Sponsored Weddings - Cheap Wedding Planning

June 14, 2006

I don’t have the best opinion of sponsored weddings.  I find them to be cheap and tacky and I believe they detract from the wedding experience.  Couples plan sponsored weddings to shave a few dollars off of the wedding budget, but I don’t think anyone benefits from having a sponsored wedding.

The idea behind a sponsored wedding is that wedding vendors will donate their services in order to receive free advertising at the wedding.  Okay, so now the wedding program will look like a bridal show program or a wedding magazine instead of a beautiful memento of the wedding.

There are so many ways to save money while planning your wedding.  Order your wedding favors, wedding veil, accessories, bridal party gifts, etc online.  That will save money instead of buying items at a brick & mortar store.

Consider having a luncheon reception instead of an evening dinner reception.  My husband and I shaved $5,000.00 off of our wedding budget by doing that.

Possibly hire an MFA Film or Photography student to shoot and photograph your wedding.  My husband and I hired a film student and a graduate of an MFA Photography program to shoot our wedding.  Everything turned out very well.

With regard to sponsored weddings, you get what you pay for.  Wedding vendors are creative artists that deserve to get paid for their work.  They are contributing their heart, blood, sweat & tears to your wedding and should get compensated for that.  If you contract a wedding vendor to sponsor your wedding, he or she may not give it their all if a paying gig comes along.

Also, wedding vendors don’t need to sponsor weddings to promote their wedding business.  If a couple really likes their work, they will naturally spread the word about the vendor to their friends and family members.

All I know is that I work harder for a client if I am paid for my work.  I have only worked a few free or low-paying jobs in the past and I was pretty resentful as a result.  I don’t believe that a couple will get the best work out of a wedding vendor if they hire him/her for next to nothing.

The only time I have ever considered doing a sponsored wedding was for a bride whose husband was stationed in Iraq and they were strapped for cash.  She contacted us soon after the Iraq war began and I immediately wanted to help them in their time of need.  Unfortunately, we were already booked for that day, so we had to pass on the job.  I’m sure someone else pitched in to help them create an awesome wedding.

I would highly suggest that you consider shaving money off the wedding budget in different ways other than requesting free work from your wedding vendors.

Take care!

Alison

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