What is the cost of true love?

I got married in 2023 which meant the previous two years were spent viewing venues, shopping, and ordering everything you can imagine. For personal research purposes, I kept a note (sad I know) about my own buying process to see what I could learn from it. 

Here are the 3 key things I learned:

This is an absolute must. Too many companies still refuse to have their prices on their website or easily available. Yet it's one of the most important pieces of information customers are looking for when researching their purchase. One of the primary reasons I chose the venue I did was they had a wedding brochure with prices freely available to download on their website. I didn't have to call them or tour the venue to get access to their prices. 

Now it's not always easy to give prices if you are selling a service however, in that instance, you can give a starting price with an example of what that includes. The fact is if they can't afford your service you are wasting your time. In the same way, it was a waste of my time and that of the venue for me to visit them if it was never within my budget.

Who doesn't love a package? Another reason I chose the wedding venue I did was that they offered three distinct packages, each fully priced and detailed. We knew how many guests we could have, the price per person, the venue, the menu, and that our piper and DJ were included. We could even upgrade different parts of our package which were also detailed and priced in the brochure. All of which made it easy to decide what we wanted to buy.

Value for money was singularly the most important buying factor. Value is very subjective and you can write a blog about that on its own. However, the key to offering value for money comes from knowing and understanding your audience and what they perceive as good value.  It's not just about getting the lowest price; it's about the balance between cost and quality. True value for money means getting the most bang for your buck, where every pound spent translates into tangible benefits or satisfaction. As you will know there are lots of things you can spend your money on when you're getting married, but the two key questions for me were, what will this add to our day, and will anyone remember it?

Love like value is in the eye of the beholder.