Five Ways To Book Wedding Entertainment Without Going Broke
A lot of people don’t realise how important booking entertainment is when it comes to planning a successful wedding. Most people will book a DJ for the evening and maybe a string quartet during the day and that’s it. However they will spend a small fortune on getting the correct chair covers that nobody will be able to see because they are sitting on them. I met a bride and groom that spent over £2000 on having a light up archway that people walked through to enter the evening reception but then spent no money on entertainment.
Bridal Magazine conducted a survey about a year ago. They surveyed over 2000 brides about their wedding. 78% of brides said looking back at their wedding they wish they had spent more money on wedding entertainment. The reason is simple. People don’t remember the colour of the chair covers or whether there were fizzy sweets on the sweet stand. They remember the memories and experiences that are created throughout the day and into the evening. The entertainment is a big part of creating those memories. Think about every wedding you have been to. The ones that stand out are the ones where something unique and different has happening.
In our experience most brides and grooms will book all the essentials for the wedding and leave entertainment till nearer the date. That way they can see if there is any extra money in the budget. We tend to get one or two last minute wedding enquiries a week. And by ‘last minute’ I’m talking the week before. To be honest this is not the best way to book entertainment and a lot of the time you will end up with a act that’s not great.
So how can you book entertainment that makes your wedding special without breaking the bank. Because if you were told you get get the exact entertainment you wanted without spending s fortune you would probably go for it. In this blog I’m going to go through some heists and tips that you can use when planning your wedding to make sure you get the entertainment you want without going broke! If you want more information about having Slightly Unusual at your wedding then CLICK HERE.
1. Ask yourself if you really need some of the things you have planned for your wedding.
It’s important that your wedding is individual to you and over the years I’ve seen some truly unique weddings. Doctor Who themed and Greatest Showman Themed. Sometimes couples spend money on things that they don’t really want themselves but it’s excepted that these things are at a wedding. The perfect example is a Sweet Cart. Let’s be honest if you didn’t have a sweet cart would it really matter? Do you think people would
contact you afterwards and say “your wedding would have been awesome but the lack of a sweet cart really let it down”. Typically the sweet cart is demolished within half an hour by the kids at the wedding anyway! Sweet carts however are just one example. Think about all these things that you organise because it’s expected. If you didn’t have them how much money could you save to spend on things that you really need and want?
2. Can you book ahead of time and spread the costs out.
As I mentioned earlier a lot of people leave entertainment till the last minute to see if there is enough money in the budget. However if you planned for the stuff you really want earlier it would allow you to spread the costs out over a period of time. For example we offer a Platinum Package for our wedding clients where we perform close up magic in the day and then present our full award winning illusion show in the evening. It’s a very popular package because it is so different but the total cost is £1000. It’s a lot of money to spend, even if it’s something you really want. However if you are getting married in two years and spread the costs over 24 months the cost would only be £41 a week. Suddenly that really expensive thing that would want for your wedding but can’t afford becomes a lot more affordable. Too see more information on our three packages, CLICK HERE!
3. Research into different packages.
A lot of wedding suppliers (especially wedding entertainers) will offer numerous packages depending on a couples budget. For example we offer a full package with an illusion show
however you could also book close up magic on its own which is a lot cheaper. If (for example) you really wanted a magician at your wedding it would be a lot cheaper to book just close up magic. It might not be the package you wanted but it’s a lot cheaper and better than not having any magic at all. You can book close up magic from £360 including all costs. Now if you spread that cost over two years (as I discussed in point 2) the cost becomes £15 a month or under £4 a week. Now that’s affordable.
4. Do you really need to invite as many people during the day.
You probably realise that a big part of the costs for a wedding is catering for the daytime guests. The evening guests don’t cost that much per head in comparison. The average cost of a wedding in the UK is £33,884 and that’s based on 70 guests in the day. In other words each daytime guest costs between £300 to £500. So ask yourself a question, can you shift some of those daytime guests to the evening? If you could move four people to the evening reception that could save you up to £2000. What could you do with that £2000? Probably make your wedding a lot more unique by arranging entertainment you wouldn’t have booked before.
5. One final idea is to offer wedding suppliers something other than money for their services.
For example I performed last year for a videographer. He suggested that in return for me performing at his wedding he would film my performance and create a showreel for me. I jumped at this opportunity. He got me performing at his wedding for free and I got a new showreel that I could share on social media. Is there something that you, your partner or your family could offer an entertainer that would get their services for free or at a discounted rate? It’s definitely worth considering.
So there you have it. Five ways of planning your wedding entertainment without going broke. The important thing is to make sure you do think about wedding entertainment and don’t overlook it. CLICK HERE to read a blog about why you shouldn’t book cheap wedding entertainment. Also CLICK HERE to read a blog about the key reasons why you should have a magician at your wedding.
Finally CLICK HERE to visit our wedding page.
