“All-inclusive” VS separate wedding vendors… PROs and CONs.
Some venues bill themselves as “all-inclusive“. We wanted to say a few things about this since that is not Black Oak’s model For many reasons.
While we realize it sounds attractive to a prospective bride and her family, this option is usually not what it’s cracked up to be.
It makes the wedding sound like it’s going to be “one and done”, for less of a price and less of a headache in planning it. It makes it sound like the venue is giving a heck of a lot – for the money taken.
We would like to dispel these ideas.
The first is price. Unfortunately, a wedding costs what a wedding costs. There’s not much getting around it without sacrificing various things or the quality of those things.
The ‘inclusive‘ wedding is filled with built-in padding on the price and is usually strict on additions and upsells. Need a knife to cut that cake? There’s a fee for that. It will add up in many ways depending on your choices. The prices for everything are still all there, as usual, just wrapped up with what looks like a bow.
All the major parts of the wedding are already built into the price offered. With far fewer choices offered in return. For example, your caterer will be decided for you since there’s just one to choose from.
Style of wedding will depend on the accouterments the venue has at their disposal. We hate to say it, but your wedding will look quite a bit like the last 50 weddings the venue had. That may be quite beautiful even still, but there won’t/can’t be too much going on creatively that reflects your own style and personality and choices.
You won’t get a skilled wedding planner, you’ll get a ‘coordinator’ who will walk you through the available options on various things. Fish or chicken. Flowers on the arch, or plain?
The inclusive venue is geared to move brides through it with a minimum of fuss and muss. Sometimes two weddings will take place on property on Saturdays and Sundays.
This may be just fine for the general masses, but is that you? Do you look at your wedding as a ‘Git her done’ event?
Here’s the truth: Black Oak insists that you have a wedding planner to create and run your precious wedding. Because of this, your entire special day becomes as easy as all-inclusive, but with a LOT more creativity, panache and style. Everything is taken care of by the Planner.
We don’t want to rain on anyones parade, but we do feel strongly about the subject. We opt for creativity, not an assembly line. Our style is pristine, unusual, stylish, private and modern… featuring a progressive movement throughout the precious day.
You just have to figure out if that’s your style too.
You should be falling back on your wedding planner. Her job is to see and feel who you are, and reflect YOU in the wedding, and handle the details for you. Including run the entire event for you like clockwork.
Our belief is that we cannot standardize weddings, they have to be as unique as you are as a person. If you standardize your own wedding, then you’ve standardized your whole life, period. Your wedding doesn’t have to be the same as every wedding you’ve ever been to. Jump out, be you, and let your dreams run wild.
We have one girl coming as a princess, on an actual coach this year. We have one putting a whole, actual WOLF into the ceremony (can’t wait to get those pictures back!).
Two designers came up from Los Angeles and stayed here for several days, they did every single thing THEIR way, not one thing sacrificed.
One girl from New York (Jacqueline) styled all the catering for walk-around sushi and ramen, and did the incredible signage herself, providing handwritten cards to each guest stating what she loved about them. She only had 50 guests so that was doable.
None of all that would be available in an all-inclusive assembly line type wedding.
And these are just a few of the reasons we lean away from all-inclusive. We hope it helped.
