Church

Wedding Report

Don Engagements, Special Events, Weddings , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Recently TheKnot.com came out with it’s yearly wedding report. This is based on a survey of brides done right after their ceremony asking them, among other things what they spent on each category for their wedding. I want to share a few fun facts from this report:

The average wedding: $28,427 (excluding the honeymoon)
Most expensive place to get married: Manhattan, $76,678
Least Expensive Place to Get Married: Alaska, $15,504
Average Marrying Age: Bride, 29; Groom, 31
Average Number of Guests: 139
Average Number of Bridesmaids: 4 to 5
Average Number of Groomsmen: 4 to 5
Most Popular Month to Get Engaged: December (16%)
Average Length of Engagement: 14 months
Most Popular Month to Get Married: June (17%)

I’m going to add some to this list based on the Knoxville area, most popular months are April, May, June, September & October. We have a much longer wedding season then most areas due to the climate and the beauty of our outdoor venues.
The average cost of a wedding in Knoxville is right at $26,500.

Here is the break down of what brides spent in each category:

2012 Average Wedding Budget Breakdown

Category                           2012 National Average Spend         2011 National Average Spend
Overall Wedding            $28,427                                                 $27,021
Venue                               $12,905                                                 $12,116
Photographer                    $2,379                                                    $2,299
Wedding Planner              $1,847                                                     $1,753
Reception Band                 $3,084                                                    $3,122
Reception DJ                         $988                                                       $929
Florist/Decor                      $1,997                                                     $1,894
Videographer                      $1,619                                                      $1,486
Wedding Dress                   $1,211                                                        $1,121
Groom’s Tuxedo                   $230                                                          $215
Wedding Cake                       $560                                                          $535
Ceremony Site                     $1,711                                                        $1,599
Ceremony Musicians           $554                                                           $536
Invitations                             $453                                                           $440
Limousine                              $708                                                           $669
Favors                                     $289                                                           $285
Rehearsal Dinner                $1,135                                                        $1,078
Engagement Ring               $5,431                                                        $5,130
Catering (price per person)    $63                                                             $61
Figures based on respondents who hired a professional vendor for the service.

Now I highlighted two categories I want to bring to your attention, photography and videography.  The reason is very simple, every category on this is a one time cost item.  In other words, at the end of the night those items are gone or thrown away.  The only thing you have left at the end of the day are memories and the only way to capture those memories is with photography & videography.  What’s more important to you, the flowers that die the next day or the memories from your wedding day?

7 Minute Movie

Don Advertising, Films, Weddings , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My wife and daughter are really excited about the new “Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 2″ moving coming out this weekend.  It’s all they have talked about for weeks.  I think they have seen the trailer online about a dozen times or more the past few weeks.  I, myself, am not a fan of the Twilight movies and will send them off for a “girls night out” fun that mothers and daughters love to share.  I’m sure most of you reading this blog are planning to see it as well.  Think about this as you are going to the movies this weekend.

You stand in line to get your tickets (if you haven’t purchased them online already) that cost you in the area of $9.00 each.  More if you see the IMAX version of a movie.  Then you have to have some popcorn, a cold drink and maybe even a little candy.  When all is said and done, you’ve spend close to $20 and you haven’t even seen the first frame of film yet.  As you sit down in the theater and wait for the movie to start you are so excited and just can’t wait for the movie to begin.  I mean, you’ve only waited almost a year or more for this final chapter of the Twilight Saga.  Then the lights dim and the music starts.  After what seems like 30 minutes of movie trailers and commercials, which I still don’t get, the feature presentation starts.

7 minutes later, it’s over.  That’s right, 7 minutes.  That’s the whole thing, the entire movie; 7 minutes.  You waited months, spend $20 to see a seven minute movie?   How mad would you be?  How upset do you think the others in the theater would be?  I know if I spend $20 or more for a movie, it better be more then 7 minutes long.  But, that’s what brides are paying for today and some of them may not even know it until it too late.

The latest, greatest thing for wedding films is called the short form video.  It’s about 7 to 8 minutes long and only gives you the best parts of your wedding day condensed down to fit into that time frame.  Most Catholic wedding ceremony’s  can be an hour or longer.  Hindu weddings are upwards of 3 hours long.  How do you fit a wedding day into 8 minutes?  My typical wedding day is in the area of 9 to 11 hours long.  I capture in the area of 7 to 9 hours of footage from the wedding day and that’s if I do nothing more then just the ceremony and reception only.  I can’t fathom the work that would be involved in just shrinking 9 hours of footage to just 8 minutes.

The craziest part of all this is the wedding videographer is charging you the same price for an 8 minute video that I charge for a full wedding film that can last on average 90 minutes or more. I don’t understand how they can do that.  I look at it this way, they are charging the same price for a 10th of the work.

Midnight Magic Studios offers brides a full length film of their wedding day.  They get the entire day, from hair and make up to the grand getaway at the end of the night.  No shortcuts, no short form video, nothing but the entire day given to you, the bride.  You didn’t plan an 8 minute wedding day, why try to relive only 8 minutes of it?

Morgan & Bryann’s Wedding Day

Don Advertising, Weddings No Comments , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The first wedding of 2011 is done and loaded onto the computer.  The honor of the first wedding of the season goes to Morgan & Bryann on March 5th.  That Saturday was a gray, rainy day but I don’t think a flood would have kept these two from getting married.  I first met with Morgan & Bryann about 3 weeks before their wedding and I could tell from the very first moment these two were in love.  But there was something more about these two.  You see, Bryann is in the Army Reserve and his unit has been called up for deployment overseas.  As a former member of the United States Army, I know first hand the sacrifices and the risk Bryann will endure over the next 12 months.  But, I also know that the hardest time will be for Morgan.  Bryann will be busy each day with duties and assignments.  Morgan on the other hand will be at home hoping and praying that Bryann will be safe and out of harms way.  The hardest part for me was when I found out that Bryann and Morgan would only have one day together, Sunday, before he had to leave for his training for deployment.  She smiled all day and never once let it show.  But, inside I knew she had to be hurting.  I hold up prayers for both Morgan and Bryann.  Here is their trailer;

 

[vimeo 20956290 nolink]