Cheap Wedding Packages.

Before you decide on a wedding package you should consider the pros and cons of this type of wedding day.

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Pros:

- If you book the right one it will reduce the stress significantly as the venue will sort out most things for you. Many venues will offer a wedding planner (included in the price) who will liaise with the suppliers and provided you have her well briefed, only need to contact you occasionally to confirm details and organise meetings with suppliers.

- The venue will have negotiated better rates with the suppliers than you will ever be able to manage as they use them so often.

- The venue will have used the suppliers many times before and must therefore approve of the quality of service supplied.

- You will usually be able to get some freebies, such as complementary accommodation for the bride and groom, champagne, free use of spa facilities and/or discounted room prices if guests pre-book.

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Cons:

- The venue may insist on minimum numbers of guests. However if the price is cheap enough it may still be cheaper to have 50 guests attend than it would have been to have 40 at another venue.

- Packages are often restricted to weekdays as these are the quiet days for the hotels and suppliers. That said, if you are happy to have your wedding Monday - Thursday then you could potentially save a third of the cost.

- You will have a limited choice of suppliers, usually one or two in each category (e.g. florists, photographer etc). So if you had your heart set on using a particular florist you should have a meeting with the venue to see if that would be feasible.

We booked an all inclusive package and were able to get a reduction in the price by dropping the hotel's wedding cake supplier and florist as we had friends who had already offered to make us a cake and do the flowers as wedding presents.

- You may also have to share your venue with other weddings on the same day. If this is the case you should check the rooms will not overlap. This is something we had to consider as there was another wedding in the ground floor of our venue.

However once we looked at the venue it was clear that the venue was large enough so that guests would not overlap and each floor had full facilities (no shared toilets).

- Many venues advertise wedding packages but do not include all you may expect. Always check exactly what is included and what is not included. Venues may not include costs such as linen hire or equipment rental and you should make sure that you are aware of these before you sign on the dotted line.

Some cheap wedding packages only include the venue, food and a cake stand, so always read the details and don't assume all package deals are all inclusive.

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Each venue will usually offer several different types of package to cater for different tastes and budgets and don't assume you can't have a cheap wedding package at a five star hotel.

I have seen an all inclusive package for 40 guests at a five star hotel. To include Rolls Royce, leather bound photo album, button holes and bouquet, red carpet, tea, coffee and short bread for guests on arrival, Bucks fizz for guests on arrival, table linen and table plan, wedding cake, flowers, champagne and wine, master of ceremonies, evening entertainment (band and disco), evening food for guests, accommodation for bride and groom, use of the spa and hire of the venue; and all for £5,500.

You may even be able to get a last minute deal with some venues due to rooms not being booked or a cancellation. These usually are available around three months before when the venue starts to panic about filling their rooms.

Another thing to consider and the venues all do it; pre-booking rooms for your guests. We found that when initially reserving rooms for immediate family and friends we were offered a very small discount (approximately 5-7%) so we only reserved 10 rooms and advised our guests to contact the venue directly or book on line in plenty of time (6 months) prior to the wedding to see what discount they could get.

We were surprised to hear many of the guests were able to get rooms at a fraction of the price we had been quoted when reserving rooms at the point of booking the venue.

This is just another example of how the hidden costs work and how the venue will always try to squeeze a little more money out of you.

Essential Questions to Ask:

As you can see from the pros and cons above there are a number of questions you must ask when booking your cheap wedding package, namely:

- What is included and what is not.

- Are there any hidden charges.

- Are there minimum numbers of guests required.

- If there are items included that you don't need, can you opt out to reduce the cost.

- If you want to get married there do they have a marriage licence.

- Will you get a wedding planner assigned to you as part of the price.

Finally put all queries and updates to the venue in writing, if there is a dispute later you will be glad you did.

Although, not all cheap wedding packages are equal, if you follow my simple steps there is no reason why you can't have a fantastic all inclusive package that won't break the bank.

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