Fancy = Expensive

The last meeting of our Saturday planning marathon took us to a small town 40 miles from WI. The winding country roads ultimately led us up to a sorta worn down building in the City of New Glarus. Who woulda thought that this town would be home to a high class wedding designer.

To begin we went through so much paperwork and prepping I thought she had already received a deposit and was ready to get started. It so very much reminded me that I should have all the vendors we are using in one simple place so I don't have to look like a fool trying to find them in my overflowing binder. Not to mention she wanted to know so much information I can't even remember all that we told her. One thing for sure is she complimented our engagement story. I almost feel like I should enter it in a contest for best proposals of all time!!!

During the consultation Dan and I worked out some ideas and got some good feedback from her which was nice and helpful. However, it became increasingly clear that this woman wants to be a wedding planner and total designer. From scratch she would love to make the room her design. She listened but not very well. We started off by saying we wanted a simple affair and she wanted to bring in linens, room divider, complicated centerpieces (she didn't really like our idea) and just all this stuff I never even wanted to consider. Simple is the key to this affair and we want to keep it that way. So while the design part went okay I would maybe say good because a free brainstorm session with a wedding designer doesn't hurt.

The designer then went to a whole other level when she brought out the contract. This is where this post gets scary. I'm going to approach this by saying hold onto your wallets bc she is coming after you. She charges $500 just to design. Did you hear me 500 just to begin working on the wedding, that is the retainer fee, the money doesn't apply toward anything. Well I guess we get her bible of wedding day details but still $500. Can anyone hear me yelling? Needless to say once we read through all the other fees she tacks on for the sake of charging more her services (no decor at this point) reach the max of our budget. This was a real slap in the face. So in my small bouts (very small) of assertiveness I actually mentioned to her that the retainer is 1/3 of our total budget for the decor and flowers. I also asked her what the typical cost of weddings she has done are. Her answers... well frankly I think your budget is really low for what we discussed, i can't even do the bouquets for $1000 and the smallest she did was $2000 on decor alone and upwards of $30,000. Now for you out there reading this, YES someone in Madison, WI (not NYC) is spending 30,000 on decorations. This blows my mind. If I want to spend $30,000 on something it would be a car or maybe down payment on a house not decorations.

Are you all shocked and blown away? This little design consultation actually satisfied Dan and I too a large degree. One: We don't care about decorations or the design to spend anymore than our budget. The wedding is not about that and her design would again steer toward more fancy and formal affair. Two: She was way too off for Dan and my style and the business relationship would just get weird having her daughter draw up pictures of plain and simple decor. Three: We got a free consultation with a trained designer and got to pick her brain for ideas and solutions to some problems we had encountered. Not too shabby.

So I say when I get around to it I will gracefully tell her that we will not be working with her. Not that I think she expects us too. In the mean time Dan and I have been recording some ideas for things we could on our own and still look nice. Also perhaps even look somewhat professional just not with the same price.

Oh by the way, Dan and I are super creative and so you better get ready for some really good fun.