Your wedding day is a day you wait your entire life for, so it must be perfect. You’ve planned it all down to the very last detail; a stunning bouquet, wonderful venue and a photographer that’s sure to capture images worthy of Instagram memories.
However, planning a wedding is expensive – we all know that. Most people are partial to saving a little money when they can, so why should your wedding be any different?
Below you can find 6 essential wedding entertainment money saving tips that will leave you with a little more cash you can use to splash out on the essentials …such as champagne!
1. Skip Summer Saturdays
Our first wedding entertainment money saving tips is a big one – Saturdays are the most sought-after days to marry, and most full time entertainers know this – which means they can charge a premium. During the summer entertainers are usually very busy as there is no shortage of work available. Because of this they won’t be offering any special deals or discounts, as this is prime time to quote full price.
If you are planning to hold your wedding in the quieter months of the year, such as January through to March or October to November, then you are in luck. Whatever your entertainment choice, there is a much greater chance that in the quieter months of the year performers are on the look out for securing that extra gig.
Holding your wedding out of the busy seasons has other advantages too; your venue is likely to charge less, marquee suppliers tend to offer discounts, you will have a greater choice of available dates for your church, registry office or civil ceremony registrar, and best of all more of your guests are likely to be able to attend as they won’t have family holidays booked.
2. Book Local
Anyone that drives a car knows that the cost of driving in the UK has steadily been increasing since as long as we can remember and for a full time entertainer this can add up to a pretty expensive necessity. After totalling up fuel costs, motorway tolls and of course the ludicrous price of service station ‘food’ there’s no wonder most performers jump at the opportunity to perform locally (or even semi-locally) – that’s why it’s one of our great wedding entertainment money saving tips to book local.
This has a huge knock on effect when it comes to booking your wedding entertainment as not only will it save you having to fork out for your entertainers travel costs, it could also eliminate the need for overnight accommodation, it can even reduce your performer’s travel time – which may result in you getting a longer performance – and a bit more bang for your buck!
We have created our very own local performer guide to use when you’re selecting your entertainment, just simply use the handy drop down menu at the bottom of any of our Performer or Themed Package pages.
3. If you don’t ask, You don’t get
Next up on our wedding entertainment money saving tips list is – When booking entertainment there’s no harm in getting lots of different quotes from lots of different acts. There’s tons to choose from – from Jugglers to Aerialists, Contortionists to Magicians each have their own fee specific to their act.
Knowing these can then be useful for negotiating if there’s one you really like – and remember negotiating isn’t always about getting money off, it could be getting an extra hour of the DJ’s time or some walkabout entertainment thrown in for free. The worst the act can say is no, and if it’s yes, excellent!
4. Avoid early fees
Another one of our great wedding entertainment money saving tips that is often overlooked – venues often tell you that it’s better to have your entertainment arrive early. Arriving early in the day does have its advantages – the entertainment will have the time to have a look around the venue, set up their equipment and be out of the way by the time your first guests begin to arrive. However, while this is often a great idea in theory it can also cost £100’s more in waiting fees, as most performers charge a fee per hour if they are required to arrive before 5pm.
Most performers actually don’t need to do this, as venues often have easy access to the performance area where the performers can setup any necessary equipment discreetly. Full time performers are highly experienced in finding a window of opportunity such as after the meal or speeches to set up without intruding.
5. Book multi-skilled performers
Like the idea of having a stilt walker greeting your guests on their arrival? Quite fancy the idea of a fire performer as a grand finale? …why not book a performer who can do both!
An important one of our wedding entertainment money saving tips is about using a little insider information – Most entertainers have more than one string to their bow and can actually provide a range of different entertainment. It’s a great way to save money on any wedding, as you are only paying for one set of travel costs, one set of equipment to be set up, one set of meals, one set of accommodation, etc. When your guests see your chosen performer on stage they’ll suddenly recognise them from welcoming them on their arrival – and are usually rather impressed as to how versatile they are!
6. Avoid preferred suppliers
Up last, but certainly not least, in our wedding entertainment money saving tips list regards venues and their preferred suppliers.
Plenty of venues are happy for you to bring in your own DJ, photographer, caterer, etc and the same goes for entertainers too. It might mean sacrificing your first choice of venue, and will definitely require a bit more legwork to find quotes and book, but it could save you several thousands of pounds if you approach a reputable entertainment agency rather than using the venue’s preferred suppliers.
For more wedding entertainment money saving tips, feel free to consult any of the Oddle Entertainment team over on our Contact Page – we’re here to help.