Sticker Shock

View quoted message I'm super excited to have her apart of my day!

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I've signed with them but my wedding isn't until June, so I don't know what my bouquets will actually look like until around April. However, I'm quite happy based on all of their photos and their reviews are glowing. We're having a neutral colour palette so greenery actually works best for us, but it didn't stand out to me that there was too much.

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That's so awesome you have your aunt! Yes, I think I'll have to weed through every MUA in Toronto to find one in the budget haha

View quoted message Thank you Laura, I connected with them, did you have a good ratio of flowers and greenery? Their pictures seem to have so much more green than flower. How was yours?

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I totally understand!! I can't believe what some ladies are charging these days! You might have to keep on looking until you find a hidden gem maybe! I did that with my makeup artist. 200 for mine and 100 for my MOH. For hair I'm very fortunate enough that my aunt is a hair stylist for Alberta Film and Television so she is honored to do my hair and my MOH's!!

My latest struggle is hair and makeup. I understand that we're right in Toronto, but a majority of MUA/hairstylists are charging upwards of $500 for bridal and $200-300+ for bridesmaids. I can't imagine asking my bridesmaids to pay that but also cannot afford to cover that cost for them. It's insane!

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Kelly, check out Callia floral. I, too, was shocked at the price of flowers but they are really reasonable because its not completely custom (which i'm okay with). Their work and reviews are phenomenal and were paying $700 for 1 extra large bride bouquet, 5 bridesmaids bouquets, 12 boutonnieres and 4 corsages. I feel good about working with them and still get real floral. If you only need a small amount, they'll do it for you.

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Every part of a wedding is expensive no matter how you look at it. Officiants are up there as well. We're paying 425 for ours and we're in BC and every province will be different

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That's so great o hear that you had a wonderful experience

Literally everything LOL

But honestly - we got lucky in that my SO is a part of the photography world, so he got a friend to get on board at no cost.

My first choice of venue had a minimum food/alcohol spend of my entire budget for the date we wanted, so out the window went that idea.

We finally found an affordable DJ, but he doesn't have a lot of reviews, so I'm hoping we made the right choice!

Next I'm looking at day-of coordinators who can handle setup/tear down. That cost has been surprising, but I'm getting over the sticker shock.

Florals I'm surprised at the cost of faux florals for DIYing my bouquets, etc.

Right now I'm caught up on the cost of an officiant - I literally want a 20 minute ceremony. I haven't contacted any yet for quotes, but I've heard they're around $400.

Yes absolutely, Sima Florist and Rana Attia Events did above and beyond their cost, it felt like they took it personally make the day as beautiful as possible and they are extremely nice to work with!

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Wow that seems like a lot for just 5 items! That's crazy!! My fiance and I paid just under $1000 for 2 bouquets, 6 boutonnieres, 5 corsages and 10 centerpieces

Yes! We have a very small floral order- brides bouquet, 3 bridesmaid bouquets and 2 boutonnieres- many florist refused to quote because the order was too small. A vendor that does faux flowers wanted over $800 for such a tiny order - no thanks... perhaps a DIY project for Team Bride????

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Florists were one of our sticker shocks as well but we were lucky enough to find a hidden gem in our city for the fraction of the cost of someone else! And that's awesome that you were able to find a photographer for a great price!

Yes! I have really found a lot of disbursement in vendor pricing. Photographers and florists were two of the biggest ones that stuck out to me! I tried not to look right at price when looking at photographers, rather their work and recommendations as well as their personality and this worked in my favor! I ended up booking a lovely local gal to do my photos and her price is INCREDIBLE. All my other friends that are already married or have already set up other vendors for their up and coming wedding can't believe how good of a deal we got!

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Yeah we couldn't believe the wide range of prices for photographers either!

Its no surprise how much vendors are costing for the services/packages to clients for the wedding day. Besides the biggest expense of the venue, the photographer was next expensive vendor costing $1300 as oppose to others wanting $2500 for the day. He was amazing for what he did and to bring a second person for the price.

View quoted message Yes I totally understand what you mean! My fiance and I went to probably 10 different florists before we found the one and actually my mom found her.
Ya some want one third of a payment or even half of a down payment and that alone is alot even if you get a great deal

View quoted message But if you want perfect decorations etc it’s costly and I’m currently trying to pay the photographer and that alone is expensive as well!

View quoted message Oh yes! Florists can be very expensive!

Hi Amanda,


It was a shock for me and my fiancé how much it costs for a wedding with the florists etc. I kinda knew this with both my brother’s weddings how much work is involved.

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I totally agree with the range for florists! It's crazy how much some were asking!

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We were so surprised with the range of styles of DJ's out there also!

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That's a steal. I can't imagine a decorated venue that would offer a full course meal and an all-night open bar for <$75pp, especially in a major city like Montreal of all places.

View quoted message Food and open bar only for a few hours. Decorations weren’t included, taxes and gratuity also . Found a nicer hall for less than half with open bar all night + food + decorations + gratuity and taxes

View quoted message Totally agree with this. Hair and makeup were shocking when you put "bride" on the inquiry. We used the spa & salon at the hotel we stayed at so it was the salon prices, which was so nice. Florists too I found were a huge range. We paid $1600 roughly (which I thought was extremely reasonable) but some places don't even start talking to you unless your budget is 3k+. I even saw one that was 4k minimum. Everyone else I felt was fair for the experience and services provided. There was one venue that was 10k more than ours and offered less - so that wasn't a shock but definitely a quick no for us. Their grounds were beautiful but the inside was average (looked like a generic wedding hall). We had heard their food isn't as good either. Weddings cost a lot - it is what it is!

View quoted message I asked for whatever flowers are in season that are white and various shades of pink. I'm not really a flower girl so I'm very flexible on whatever flowers

Hair and makeup were the only costs that made me question my sanity. I've booked hair and makeup for celebrities before so I knew a ballpark cost but I guess once we tacked on the term "wedding," a lot of vendors tried to take advantage.

Everything else like venues, photographers, DJs, etc didn't so much shock me with their rates but I was surprised at the range that's available out there. A DJ can be found for $500 vs $5000. And the quality associated with such range. You see a lot of amateur photographers who can't shoot to save their lives trying to charge pro rates ($3000+ for 8 hrs) because they think they're worth market rate.

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That is nuts. Were you asking for flowers grown on top of the Himalayas or something? lol

View quoted message Mine plus 5 "bridesmaid" and 4 boutonnieres

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What does $60K include though? I assume food and open bar. Does it include the tax and gratuity too? If so, that sounds about right for 300 people.

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How many bouquets were you ordering?