Are Vendors' prices too high?

Hello Readers!

It's been some time since I last wrote to you, and there's a good reason for that! I've been working diligently to promote S&V. Recently, I've started to appreciate the small victories, even if the effort far exceeds the outcome. Someday, we'll succeed!

Anyway, let's dive right into it! I love organizing events for my friends and family, which means I'm always searching for vendors. The prices have generally been somewhat high but not surprisingly so, until I started planning my wedding!

Honestly, the vendors prices were so astonishing that I felt like I was in a simulation or being pranked because seriously, why is a 3-tier wedding cake £1800 or buffet catering for 90 guests £8500 on the simplest menu?! I could swear, but let's keep it PG, haha! (Disclaimer: This is based on an average UK earner household!)

These were my thoughts when planning my wedding, and they remain valid because, let's face it, some of these prices are just... to simply put... a bit too much!

Since then, and since I decided to work with vendors, I needed to understand them and this is what I discovered!

When selecting a vendor, their level of establishment and prestige influences their pricing, as they've put in significant effort to reach that status, so choose carefully. I like to think of it as a sort of pool! As much as we admire someone's work, if it appears to be beyond our budget, it likely is! Therefore, it's sometimes wiser to explore options within our own pool while drawing inspiration from the pools we can't afford. Let's be honest, those extra details that make their work so enticing are why we want to collaborate with them initially, but it's also why they are likely to exceed our budget!

To address this, consider hiring someone with a similar portfolio who isn't yet well-established, as their rates are likely to be lower than those of more established professionals. However, you should consider their lack of experience, as it might influence the results. For instance, I chose someone less experienced because her work appealed to me and she fit my budget. Nonetheless, her inexperience significantly affected my entire wedding, although she made every effort to overcome the challenges she encountered. That said, this isn't always the outcome; most of the time, things tend to go as planned. I've always supported small businesses and startups, and I would still hire her today.

The effort and physical exertion involved is something people rarely consider! For instance, a caterer must stand for hours preparing, cooking, baking, and more. I say preparing, but that's just a simplified way to describe it. Imagine when you're preparing a Christmas meal for your family—what you have to do, how long it takes, and how tiring it is! Now, imagine adding 80 more people to cook for, acquiring the ingredients, transporting or having them delivered, the extensive preparation, the pain relief needed for back, legs, or headaches. The repetition of tasks because things didn't turn out as you or the client wanted, or because the food some how spoiled and if its a photographer the work didn't save etc.!

This applies not only to caterers but to all vendors!

As I like to keep these brief, I'll stop here for now. Let's continue this topic later!

Until next time, readers!

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