Planning A Wedding For The Books On Budget With The Budget Savvy Bride, Jessica Bishop

Weddings these days are evolving to be savvier and costlier. In this episode, Jamie Wolfer and Heather Loree Fier interview the fantastic Jessica Bishop from Budget Savvy Bride. Here, she talks about why there is tension between the budget wedding community and the general wedding industry. Even so, there is always a way to balance it out, which Jessica can help us with. She shares how the wedding industry can help each other and where the niche is heading. Jessica then shares how vendors with budget resources can grow what they have.

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About Jessica Bishop

Jessica Bishop is the founder of TheBudgetSavvyBride.com, the #1 online resource to help couples all across the world plan a beautiful wedding they can actually afford.

Jessica is known as a Budget Wedding Expert and has shared her money-saving tips and tricks with outlets such as GMA, BRIDES, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Huffington Post, Refinery 29 and more.

Her first book, The Budget-Savvy Wedding Planner & Organizer, is an Amazon best-seller.

Planning A Wedding For The Books On Budget With The Budget Savvy Bride, Jessica Bishop

Jamie: In this episode, we have the fantastic Jessica Bishop from Budget Savvy Bride. We have both been fans of hers for long and I cannot believe we got her on our show. We’re going to be discussing quite a few different things. We’re going to talk about why there is tension between the budget wedding community and the general wedding industry. We’re going to talk about how these adversaries, the budget wedding community, and the wedding industry can help each other. Where we see the future of the wedding industry going and why it’s time for that shift and how we as vendors can ally ourselves with budget resources and potentially even grow these budget resources for ourselves too.

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Jamie: Jessica, thank you for joining us. We are excited to have you with us.

Jessica: Thank you for having me. I’m super excited to chat with you.

Jamie: I feel like I have been dying to get on with you because I hear many great things from Heather. I’ve casually stopped your website for a long time. I’m excited to know your thoughts.

Jessica: I’m a big fan of your YouTube channel and a lot of the girls in my Facebook group talk about you constantly. They’re like, “Jamie’s the best.”

Heather: Jamie’s the best. That’s why this is the superpower team right here to talk about budget weddings. I am pumped. We have such an interesting topic for the readers. I’m trying to bring together the wedding industry at large with the budget-minded couple. Sometimes I feel there’s a lot of tension between these two different groups. You have some of the vendors and the bigger companies in the wedding industry who don’t love what we share that we’ve given some ideas on how to do things in an affordable way. It’s okay to be cheap sometimes. It’s not that bad of a thing. How are we going to break this tension? Why do we think there’s that tension? Jessica, what are your thoughts?

Jessica: I honestly think it’s a misconception or misunderstanding. Maybe on the other side of the board that those of us who are more focused on the budget couples or sharing budget resources maybe don’t value what the professionals bring to the table. We do share alternatives and ways for couples to do things themselves if their budget doesn’t allow. I feel that’s not true. For me personally, it’s always about if you can afford it and you find something to be a priority for you, hire a professional and spend the money. If you can’t, here are some solutions and some alternatives to help you save money and do it yourself.

Heather: Jamie, did you have anything to add to that?

Creating more resources to serve people and help them to do things economically is the way of the future. Click To Tweet

Jamie: I feel this one hard. I read this question that we had and I thought this is literally the war that I have within myself for my YouTube channel because I’m a wedding planner and I value all of these vendors that I work with. I know what they bring to the table, but I also know that I planned my wedding at $8,500. A lot of my viewers are in that same boat that they don’t have the money. I felt this tension early on and it’s something that I’ve built through and discovered as I’ve gone forward. There is a, “I can’t afford all the professional vendors,” camp and we need to serve them. There is that tension I feel at war within myself. I do see some of the DIY things take longer to set up, take longer to tear down, but I also know that you can’t invent money. It would be great to hire a wedding planner. It would be great to have that wonderful DJ with a great personality. If you don’t have the money, you don’t have the money. We still need to find a way to serve these couples.

Heather: These couples need guidance and from the statistics I’ve looked at, it’s about 70% of couples can’t hire a professional planner. They’re missing out on a ton of guidance there. The fact that they can’t afford a planner just shows their budget is a lot smaller than they probably prefer it to be. That doesn’t mean they can’t have the wedding they want. Having some safe havens, the different resources we provide where there are resources and people telling them, “You’ve got this, you can do this at this price point.” Do not be afraid because some of the bigger guys out there are saying some large numbers that you’ve got to spend. That’s not necessarily true. A wedding is not about a lot of the details we tend to fixate on as we’re having some planning of an event, it’s about the two people and celebrating that day and bringing together your community, your tribe to be like, “Let’s make this magic happen and celebrate you two.”

Reframing it and focusing on serving the couples, we can get a little bit away from that tension. The tension to me comes from a scarcity mindset in this industry. Everybody is afraid if there are these resources where you can do what I did for the party and forge in your yard to make a bunch of bouquets. That takes effort. If people want to put the effort in instead of putting money in, that’s okay. That does not mean there are other people who are like, “No, I’m not getting my hands dirty,” and want to go pay for a pro. There’s a shoe that fits every foot and in this industry we don’t need to be afraid by this threat of the other. Remembering to serve the clients and people are in all price points and being cognizant of that is huge. There’s this tension there. Jessica, do you want to add anything else to this idea? I feel you’re such an expert on this since you’ve been talking about this for many years. I know you’ve had even some moments where the industry at large, some of the vendors turned on you. You had a little army march on your website.

Jessica: To speak to what you mentioned about having a scarcity mindset is a dangerous place for people to get to. Resources like ours are sharing ways for couples to do things themselves doesn’t mean that every couple is going to say, “I’m going to DIY everything now.” A couple who has a sizable budget isn’t going to decide to DIY their flowers or not hire a professional DJ because they read it on a website. If they have the money and it’s a priority for them, they’re going to spend. Not every client is going to be for you. As a wedding professional, people should keep that in mind, but to get to the example of the industry turning on me for sharing the resources that I have. A few years ago, I have a series of wedding budget tips that I share. Alternatives for couples to save money. One is if you can’t afford to hire a professional DJ, here’s an option to do it yourself. Getting speakers, setting them up, creating your playlist and how to create a playlist that keeps the party going and everything like that.

Trying to make it as helpful as possible to those who truly can’t afford it or maybe don’t prioritize it and want to spend that money elsewhere, not at all. To discount the value and service that a great professional DJ with a great personality can provide, but it must’ve gotten shared in a DJ forum. They descended upon my website and my Facebook page. I got some of the nastiest comments ever. This is what hurts me and what hurts the couples in the end. The most or makes me feel sad is that they were saying, “If you don’t hire a professional DJ, your wedding is going to suck. All of your family and friends are going to judge you. They’re going to have a horrible time.” Putting this fear-mongering and budget shaming attitude on it, that’s hurtful. I feel people are coming from a scarcity mindset when they’re reacting in that way. They are feeling threatened that their livelihood is going to be somehow hurt by people taking an alternate route. The truth is people who are going to go the DIY route aren’t your clients in the first place. You need to understand that.

Heather: That fear-mongering, if you’re a wedding vendor that is not going to help you sell things. It may in the short-term but in the long-term, people are going to be like, “This person is scary and they are selling with fear.” This is not a long-term plan and it’s definitely not building any bridges in the industry to help you figure out ways to serve more couples. I hate budget shaming. Jamie, do you have anything else you want to add and then we can jump along here?

Jamie: For me, it’s almost like why are you trying to sell a Mercedes to a person who’s trying to buy a Toyota? They’re never going to be able to buy a Mercedes or maybe they don’t want a Mercedes. It’s this snobby mentality that comes out. It’s okay, you don’t have to want to buy a Mercedes. You can get a used Toyota. A 1999 Camry is a perfect car. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s different priorities and budgets, so quit trying to sell them a G-Wagon when they don’t want it. It can come across as pushy and snobby if people aren’t careful with their language. That’s something that vendors need to be aware of. There is a keester for every seat for a bunch of clients out there. I don’t want all of them. I only want the clients that are right for me. A DJ should want the clients that are right for them. They shouldn’t want all the clients because then they’re going to be burnt out. It’s important to segue to the next talking point. It’s important to figure out. Jessica, how can these adversaries help each other in these situations, the budget bride helpers versus the professional marching angry DJs?

Budget Savvy Bride: The people who are going to go the right DIY route aren’t your clients in the first place.

Jessica: Aligning yourself with resources that are trustworthy. Jamie, you have a wedding clinic course and Heather has a planning club where couples can get support along the way throughout their planning. I share a ton of resources as well on my site, instead of making a couple feel bad that they maybe can’t afford you. You mentioned, Jamie, being careful with your language and the delivery of that information. Sharing other options and alternatives with them. That’s why people gravitate towards our content is that we’re sharing alternatives and doing it in a way that’s valuable and helpful to people. Even if a couple can’t afford you, giving them alternatives, it’s going to leave them with a better impression than saying, “Sorry, I can’t work with you on your budget,” and making them feel bad or less than.

Jamie: To build on this idea, I think there’s even an opportunity for vendors to benefit from resources like ours. I know personally, I do not tell couples even if they’re on a tight budget that they should not hire a single vendor. I guide them to pick their priorities and then find amazing vendors to service their top needs. That means if you go to a resource like mine or probably one of these other ladies, I can’t speak for them, that you tell them, “I’d love to contribute. I’d love to give ideas and help provide information to your audience,” or perhaps go and team up with others in this community in creative ways. Thinking in this horizontal growth versus vertical growth with your business that you can find clients who have a high priority that aligns with what you do and then give them guidance on how to save in other ways.

They are going to have a limited budget at whatever point. Everybody eventually does even the Kardashians. They may be blowing millions, but eventually they’re going to go, “This is even over the top for us.” It would be a high number before they stop. For the normal people in the world, we’re looking at maybe $100,000, a needy wedding budget. They’re still going to have certain things that they prioritize more and other aspects where they’re like, “I don’t want to spend that much on that specific thing.” Figuring out how to guide people and help people with what you do and what options they have to save in other areas that may not be as important to them. That way you can utilize the things we’re talking about and not look at it as too low class for you that we’re talking about the good deals and hunting around thrift stores. The reality is why not? Why create more waste on the planet? You’re doing a good thing for the planet and your wallet when you’re using those resources.

Heather: I wish there were more budget-friendly options out there. I wish there was a DJ talking about how to be your own budget DJ. I know a lot of florists are catching onto this trend, but I wish there were more of them that were teaching courses on how to make your own floral displays or how to be a wedding efficient. I wish there are more resources I can point my clients because not everyone’s going to go for a pro in every single area.

Jamie: Having more resources out there, for you guys who are vendors, this widens your net. I know a lot of you build your businesses to focus on people at certain price points. You don’t want to list your pricing on your site because you don’t want to give people sticker shock. All these things are common in the industry. If you think about it, there are probably a lot more people who can’t afford you who would love to work with you or work with your brand. If you can figure out a way to create some package, you can make something that’s automated and easy to scale and not involving you personally. Your time is valuable, your craft and your skills. I wouldn’t say downplay your value, but figure out a way to package that good stuff up in a way that you can scale it and share it with everybody, those people who aren’t hitting your price points. Jessica, do you have any ideas on where the future of this wedding industry might be going and if you see a shift that more people are interested in these budget ideas?

Jessica: I think so. Finding ways for vendors to share their knowledge in a way that’s more easily packaged, automated and does it require much of their time is a great investment of their energy and their time and be able to serve those budget couples. I do think that it’s a little bit troubling to me that the reported averages of the national average wedding budget are approaching $34,000. According to the census reports, half of the population earns $30,000 a year. I don’t see how that equates or adds up. Creating more and more resources to serve people and help them to do things economically is the way of the future and that more vendors should embrace it.

Jamie: I’m getting fired up listening to Jessica because like you said, Heather, if 70% of the couples getting married in the United States aren’t hiring a planner, that tells me that either they want to do it themselves or they have to do it themselves. Which in most cases, at least from what I’ve seen, once you hit a certain point for your budget, you tend to hire a planner or at least a day-of coordinator. That means we’re talking about the most underserved population getting married. That is the more budgeted couples. There are resources. How do we come alongside them? Jessica, you’re doing an incredible job with this. Heather, with your club and I’m attempting to do it with my channel.

We need more of this. We need more people with more resources serving that 70%. They’re doing it either because they don’t want to have a planner and they want to do this themselves, but they still need help navigating it or they can’t afford a planner and they need help navigating it. I certainly see that we need as vendors to take it upon ourselves to see if we can grow that 70%. How can we serve them? How can we meet them? The craziest part is offering advice for free doesn’t help make you lose business. It’s one of the coolest things that I’ve learned about doing this channel. I’m sure you guys have experienced it too where you’re like, “It’s because I’m offering free advice doesn’t mean people stop hiring me.” To get rid of that fear and then move to that shift of how we serve the 70% that are not being served.

Having a scarcity mindset is a dangerous place for people to get to. Click To Tweet

Heather: The couples in general because of resources on the internet for free are getting smarter. They’re getting a little savvier. They’re also getting a little bit overwhelmed. There’s a little bit too much information scattered in the way. It can be maddening to these poor people going through this process of, “Who do I listen to?” There are many images, many beautiful things to get drawn into and go down a little spiral on the internet. Trying to come up with these resources that are a little more centralized can help people stay on track, put their blinders on, and focus on what they need to focus on in the planning process and not get lost in it at all. In addition to being smarter, couples are paying for their own weddings way more than ever. That impacts stuff too. When mommy and daddy are cutting the check, you don’t care if they want to spend a huge amount of money and they decided to liquidate money from their retirement accounts.

Probably it’s not the best decision, but that’s on them, not on you. As couples are paying for this themselves, it’s changing their mindset where they’re suddenly like, “Do I want to do this? Am I doing this because I’m worried my Aunt Sally is going to say something snarky?” That’s my thought on that. Maybe I’m mean to Aunt Sally. I love her and she’s a great lady, but she needs to keep her opinions to herself and realize couples are doing what they have to do to make their lives better. They’re dealing with a huge backpack full of debt from college. It’s a different thing for this generation.

Jamie: It’s funny that you go to Sally. My aunt is normally an Aunt Susie. The aunt that I refer to that’s over-opinionated because we all know who she is. We all have an Aunt Sally or an Aunt Susie in our lives and we’re like, “Here she comes with her opinions.” I’m like, “We both picked classic names.” I would have to agree with you. It’s prioritizing. The streamlining and putting the blinders on to outside opinions and sometimes when you’re being bombarded with a few too many spreadsheets or pie graphs on Pinterest and then you don’t know which way to go. Streamlining that process would be helpful for clients.

With all of this, we proved the point that’s needed to be proved. All agree that these resources are necessary. There is a huge community and presence in the United States getting married that are not necessarily being completely served by the wedding industry. There is that tension. There is that feeling of, “Don’t go the DIY route. Otherwise, your day is going to fail.” We’ve dove into it, it doesn’t matter. They’re going to buy the Toyota, so stop selling a G-Wagon. How can we have vendors with these wonderful free resources or budget resources? Jessica, what are your thoughts on that? How can we get vendors, one, to cross over that hurdle and two, align themselves with the mentality of these budget resources to better serve their clients?

Jessica: I love what Heather said about sharing resources with your couples. If their priority is photography and they want to spend all their money on you, giving them options and sharing resources where they can save in other areas. I thought that was a great suggestion. Another thing is considering creating more of those savvy packages. One thing that a lot of vendors struggle with is they fill out a certain portion of their calendar for the year, but then might have a few lingering dates that they would like to fill up. Maybe offering special packages if people book in a short lead timeline, that 3 to 6-month window for the couples who are booking last minute can help you fill out those empty spots in your calendar and give some savings as well. That’s a great idea.

Heather: Can you imagine if a DJ offered a DIY DJ package where he or she would show up with the speakers for the areas that you need to set it up for you? One of the hardest parts is the audio. Getting that correct. When anyone DIY their music, I’m like, “What if we’re going to have feedback or noise issues?” Where a DJ would come and set it up and then all you have to do is bring your own laptop and plug it in. You can have a friend make the announcements and let’s say instead of $1,000 package, it’s a $500 package. All of a sudden you’re looking at, “We’ve created a resource where there were no resources before.”

The couple doesn’t have to pick up the speakers for themselves. They don’t have to set it up. They’re trusting a professional to do that for them. That professional didn’t have to be present throughout the night, which is great because who wouldn’t want another Friday night free and then they come back at the end of the night and pick up their stuff. I’m sure there’s some liability stuff. There are some logistics. I might have some DJs reading this being like, “That’s not possible.” I’m not sure, but why don’t we create resources like that or more DIY floral classes? How can you create a package that takes up less of your time, serves this area and also it makes you money? It’s not like they’re going to hire you for the full thing anyways. They don’t have $1,000 for a DJ, so why not come up with a creative package for them?

That is the solution. Vendors reading, I believe that they say you have to have seven streams of income in your business to hit that million-dollar mark. I’m sure a lot of you as wedding vendors are like, “I’m not even thinking about a million-dollar mark. That’s way above what I’m aiming for.” Even still thinking multiple streams of income is smart for any business. You can offer your full service over the top decadent package and then you can also dial that back and come up with something like Jamie said for a DJ. That is to me, genius. You had DJs, you may say, “You guys are a bunch of idiots.” That sounds like a smart option and it allows you to hit different demographics and have different cashflows coming in that can be running in tandem.

Budget Savvy Bride: There are lots of ways that vendors can make up some of their income and still serve couples are on a smaller budget.

For you guys as vendors, educate yourself on the options out there. Get creative and think of ways to empower these couples versus budget shaming them when they call you and they can’t afford you. There are solutions out there. I get it. You only have so much time in a day so you’ve got to balance that. Some of these solutions that are more automated and thinking a little more in a system mindset are going to give you more success in the long-term. Plan for these one-off events with couples who come, serve them beautifully, then they’re married and gone and off your client list. That’s a short-term win. Coming up with a solution that serves couples in an automated fashion easily for you for years, that is a long-term money play that’s going to help your business grow.

Jessica: There are honestly many great affiliate opportunities as well that vendors should be taking advantage of. There are many great resources that are a little bit more budget-friendly that they could refer their clients too as another side stream of income. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Rent My Wedding. They do photo booth backdrops and lighting kits that you can order online and have shipped. If a couple can’t afford a full lighting package, that’s a great option. They have an affiliate program. There are lots of other ways that vendors can make up some of that income and still serve couples that maybe are on a smaller budget.

Jamie: It’s a matter of doing a little bit of research. For vendors to be able to ally themselves with these budget resources because Heather and I were touching on creating your own budget resources. There are already some great existing ones out there. Jessica, you with the Budget Savvy Bride, that’s a fantastic resource. Sometimes it requires that vendors do a little bit of research. They’ve got to look around a little bit. They’ve got to dive into it. Maybe read a couple of wedding blogs. Maybe watch some of my YouTube videos. Find some resources that you align yourself with that you’re like, “That’s some decent advice and I would love to put this in front of my clients.” In order to know about these budget resources, you have to get out there and figure out ones that you like and listening to these vendors and to these people and be like, “I agree with what they’re saying. I feel like I want to share this with my clients.” Discovering Rent My Wedding, I didn’t even know they offered affiliate links and I feel like I’ve been doing my life wrong the whole time.

Heather: They do and many other great resources like that. Jessica knows this game, she’s got it down. This is her thing. For any vendor, learning about these resources because you as the vendor, when you’re working with a couple, they see you as a trusted ally. When they’ve hired you, they put their trust in you. If you can give them resources that are trustworthy and going to deliver, that suit the bill for their budget, they’re going to go for it. You might be even more successful as an affiliate in getting those commissions than a general blog because they are going to have that rapport and relationship with you.

Jessica: Also being able to offer alternatives and these resources that are helpful to them makes you more valuable to the couple and increases their trust in you. It’s definitely a win-win. Whether or not there’s a commission involved truly. Another one of my favorite resources, especially if someone’s not into DIY but wants to save money on their flowers, Something Borrowed Blooms is incredible. Have you seen their stuff? They call themselves Rent & Return Floral Boutique. They’re silk arrangements and they have 10 or 12 different collections to suit all the different seasons, styles and color schemes. You literally rent your bouquets, your centerpieces, they have floral crowns. They ship them to you, you use them and then you ship them back. It’s all included in the flat price that you pay. It’s great. From what I understand, it’s a 70% savings going with the traditional florist.

Heather: It is incredible. I have a lot of couples in my club who are using them. They even smell good. They do something where the flowers smell good when people receive them and they’re like, “These are fake. Why did they smell good?” It’s to make the experience even better.

Jessica: They photograph beautifully too. I’ve featured several weddings that have used them on the site and they look beautiful and real even seeing them in person. They’re lovely. It’s a great alternative.

Jamie: I added Something Borrowed Blooms onto my contact list because who doesn’t want that? I need to get them on a video.

Align yourself with resources that are trustworthy. Click To Tweet

Heather: There are many resources out there. Seriously looking at some of the blogs out there. My blog has some info about that. Jessica has several years backlog of all this stuff. It’s limitless information. Jamie is on the pulse of what’s happening. Check it out. There are many people you can learn from, but I think that education and then striving to empower your couples versus scare the living daylights out of them is probably a better approach.

Jamie: Quit trying to sell those G-Wagons and recognize that there are Toyota customers out there too.

Jessica: You don’t want to alienate anybody at the end of the day. Familiarizing yourself with resources like ours is going to make you more approachable and more relatable with your clients no matter what budget they’re working with.

Jamie: It’s the same idea as preferred vendors. I have a list of preferred vendors. I adore them to pieces. The line that I use with my clients is, “If you like me, you’re going to love them.” I’ve worked with them before and I can almost guarantee they’re going to fit in your budget because I tend to stay in the $20,000 to $40,000 range. Sometimes a little less than $20,000 because anything less than that, they probably shouldn’t be hiring me for a higher planning package. With my preferred vendor list, they’re like, “Absolutely.” If I had a nickel for every time one of my clients booked one of my preferred vendors, I thought, “I have a lot of nickels.” With the same idea come up with your preferred budget resources. “Here’s a blog I consistently find myself going to and I find value in, I suggest you take a look at this,” or “I’ve had clients use Something Borrowed Blooms before and it’s been epic.” If you’re a photographer and you share with your clients that you photograph silk florals and they were beautiful, that has a lot of power. That is a great way for a client to save money. You become a trusted ally. You have preferred vendors, have preferred budget resources too.

Heather: I feel like we have shared a lot of wisdom. Jessica, thank you for being here and to kickoff this show with us because this is an exciting adventure and share your many years of wisdom.

Jessica: Thank you for having me. It was fun.

Thanks for joining us. I feel like we’re joined by a wedding royalty. I appreciate that.

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