For Your Budget

Everybody is price conscious with the way the economy is and for some reason the numbers never add up correctly. Have you ever had somebody charging for a service actually mess up and tell you that you were paying too much? Me either. It is more than likely that there will be hidden costs that they don't tell you about until you are too far into it. Here are a couple of those costs revealed to you for your benefit.

1. Photography:

Photographer packages are pretty straight forward and you get what you pay for. The costs you will want to avoid are the overtime costs which are often over $250 per hour. The way to avoid this is to make sure and book the photographer for as many hours as needed upfront. Consider the time it will take from getting ready to the end of the events at the reception

2. Cutting The Cake Fee:

Be careful of bakers who charge an additional fee of cutting the cake on top of the price of the actual cake. You can find this out by asking the baker up front what other costs are involved and if they have a cake cutting fee. This fee is outrageous and can cost as much as $5 per guest. It shouldn't be and you can avoid this by using a wedding places preferred vender. Typically they don't charge a cutting fee, but make sure and double check.

3. Tipping Vendors:

It is customary to tip any service or vendor no matter what the venue. It is no different with weddings. The confusing part is that sometimes a wedding place will charge an additional service fee of around 15%. This is not the tip. It is what the wedding place will charge to arrange the vendors. Sometimes the service fee isn't disclosed upfront so make sure and ask your wedding place.

4. Wedding Dress Alterations

Wedding dresses often times need slight alterations which can be somewhat reasonable. But any sort of drastic change like adding sleeves or changing a zipper can cost several hundred dollars. The best way to handle this is to ask the place that you buy your gown how much their alteration costs are upfront. If it is high don't be afriad to shop around to find a more reasonable seamstress. This can really save you a bundle of money especially when you consider all the bridesmaids dresses.

5. Delivery Costs:

It is likely that a rental company will not include the price of the delivery costs in the price quoted. It is wise to ask the company upfront what their costs are and use it when determining what place has the best prices. Some companies do not charge shipping fees, but their rental costs will be higher. By combining the shipping and rental costs together you will be able to price shop more efficiently.

A wedding is meant to be spectacular and many of these places know that. Make sure and work with honest vendors and protect yourself by using these tips I've mentioned above.

Bill Cotter is an author about phoenix wedding photographers. Bill writes about phoenix wedding photography for http://www.memoriesputtomusic.com.