WEDDING TAX - is it real?
“We got hit with wedding tax”.
I frequently hear this from exhausted couples just trying to plan a nice wedding.
And I get it – as someone planning a wedding myself, those costs add up so quick!
But what even is wedding tax?
Is it really a thing?
And why do vendors and suppliers do it?
How can you tell if you’re being charged wedding tax?
I’m here to help answer all those questions!
“WHAT IS WEDDING TAX?”
‘Wedding Tax’ is the term people use when they feel that a price for goods or service has been raised specifically because suppliers and vendors know that people will pay more for a wedding.
“IS IT REALLY A THING?”
We need to break this question down into parts... are prices usually higher for a wedding than other events – absolutely.
But there’s a very good reason for this.
While I can’t speak on behalf of every single wedding vendor and supplier out there, there are legitimate reasons why we increase our prices when you say “wedding”, and I hope some of the below information can help ease your minds that you’re not just being screwed over by the team you have around you on your day.
“WHY DO THE PRICES RISE WHEN I SAY WEDDING AS OPPOSED TO ANY OTHER EVENT?”
The simple answer – because there is SO much more that goes into our work for a wedding compared to any other event.
Let’s take me, a celebrant conducting both funerals and weddings as an example. Package depending, I charge roughly double for a wedding compared to what I do for a funeral. Why is this when surely funerals also require so much care and consideration? They absolutely do, however...
- Weddings require at minimum an initial meeting, then a planning meeting (which is sometimes twice as long as a funeral planning meeting), then potentially a rehearsal too. Funerals usually require one roughly 60 minute meeting as funerals are planned in a much shorter time frame
- I have additional legal paperwork and certificates I’m responsible for when it comes to weddings which aren’t required for funerals
- I need to provide a working speaker, microphone, and sometimes music etc none of which I do for funerals; and I have to be responsible for the function and maintenance of that over $2,500 equipment, and have backups in case anything goes wrong
- I send draft scripts for weddings and not for funerals (where there’s far less prep time). This means much more back and forth communication, making changes and edits
- I have to spend roughly two hours getting ready on the day of a wedding and often have to travel over an hour each way
- The education to become a wedding celebrant cost over $2,000 and there are ongoing registration fees which don’t apply for funeral celebrants who also usually just get on-job training
- Weddings typically fall on weekends while funerals are usually during business hours
- For funerals, I have the incredible funeral arrangers who I work alongside who share the load of preparation and organisation
- I have to advertise and hustle for wedding work, whereas for funerals I have pre-existing relationships with homes who match me to families they know I’d suit
These are just a few examples, but you get the idea.
Am I charging more for weddings?
Sure am!
Is it a malicious Wedding Tax?
Nope – I may charge roughly double, but it’s clear there’s WAY more than double the work involved!
“BUT WHAT ABOUT OTHER SUPPLIERS AND VENDORS?”
Yup, weddings for most of us are really different to other events too.
Weddings often start earlier than functions, meaning we have to turn away other work for that entire day.
Venues like wineries have to turn away customers to close early for your private group to use the space. They are potentially losing a lot of income in turning customers away. So that “wedding tax” is for the privilege of making a public space private.
DJs have to be there for so much longer than functions or birthday parties, and often have to bump their own equipment in and out as opposed to using a pub’s pre-existing equipment. Some DJs (shout out to Tennyson Events) spend hours of unpaid time creating mash ups or editing aisle and reception songs to help your wedding sound exactly how you want, which is a lot more work than playing background music at a 2 hour lunch function on a Wednesday afternoon.
Photographers again are present for a wedding far longer than a birthday or function, and unlike those events, they’re required to guide a couple on poses, and know how to create mood and lighting and make you feel at ease, as opposed to simply capturing an “event”. There is a whole different skillset involved and often more expensive equipment too to capture the memories you’ll hang on the wall, show your kids, and treasure for a lifetime. They often have to travel to multiple locations, and even scout out those perfect photo spots before your day. The editing process is also far more detailed and couple-specific.
Florists – did they have to import the exact flowers you wanted because they’re out of season? Was what you chose out of a catalogue, or was it a bespoke arrangement custom made from a Pinterest mood board?
Some of your vendors are also project managers and time keepers that make your day run smooth in the absence of a wedding coordinator. Your photographer hands that baton to your celebrant, who passes it on to your venue manager and MC – all of us working together to time-keep your day and keep things running smoothly so you can just relax and enjoy. This is simply not the case for any other event – it’s a wedding-specific dance that we do together just for you.
“HOW CAN I TELL IF I’M REALLY BEING CHARGED WEDDING TAX”
I’m sure there are some people out there who are taking advantage of people just trying to plan their beautiful day. A great way to know if you’re being overcharged is to simply ask (politely) why something costs what it does. Vendors and suppliers are usually very happy to educate people on all the behind the curtain work they do that so often goes unrecognised.
If the price breakdown seems off or the math just aint mathin’, then you’ve found a potentially genuine ‘Wedding Tax’. For example, I enquired with a venue who charged a large venue hire fee for the privilege of using their space privately, but then also charged $230 p/h for a 4 hour drinks package of wine and beer... So for one drink an hour it was... $57.5 a drink. Hm...
They then ignored my email asking how much a glass of wine normally is when bought over the bar...
But is this wedding tax? Or is this simply the basics of economics - supply and demand? Ultimately, if a venue is so popular, and has worked so hard to be a coveted space to get married, and people are willing to pay their prices for the privilege of their specific skills and assets; then as far as I’m concerned, they’re entitled to charge whatever they want, and we the people are entitled to decide whether or not we want to pay that price.
So, next time you find yourself wanting to yell “YOU’RE OVER PRICED”, consider or just straight up ask what goes into that pricing. In fact, it might not be that they’re overpriced, it might just be they’re not in your budget. Remember that a bespoke private function put together by the labour and skill of various sole traders working entirely on commission –unfortunately that is just going to cost you.