3 ms·

> you can go to a baker and say "I want a cake" and they'll say "$20" but if you say "it's for a wedding" the price becomes $100 This is very important to keep

by dudul 8y ago

> you can go to a baker and say "I want a cake" and they'll say "$20" but if you say "it's for a wedding" the price becomes $100 This is very important to keep in mind. Never mention that you are working on organizing a wedding. Renting chairs? It's just for a party. Getting flowers? It's for a birthday. Vendors will almost always apply a huge markup when they hear "wedding".

johannes1234321 8y ago
Also brings fun to the party if the cake says "Happy Birthday" instead of having two figures on top :-)
- WrtCdEvrydy 8y ago
  "Honey, I didn't feel alive until we got married, so I've reborn.... also, we saved like 15k which we can use for a downpayment on that house you wanted us to eventually own."
wgerard 8y ago
That can be a really dangerous game to play, fwiw. If a vendor figures out you're lying to them ("gee, I wonder why this birthday party wants boutonnieres and corsages") they can (and probably will) just bail on you and leave you scrambling. You usually sign pretty tight contracts/agreements for a wedding, less-so for a birthday party.
- doubletgl 8y ago
  I think it's up to the customer to decide how the use the purchased product or service, since when do you owe an explanation to a vendor where or how their product will be used? If they add wedding-markup for no other reason (like increased quality control or something) nobody should feel bad about lying to them.
  - wgerard 8y ago
    > I think it's up to the customer to decide how the use the purchased product or service, since when do you owe an explanation to a vendor where or how their product will be used? It goes both ways. The vendor can also decide they don't want to deal with a customer who's being intentionally dishonest with them. It's quite simple for them to just refund your deposit/money and leave you without a florist a week before your wedding, especially since you didn't sign the type of two-way "binding" (I'm using that term loosely here) agreement that you do with a wedding. I spoke to several vendors in the course of my research who handled situations like that in exactly that manner, for what it's worth. In one case the vendor arrived at the venue on the day-of, realized it was a wedding, and straight up just turned around and went home. Another basically required a "security deposit" that would be returned once the vendor confirmed the event wasn't actually a wedding.
    - ghaff 8y ago
      TBH, those vendors sound seriously sketchy absent some credible explanation for why they think they need to charge more for a wedding. If a vendor who supplies kids' entertainment rental (like those blow-up house things) tried to charge more for their services at a wedding than at a birthday party, I'd think they were trying to gouge. Flowers, something I know very little about, I could understand being treated differently for a wedding than other events, but I'd be interested in why.
      - wgerard 8y ago
        > TBH, those vendors sound seriously sketchy absent some credible explanation for why they think they need to charge more for a wedding. I mean, you can just ask why if you're curious. Most of them are sole proprietorships. It's not like you're dealing with a large corporation where pricing is set by a corporate office. Re: bailing, honestly I think most of them just react negatively to being lied to because there's some element of a personal relationship involved in this kind of service. I'd similarly be pretty pissed if my boss lied to me intentionally about what I was working on.
120photo 8y ago
There is more on the line when a wedding is involved. The "narrative" that is the wedding causes more stress when all details don't fit the couples narrative. You are not just paying for goods you are paying for the service and priority. When the flowers have to be the right kind and the right shade of red there is extra work that goes into making that happen. Yes, some brides are happy to go down to city hall and have the reception at their favorite bar while others want all details to fit their narrative (that comes with a big price tag).

by dudul 8y ago

johannes1234321 8y ago

Also brings fun to the party if the cake says "Happy Birthday" instead of having two figures on top :-)

WrtCdEvrydy 8y ago
"Honey, I didn't feel alive until we got married, so I've reborn.... also, we saved like 15k which we can use for a downpayment on that house you wanted us to eventually own."

wgerard 8y ago

That can be a really dangerous game to play, fwiw. If a vendor figures out you're lying to them ("gee, I wonder why this birthday party wants boutonnieres and corsages") they can (and probably will) just bail on you and leave you scrambling. You usually sign pretty tight contracts/agreements for a wedding, less-so for a birthday party.

doubletgl 8y ago
I think it's up to the customer to decide how the use the purchased product or service, since when do you owe an explanation to a vendor where or how their product will be used? If they add wedding-markup for no other reason (like increased quality control or something) nobody should feel bad about lying to them.
- wgerard 8y ago
  > I think it's up to the customer to decide how the use the purchased product or service, since when do you owe an explanation to a vendor where or how their product will be used? It goes both ways. The vendor can also decide they don't want to deal with a customer who's being intentionally dishonest with them. It's quite simple for them to just refund your deposit/money and leave you without a florist a week before your wedding, especially since you didn't sign the type of two-way "binding" (I'm using that term loosely here) agreement that you do with a wedding. I spoke to several vendors in the course of my research who handled situations like that in exactly that manner, for what it's worth. In one case the vendor arrived at the venue on the day-of, realized it was a wedding, and straight up just turned around and went home. Another basically required a "security deposit" that would be returned once the vendor confirmed the event wasn't actually a wedding.
  - ghaff 8y ago
    TBH, those vendors sound seriously sketchy absent some credible explanation for why they think they need to charge more for a wedding. If a vendor who supplies kids' entertainment rental (like those blow-up house things) tried to charge more for their services at a wedding than at a birthday party, I'd think they were trying to gouge. Flowers, something I know very little about, I could understand being treated differently for a wedding than other events, but I'd be interested in why.
    - wgerard 8y ago
      > TBH, those vendors sound seriously sketchy absent some credible explanation for why they think they need to charge more for a wedding. I mean, you can just ask why if you're curious. Most of them are sole proprietorships. It's not like you're dealing with a large corporation where pricing is set by a corporate office. Re: bailing, honestly I think most of them just react negatively to being lied to because there's some element of a personal relationship involved in this kind of service. I'd similarly be pretty pissed if my boss lied to me intentionally about what I was working on.

120photo 8y ago

There is more on the line when a wedding is involved. The "narrative" that is the wedding causes more stress when all details don't fit the couples narrative. You are not just paying for goods you are paying for the service and priority. When the flowers have to be the right kind and the right shade of red there is extra work that goes into making that happen. Yes, some brides are happy to go down to city hall and have the reception at their favorite bar while others want all details to fit their narrative (that comes with a big price tag).