As you begin to total the expenses for your up-coming wedding, watching the numbers grow and unexpected costs rise, you may begin to look for ways to cut costs like hiring a friend or family member to perform a duty or duties on the day of the wedding. Before you consider this option I want to caution you. This may not always be the best idea!
Unless your friend is in the wedding industry, and/or a wedding vendor in your hometown, and has experience in the duty you are asking them to perform, I would think twice before paying for their ticket in exchange their “service.” For example, my best friend is a makeup artist specializing in weddings and commercial makeup application. When I asked her to do my make up for my wedding I knew I was in good hands.
When you hire friends and family who are non-wedding professionals they have a tendency to wreak havoc on you and your other vendors. Your friend does your hair and makeup, but moves slower than expected, thus throwing off the timeline for the wedding and all your other paid vendors. Or your cousin, the DJ who actually doesn’t have the right equipment so now it’s Spotify on someone’s iPhone for you. Or your bff is a budding videographer and decides to practice her skills at your wedding and can’t help getting in the way of the professional photographer. This is the worst, and still I could go on.
Although I caution you to think twice, I do understand the temptation to hire friends and family. It’s familiar, you’ve known each other for a long time, the need for a wedding service in exchange for (fill in the blank) seems like a good deal. However, these very same reasons may come back to haunt you. I feel there are better ways to save and I plan to share my Money Saving Tips For the Cost-Conscious Bride in next month’s installment.
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Quiana L. Adams, Managing Editor
