Cost
How each Vermont wedding vendor bills
Compare wedding suppliers using the same deliverables and hours, then identify how each quote changes with attendance, quantities or overtime. Mansfield Barn’s entertainment schedule distinguishes a six-hour DJ service from a five-hour photo booth. A similarly sized total does not establish the same service or operating period.
Normalize the scope before dividing by hours
At Mansfield’s listed standard figures, a $2,300 six-hour DJ service divides to about $383.33 an hour, while a $1,100 five-hour photo booth divides to $220. That arithmetic does not make the products interchangeable or establish an extension rate. The actual agreement decides overtime and included staffing.
For catering, hold the guaranteed meals and menu constant; for florals, the arrangements and installation; for photography, coverage and delivery; for transport, passengers, routes and operating period. Ask for travel, setup, service charges and tax as explicit lines. Use the supplier guides for the contract details particular to each task.
References
Two vendor quotes can differ by a lot and still describe the same day, because vendors count different things. A caterer bills by the head. A photographer bills by coverage.
A florist bills by the piece and the design. A rental company bills by the item, with delivery separate. A band bills by the set.
Once you know what each category counts, you know what to hold constant when you compare quotes. Give every photographer the same hours. Give every caterer the same guest count.
Give every rental company the same floor plan. Ask each vendor to state its basis in writing, per head, per hour, per piece or per set, before you compare totals.
The billing basis of every Vermont wedding vendor category
What each vendor category commonly counts, and what to hold constant when you compare quotes.
- Catering
- Per person, plus service and tax; Guest count, menu, service style.
- Bar service
- Per guest per hour, or by consumption; Hours, bar model, tax line.
- Cake and desserts
- Per serving or per tier; Servings, delivery, cutting fee.
- Music and DJ
- By the hour or the set; Hours, sound, end time.
- Planning
- Flat fee or by scope; What days and tasks are covered.
Travel, tax and overtime: the three lines that break Vermont quotes
Vermont venues sit far from where many vendors are based. Travel is often folded into a day rate. Ask for it as its own line, and for the same line from everyone.
Tax and overtime are the other two. Ask whether tax is included and what an extra hour costs. See sales tax on wedding purchases.
Which vendor decisions the Vermont venue has already made
Some of these lines are settled before you brief anyone. Many venues cater in-house, some hold the bar, and every venue sets an end time. Read the vendors hub before you request quotes.
Where a venue includes tables, chairs and linens in its fee, the rental line may be zero. See tables and chairs.
How do caterers charge?
Per person, with a service charge and tax added on top. Two caterers can quote different totals for the same menu when they count those extras differently, so ask each for the per-person price, the service charge and the tax as separate lines.
What is the difference between a per-person and a flat quote?
A per-person quote scales with your guest list, so it rises and falls with the count. A flat quote does not. Ask what happens to each if the final count is twenty guests higher or lower than you planned.
Why do two caterers quote different totals?
They may count service charge, tax, staffing or equipment differently, or price a different menu style. Ask both for the same itemisation and the same guest count. Most of the gap closes once the quotes describe the same thing.
What should I hold constant across photography quotes?
The hours of coverage, whether a second shooter is included, and the travel charge. Change any of the three and the quotes stop being comparable. See photography for the full list of questions.
How do rental companies charge?
Per item, with delivery, setup and pickup quoted separately. Give every company the same floor plan and item list. A company that quotes a lower item price may charge more for the truck.
Do planners charge by day or by scope?
Both models exist. Some planners charge a flat fee for a stated scope, and some charge for days of coverage; Ask exactly which days and tasks each quote covers. See planners and coordination.
Why is travel a separate line?
Many Vermont venues are far from a vendor's base. Ask for it itemised so quotes compare.
What is overtime?
The rate a vendor charges for each hour beyond the contracted time. Ask for it before you sign, since a timeline that runs long is common and an unstated rate becomes a surprise on the day.
- Vendors
- Every Vermont wedding vendor category, from photography and catering to tents, bars and parking arrangements.
- Sales tax on wedding purchases
- Which Vermont tax lands on which wedding purchase: 6% sales tax on goods, 9% on meals and rooms, and 10% on served alcohol; confirm any applicable local option separately.
- Venue and site fees
- The venue and ceremony fees Vermont venues publish, what each includes, and why the quoted numbers require matching the same rental period and services.
- What venues publish
- Measured: how many Vermont wedding venues publish capacity, season, catering, alcohol rules, end times, minimums, rain arrangements and lodging in the dated research inventory.
More in What a Vermont wedding costs: Low-cost Vermont wedding venues, What a Vermont wedding package includes, and what it doesn't, Vermont wedding minimum spend and the taxes on top.