“I’m not sure if I have encountered that, if I got charged extra because it’s for a wedding,” Eldred said.
But a Consumer Reports secret shopper investigation found vendors quoted higher prices for weddings more than a quarter of the time, and ⅔ of couples go over budget.
“Wedding are emotionally driven purchases and there are vendors out there that might take advantage of something like that,” said wedding planner Kathy Piech-Lukas, owner of Your Dream Day in Oakwood.
To save money, Piech-Lukas says brides-to-be need to chose a number of guests and stick to it, be prepared to negotiate, limit the open bar and/ or find a vendor who will let you return unopened alcohol, and only use flowers that are in season. (watch the video for more)
Another cost cutting move—fake your cake.
“If you can rent a display cake and have the bottom layer be the layer that you really cut into nobody’s going to know that 3 out of the 4 layers are actually Styrofoam underneath,” Piech-Lukas said.
Rachel Murray is a WHIO-TV consumer reporter. You can watch her reports on News Center 7, follow her on Twitter @RMurrayWHIO, and like her fan page on Facebook.
About the Author