You Get What You Pay For?

You Get What You Pay For?

May 8th, 2007 @ 2:51 pm by Mrs. Apple
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Do you believe in that?

As a continuation from my previous post, so far I’ve had a good experience with most of my vendors. I guess it could be because I’m paying a premium for it - with the only exceptions being my wedding dress (Lulu’s Bridal) and my florist (Miss Plum, who’s charging me at cost because she’s working on her floral business and portfolio). But from what I’ve seen firsthand of her personal taste and floral work, she’ll be charging a high premium too! Haha Miss Plum, don’t take offense to that at all - it’s a compliment!

I chose most of my big purchase vendors by looking at their portfolios. It so happened that they’re also charging me an arm and a leg. So when people say, “You get what you pay for”, do you think it’s pretty accurate? For example, my venue (includes food, service, liquor, venue fees, etc.) alone can also be someone’s annual income! I have nothing bad to say about the kind of service they have provided me and I have no doubt the service will be top notch on the day of. But is it worth $25-30,000+ for it? I am definitely paying a premium.

But I’ve also gone the cheap route and have heard great reviews, too. For example, I could have ordered my save the dates from a fantabulously expensive designer but I ended up having a friend take a nice photo of us at the Ft Worth Gardens. He did some touch ups and editing on Photoshop, we printed them at Wolf Camera, glued them onto some chocolate card stock, and mailed them out. Of course, not as pretty as some std’s that I’ve seen but definitely worth more than free. -) If we had hired a photographer to do the exact same thing, would it have cost me double? Would it have looked that much better?

Do you think paying a premium is worth it?

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9 Responses to “You Get What You Pay For?”

Guest

tofu

since you’re getting married on a sunday, did you negotiate and hopefully saved some money? most vendors for non-saturday weddings command a smaller fee. but then again, your wedding falls on memorial day weekend so maybe not?

i do believe you get what you pay for…for some things. skills/service, yes. other things, not so sure.

5/8/07 @ 3:08 pm (reply)

Guest

i think it depends…b/c a vendor who is just starting off may not charge premium prices but may posess the talent/skill, etc…i think at times its worth it, and at other times you can totally use bargain vendors

i love your Std’s! they came out great!~

5/8/07 @ 3:50 pm (reply)

Guest

We’re paying premium for quite a few of our vendors. But I have to say that over the period of our planning, I’ve learned it’s NOT always true more expensive = good. We “had” a vendor whose rate was on the higher end of the stick, and she turned out to be our most disappointing vendor. It surprised us because she’s “supposed” to be more highly regarded than the others in her industry. And we could not for the lives of us see why. There is also the example of some of the products we’ve purchased. In particular this one product costed more than the other one. I bought it thinking it must be of better quality. Its quality turned out to be so bad that I had to return all of it. Bought the cheaper one and it was much better made. So although I still believe in it for the most part, now I no longer always insist on the concept “You get what you pay for”, because there are definitely exceptions.

5/8/07 @ 4:09 pm (reply)

Guest

HappyHappy

Your Save the Date cannot be improved upon! It must be wonderful to have such talent and sweet friends. My weddingbee name will be Miss Fru-gal. I firmly believe that there is a way not to break the bank while putting on a quality show…just takes a little research!

5/8/07 @ 4:30 pm (reply)

Guest

bliss

I definatly think you get what you pay for. I am paying a good amount of money for only the things I thought were important. Photographer, my dress, food. But we did luck out and get our venues for 50% off since we are members of the community!

5/8/07 @ 4:52 pm (reply)

Guest

Iris

I think it should be more about value than cost.

5/8/07 @ 6:29 pm (reply)

Guest

Wow, that is a really beautiful picture Miss Emerald. Very sharp colors…I am in awe! You’re so lucky to have such a talented friend!

5/8/07 @ 7:27 pm (reply)

Guest

Julie

Well, that is definitely over what I make in a year. Luckily my fiance earns over triple my income.

To me, it wouldn’t be worth it to pay that high of a premium. My budget is only $10,000 and I’ve chosen 3 items that are worth the extra cost (which bumped me closer to $12,000)–an open bar with all mixers and liquors (for a fun evening), laser-cut invites (I’m a paper addict), and my photographer (to remember the day). I cut back on other things too and it all balanced out. I would avoid going premium on everything, but choosing the 3 most important things and splurging on this is a bit more reasonable. Plus, I live in a subrural area so it’s easier to budget.

5/8/07 @ 7:40 pm (reply)

Guest

Miss Apple

L - hahaha, I am Miss Apple not Miss Emerald - though we kind of look alike. -) Thanks though, I’ll take the compliment! =)

5/8/07 @ 10:31 pm (reply)