Green Weddings Showcase Images

How Much Is that Pink Elephant in the Room?

With every new potential client there are certain questions that I ask that serve many purposes. Be it venue location, event dates, event type, event theme, colors, etc. There are many things that I can tell from the answers to these questions. But often there is one question that no one likes to answer and that is the big pink elephant in the room, that question is, What is you budget?

There are many reasons for an event professional to know what the budget for an event is. A lot of people think that if they tell their event professional what their budget is that I will spend every dime of it and leave them with a poorly run and no-so- great looking event. In a way they are correct, I will spend every dime, keeping the budget in mind, using my professional vendor relationships to give them the best event I possibly can for that budgeted amount! Often times when a client is asking me for the world but knows they can’t afford it I simply add a “suggested enhancements” section to my proposals.

This way get they accurate pricing on the items they need and an idea of what the “extras” that they like but don’t know if they can afford costs.

Another reason is that if a Bride only has $3,000 budgeted for lighting for her wedding, I am not going to present ideas that she will fall in love, that cost $25,000 with only to find out once she gets my proposal that she can’t afford any of it!

There certainly are many ways to “light” an event. We’ve done events with $2,000 lighting budgets and I’ve done events with $100,000 lighting budgets. Knowing what the budget is from the start ensures that you will get the very best for your event dollars and you’re valuable time is not wasted wait for me to draft up a few more versions of the quote.