Florists are unlikely to mark up their prices for weddings. Photo by Peter Coombs.
If you’re familiar with Consumer Reports, you probably associate the magazine with reviews for cars and appliances. Every once in a while, though, they do something else. Their June 2016 issue has some reporting on wedding pricing that I found interesting.
The CR team made phone calls to wedding/event vendors in several markets and asked for pricing on two identical events, a wedding and an anniversary party. They found that some types of vendors were more likely than others to have a wedding surcharge. Specifically, photographers and limo companies were most likely to increase their prices for a wedding. Some caterers also have higher wedding prices.
Interestingly, they found that florists, photo booth rentals, and bakeries did not generally have a mark-up for a wedding. (For bakeries, they only priced sheet cakes, not wedding cakes, which are notoriously expensive.) I was glad to read this research, since it matches my experience, as well.
I don’t rush to judgment on vendors who raise their prices for a wedding. In any field, there are always some people out to gouge their customers, but, for the most part, it’s likely that the extra level of service required of weddings is a good justification for higher prices. After all, you don’t want to skimp on service! But this information is helpful to savvy consumers on a budget who want to know where their wedding dollar is going.
You can read the whole article on the CR website.
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