Planning a wedding quickly gets expensive which is why managing your wedding budget is crucial and knowing about hidden wedding costs & fees upfront can certainly keep you from blowing your budget. Sure you made a list and are keeping track of each part of your wedding budget. You are probably using a tool like our budget calculator but we bet you have no idea that there are hidden fees that can sneak up on you. Here are 11 surprise wedding costs & tips on how to avoid them.
Wedding Dress Alterations & Steaming
Why Is It A Hidden Fee? Many bridal boutiques do not include wedding dress alterations in the price of their gowns. And to be honest, you don’t want them to include it. The reason most bridal shops do not disclose upfront the cost of alterations is that each and every dress (and bride) are unique and so are the costs of alterations. There is no way the shop or staff can tell you how much “your” alterations will cost because it all depends on how “your” gown fits and what work needs to be done.
Wedding dress alterations include hems, bustles, bra cups, taking it, letting it out, custom work, and more. If a bridal shop chose one set price and built that into the cost of each dress you could expect for the dress to cost $350 – $500 more.
If you are a bride that is tall and doesn’t need a hem, why should you pay a set fee that includes working on a hem? Or if you don’t want bra cups. It is always better to pay a la carte for your wedding dress alterations.
What Do Wedding Dress Alterations Cost? On average you can expect to pay anywhere from $300 – $500 for alterations on your gown. This does not include custom work or steaming.
How To Avoid Being Blindsided By This Cost. Inquire about each boutique’s alteration fees while you are shopping for your gown. That way you can factor these extra expenses into your budget.
The Ultimate Guide To Avoiding Hidden Wedding Costs & Fees
Wedding Vendor Tips
Many couples don’t realize that it is proper wedding etiquette to tip your wedding vendors. So make sure to add this to your budget. And the best way to do this is to have envelopes pre-made with each vendor’s name on it. A day or two before your wedding place your tip inside the envelope and seal them.
On your wedding day, you can designate someone you trust to distribute the envelopes (preferably near the end of the event). For more information on how much to tip wedding vendors and which wedding vendors you should tip, check out this post.
Welcome Bag Delivery
Welcome bags for your guests are a great idea but if you don’t have time to deliver them yourself, you will incur a delivery fee. If you want to avoid this hidden wedding cost, ask one of the bridal party members to deliver them for you. Hopefully, they won’t charge you.
Day of Meals
Forget to eat? No way, right? Well, actually this is one of the most forgotten pieces of wedding planning. On your wedding day, you need to make certain to eat breakfast, lunch, and maybe some snacks. We know that you will be caught up in all the emotions and excitement which is why this is generally forgotten.
Make sure to have a plan, and include some money in the budget for food for both the bride and groom and their tribes to munch on while getting ready. The worst thing you can do on your wedding day is to not eat. So don’t forget this hidden cost, add it into your budget now.
Overtime Fees
Oh yeah, you better believe it! If your reception runs longer than original planned they will tack on extra fees. Why? Well, they will have to keep staff on longer than first scheduled so they will pass along the costs to you.
How To Avoid This Extra Wedding Costs…easy! Don’t keep on partying past your scheduled time. But honestly, if you love to party and think you might want to extend the reception get the details upfront. Ask all of your vendors in advance what their overtime fees are so that you are prepared for the extra expense.
Extra Band Equipment
Having a live band at your wedding is an epic experience and when you sit down to book them you will be told their fee. But a little hidden cost may slap you in the face days before the wedding day.
You see, there can be extra fees for additional speakers and equipment if your reception venue is large. Not to mention, overtime fees if you party too hard.
How To Avoid This Extra Wedding Cost… Have your wedding band meet you at the reception venue early in the wedding planning stages so you can get an accurate cost.
Postage Stamps
Guess what! Your wedding invitations do not come pre-stamped. You will need to include postage for your save-the-dates and wedding invitations into your budget. At today’s rates, if you have 150 guests that would be $82.50 for both your wedding invitations and save-the-dates to be mailed ($165.00)
Not an earth-shattering cost but hey, if you don’t include it in the budget you might run out of money for something else.
How To Avoid Being Blindsided By This Cost. Use digital invitations and save-the-date cards… no postage necessary.
Unexpected Guests
Uh, the dreaded. Who in the heck shows up at a wedding without R.S.V.Ping? Oh, yeah! Wedding crashers and inconsiderate people. A good rule of thumb is to have at least a few hundred extra dollars saved in that budget for the last minute, day of things that pop up…like unexpected guests. So rude!
How To Avoid Being Blindsided By This Cost. Make sure to reach out to any and all invitees that have not R.S.V.P’d at least two weeks before your wedding. You will need to communicate the total number of guests to the caterers anyway. Following up with these guests will help you avoid this hidden wedding cost.
Keys To Avoiding Hidden Wedding Costs & Fees
Permits
Planning a wedding at a park, in your backyard, or on a beach, you may need a permit. Contact your local town government to inquire if it is needed for your desired wedding location. Don’t skip this step! It is such a minimal cost (approximately $50 – $250) that it is not worth risking having a problem on your wedding day. Think of it as peace of mind insurance.
Vendor Meals
News flash…you need to provide your vendors will some type of food options. Maybe not a complete meal but they will be with you for 5-6 hours so you should provide some sort of food for them to grub on. It is a common courtesy.
Wedding Insurance
In today’s modern times it is more important than ever that you purchase wedding insurance. This is not necessarily a hidden fee, it is more like a less-known commodity. This is “just in case shit happens” insurance but needed because you just never know. Think about all the thousands of weddings that have been canceled or postponed due to the Coronavirus. But it’s not just pandemics that it can save you from. Wedding insurance can help you if your wedding vendor doesn’t show up, or unexpectedly goes out of business and so many more catastrophes that you may not expect or imagine. Here is a full rundown…
Tasting Fees & Trial Runs
Time is money so don’t think for one second that you can book a hair or makeup trial and it will be free. For some reason, it is something that we don’t really think about or add to our wedding budget. Truth is, you will need to do a trial run on your hair and makeup and the stylist will charge you a fee. If you have a favorite stylist, ask them how much they charge for trial runs so that you are not unprepared when they ask for payment.
Setup & Teardown
Yep, you guessed it! There may be fees to clean up your wedding reception venue. Make sure that you inquire about your venue’s policy before you book them so that you can filter in this cost to your budget. Some reception halls allow you to clean it up yourself (but who wants to do that) while others will charge an additional fee to have their staff clean it up for you.
Be prepared and ask the right questions.
After The Wedding
Oh, boy! Just when you think the wedding costs have ended your hit with even more hidden wedding fees. Wondering what the after the wedding fees are?
Here are just a few;
- Cleaning & preserving your wedding gown
- Changing your name
- Thank you card postage
- Suit cleaning
- Honeymoon
