – I have no idea (men), I cant remember (women)
3 – I can’t remember
4 – I don’t think I had any. (or on the rare occasion they did – it was cake).
5 – I don’t remember. (Unless the music was professionally managed or performed in which case 90%+ of family members and 70% of other guests will remember)
6 – 95%+ will remember if the food was good or not
7 – Around 70% will remember exactly what they had.
8 – 80% of men will remember whether the bar prices were high or not, around 50% of women will remember.
9 – I’ll hedge my bets that 99% minimum (lol) will tell you EXACTLY what they thought of the evening entertainment. It will stick in their minds far longer than anything else. Also, for your evening guests it will be their only measure of the day (along with the bar prices).
10 – This one I am going to leave to you to find out. I think the answer might surprise you.
If you really want to know what is genuinely important for a great wedding these are great questions to find the answers to. And as a follow on to that, if you do decide to book professional, high quality entertainment for your wedding then it is really worth putting some time aside to have a few chats (phone or email if you like) with your chosen entertainer as any Top Quality DJ will be able to make some suggestions to turn your day into something spectacularly memorable at little or no additional cost.
Memories happen regardless. How great they are or how long they last takes some work!
