How to organize a wedding and not go broke

It’s a sin to save on a wedding, but it’s quite appropriate to correctly allocate the budget in order to organize a dream wedding, he believes the owner of the wedding agency Olga Marandi.

Host Choice

– Photographs are very desirable for newlyweds. Those photos and videos that will remain as a memory of the wedding may be more important than the marriage itself, I’m sure wedding agency owner Olga Marandi. – Therefore, you can not save on the photographer and operator. Yes, you can invite students for a penny. But do you want to train at your wedding? Invite masters with a name and reputation. By the way, they know exactly the price of their services in the market. Therefore, if the photographer suddenly requested a fabulous amount, then most likely you are not dealing with a professional, but with a swindler.

Choosing a host is one of the most important components of wedding expenses. There is no need to be especially stingy here, given the fact that a good showman pays for himself, over and over again putting trays on the tables. As a result, guests not only hand over pre-prepared envelopes with cash gifts, but also empty their wallets.

Today, young couples rarely invite hosts who work a la toastmaster. Energetic stand-up artists are in fashion. Competitions from the series “roll the testicle” and “find the leg” are gradually becoming a thing of the past, giving way to creative improvisation.

There are top 15 leading wedding ceremonies in the capital. On average, comic show stars charge 200 thousand rubles for entertaining newlyweds and guests of the celebration. In other cities, stand-up comedians are much more modest in their requests. But such media comedians as Pasha Volya and Garik Kharlamov ask for millions of fees. When choosing a presenter, the main thing is to decide which jokes will be appropriate, and which it is better to keep silent about.

Host of weddings Alexander Chistyakov advises newlyweds to choose a showman on their own:

– Come to the meeting with the host only together – you and your soul mate. No need to take your parents, friends and girlfriends with you. A wedding is, first of all, a celebration of two people getting married, it is for them to decide what the celebration will be like. Another reason why the presence of parents at the meeting is undesirable: the host is smart about who pays the expenses and raises the price.

“Do not tell the host that one of the guests invited to the celebration works in the police,” experts advise. – Either the presenters are afraid that they will become the object of police attention, or they are afraid that a drunken law enforcement officer will begin to actively intervene in what is happening, but the price for services immediately rises.

Machine selection

What you can save on without regret is on the tuple. Clumsy limousines and slow columns of a dozen premium cars are costly not only in terms of money, but also in time – especially in large cities with their traffic jams.

For the wedding to sing and dance, a generous festive table is needed. However, generous does not mean costly.

“You shouldn’t order a buffet table,” says Olga. – The fact that it comes out cheaper is a myth. When people randomly fill plates, more product is transferred, and tables look dull and sloppy. It is better to organize a banquet with portioned take-out of dishes. Even in expensive Moscow, it will cost no more than 5 rubles per person.

What is a wedding without a cake? On it, by the way, you can also save a lot of money.

– Do not order a mastic cake, take a cream one, – Olga advises. – In terms of weight, it will cost from 2000 to 2500 per kg. And mastic increases the weight of the cake by 1,5 times and in itself is more expensive. To make the cake bigger – order a false tier. The lower part of the cake is fake, while the other two are edible.

Don’t skimp on floristry. Beautiful floral decoration at a wedding is not an excess, but a necessity. Experts can be easily found on social networks.

Budget planning

The wedding industry has its own price segments. For example, in Moscow, an economy-class wedding costs about 250 thousand rubles, the cost of a more abrupt celebration can tend to infinity …

However, a modest ceremony with a dinner for relatives and friends, after which the young people fly away on a trip, is becoming more and more relevant. And here it all depends on where exactly the newlyweds go – to Turkey or some exotic corner of the planet …

It is clear that costs can be reduced even more if you do not contact the agency, but order everything yourself – flowers, decoration of the hall, negotiate with the presenter yourself … Here you already have to decide what is more important to save – time and nerves or money.

Choosing the right time and place for a wedding is important not only for convenience, but also for savings. For example, why schedule a celebration for the days when queues line up from the newlyweds, and all services rise in price? If the ceremony is held between Monday and Thursday, it will cost 5-7% cheaper. The same applies to the time of year: in the period from September to May, all marriage services become cheaper compared to summer by 12-15%.

For the celebration, it is best to choose a cafe that opened recently and has not yet held banquets. For such an institution, your wedding will be a debut, which means the same historical event as for yourself. This guarantees a discount, and if you allow some of the photos from your wedding to be used for their portfolio, the discount will be even more noticeable.

Marriage registration

A wedding organized on the territory of a cultural heritage site is not always very expensive. Many estate museums provide their premises for marriage registration and further photo sessions in the former mansions of the king and queen.

– The minimum set of services: the ceremony and photo shoot will cost about 12-13 thousand, – they said in the office of the wedding department in Kolomenskoye, in the Lyublino estate. – The option of a wedding with a small banquet for about 20 people, live music will cost about 25 thousand.

And then, if the time is spring, you can continue the holiday in nature: fresh air, an opportunity for the mobile, and from the costs – only renting tents, tables and chairs. A tent for 20 people is rented, on average, for 10 thousand rubles for two days.

Features of the wedding serving

Printing, invitations, menus and seating cards are best done in the same style. The most interesting thing is that all these attributes may not necessarily be made of paper. It can be anything: fabric, plastic, wood. But seating cards and menus will give the wedding table a special charm.

As a rule, at weddings, chairs are decorated with bows, but it is better to decorate chairs with garlands of fresh flowers, blankets, seat cushions. The main thing is that all decorations are in harmony with the rest of the serving.

Graceful candles and fruits in the composition look very good on textile tablecloths. Well, the main principle of wedding serving is that it should be carried out for guests. At the wedding table, everyone should see each other well and at the same time not be crowded.

Tips for Brides

The dress should be comfortable first of all, and not necessarily expensive. You can save on it, but never save on a stylist. Unprofessional makeup looks terrible in photos.

The bride must have a second flat-soled shoe. Especially when the dress is on the floor and you don’t have to torture yourself with uncomfortable stilettos.

Do not forget about a full breakfast for both of you: in the morning you should be alert and full of energy.

Let the makeup artist also work a little on the tone of the groom’s face, there is nothing wrong with that. The couple should look harmonious.

Some creative ideas

Wedding in folk style. At the dacha with their pies and kebabs. A warm company of the closest people, delicious smoke from the barbecue and a good mood – such a set is sometimes better than a magnificent celebration.

Themed wedding on the beach or in the woods. Arrange a picnic there in the style of a hippie, a pioneer fire or an KSP (amateur song club).

sports wedding: on bicycles, skis or jet skis.

Wedding on the boat. Now there are a huge number of different floating restaurants, and if you book a table there for a small company, it will not be very expensive, moreover, it will be original and romantic.

Wedding – photo session. Hosting parties in spaces – photo studios are becoming popular. Here you can organize a small banquet with champagne and, most importantly, arrange a bright photo session for the newlyweds and their guests. If the studio is owned or rented by someone close, then the wedding party will cost almost nothing.

From your own wedding to your wedding agency

The first wedding organized by Olga Marandi was her own. Since then, 6 years have passed. Today Olga is the owner of an event agency that specializes in organizing various events, including weddings.

– I decided to plan my wedding myself, it was in August 2011. Then I deliberately refused the services of wedding organizers, I decided to plan everything personally. As a result, I did not take into account many nuances and everything did not go as it was originally intended. The stylist let us down, we decently overpaid for the rental of limousines, in addition, the choice of the date of the celebration was not entirely successful. It is these August days that are considered the most popular among the newlyweds, so the prices for everything were much higher. The only thing we were satisfied with was the restaurant. We found it through a specialized wedding gloss. Our mistake was that in many ways we relied on the recommendations of friends, but they have their own ideas about what a wedding should be like. It’s just that our opinions don’t agree. What worked perfectly well was what we ourselves found on wedding portals.

“For the anniversary, we decided to replay the wedding ceremony and everything turned out much better,” says Olga Marandi.

After organizing several carbon copy celebrations with paper toasts and limousine rides, Olga realized that she likes to prepare weddings professionally, but for this she needs to learn and develop. However, already in 2013, her first contract for a wedding was signed.

— At that time, I had already accumulated the first knowledge and had the necessary acquaintances among colleagues. For about three years I visited specialized exhibitions as a participant. Despite the fact that the crisis began in 2014, there was a noticeable upswing in the wedding industry. This year has been a peak year for wedding planners and my business in particular. True, then I organized budget weddings. Their cost at that time was 250-300 thousand rubles. Today, a good wedding in Moscow will cost at least 700-800 thousand rubles. In the regions, the prices are quite different. Although in the Urals or Kuban prices are also very high.

According to Olga, an important component of the work of a wedding organizer is the coordination of the holiday. In order for it to pass without hitches and missteps, you need a well-written script and time plan.

“This is all very delicate work. For example, the photographer needs to know that a bride and groom dance will be announced at a certain time. At this time, he will already be ready, and will not go, for example, to eat or meet girls.

Popular questions and answers

Questions are answered host of events in Moscow Olga Mozhaytseva и head of the wedding agency “Pasternak Wedding” Ekaterina Muravtseva.