Man approaches you. Says, hey Savvy Wedding Pro, I have the “IN” on a ONE MILLION DOLLAR wedding. It’s yours–all you have to do is give me 40%. Deal?
What would you say?
This isn’t a hypothetical question. I honestly know of a well-known florist who was offered this exact scenario.
It sounds heavenly… ONE MILLION DOLLARS in your pocket and you don’t even have to bid, plead, beg or schmooze your way in. There’s only one hiccup–your contact wants $400,000 of it.
What do you do?
What REALLY would you do??
This advice holds true no matter the size of the wedding: Figure out your costs first and make certain you will still be profitable!! On a million dollar wedding, you have a LOT of product and a TON of labor to think about!! DO your numbers first. If you can keep costs to 50%, meaning $500,000 (less would be way better), then you pocket $100,000 after it’s all said and done. IS THAT WORTH IT TO YOU?!?!?!?
The Bigger Question: Is it a good idea to “buy” weddings? Give a kick-back to a wedding planner or outside source, just for bringing you this amazing opportunity?
This debate recently ignited at a mastermind group I was speaking to last month. To pay or not to pay, that is the question. It has always been my philosophy NOT to pay, and I was shocked at how many wedding pros in the room pay to play, especially paying wedding planners for bringing them weddings. I heard numbers up to 20% as the “finders fee” for the wedding. In my opinion, your work should be proof enough and you should never have to pay a venue or a planner for a wedding. Taking them out for lunch, gift baskets, special treats…okay fine. Schmoozing is one thing. Outright paying them a cut is another.
So with this post this week, I want to open up the debate. Do you currently offer a kick-back in the form of a cut of the wedding, to planners, venues, or other sources? Why or why not? Would you (if you don’t now) if the opportunity presented itself? I’m really interested to hear from planners and their take on being paid for weddings. **Please share in the comments below!
And for the record, my wedding-pro friend as mentioned in the beginning of this post…well, he did NOT accept the deal and lost the Million Dollar contract. He’s okay with it, knowing he did the right thing. 🙂
I am a wedding planner and I have never asked or received a kick back or have I been “payed to play”. I believe as a wedding planner it is my job to hire or suggest the best vendors in the area. I would never want a client to be dissatisfied with a vendor and come to me and say “you only suggested that vendor because they pay you” That would be awful. I think vendor referral works both ways. I will make a lot more money in the long run due to the best vendors referring my services. I think it builds a sense of “family” we are all in this together to make a living and we can help each other out by referrals and build a sense of community.
Well said, Clay!!
I am a videographer and I don’t pay others(planners, etc), the venues/planners, etc I’ve worked with know my work and refer me based on that. Do I potentially lose work from places I’ve not been to yet, yes probably but those that “require payment” to be on the “preferred” vendor list, are not necessarily places I want to work at.
Joe, we feel the same way!! We should be on a preferred vendor list because we do great work, not because we paid $2000 annually…
I do not pay, unfortunately there are those in my area that do. I do have vendors, such as the rental company, that offer a discount if I am contracting with them. Weddings cost more and more and seems the budgets are less and less. If we all just work together and price it fro our own profitability and not having to jack up the price to cover those kick backs – the wedding business would be better for everyone.
Agreed, Tim! I also wish, as a fellow florist, that home-based florists would charge in line with us brick-and-mortars to level the playing field, since you brought up pricing for profit and working together, but that’s another blog post. 🙂