140: Communicating Realistic Budgets with Clients

Weddings are expensive, and most couples go into the planning process with absolutely no idea how much what they want actually costs in the real world. As wedding vendors, how can we communicate clearly with couples about wedding costs and why we charge what we do? In this week's episode of This Week In Weddings, we're chatting with wedding planner Mary Wright Shah about some best practices for clearly communicating costs and budgets throughout the planning process. Whether you're a wedding planner or represent another vendor category, this week's episode will give you some real takeaways for talking about numbers with couples. About our guest: Considered one of the top wedding planners in the country and founder of Diamond Affairs Weddings & Special Events, Mary Wright Shah is dedicated to providing the highest level of service, detailed perfection and flawless execution of her events.  With over 20 year’s experience in hospitality, consulting, planning, designing and producing luxury weddings and social events in the country and around the world, she is one of the most respected and sought-after wedding planners. Mary and the Diamond Affairs team have the ability to go well beyond the traditional roll of a wedding planner, they offer an extensive knowledge in design, access to world-class locations, venues and vendor relationships.   Mary is known for her heightened attention to detail to texture and interiors. By layering the details, she creates a one-of-a kind experience for her brides and their guests. With her leadership even the most complex wedding is able to unfold with style and perfection. Her wonderful relationships with the best creative partners in the country allow clients to put together the perfect team of professionals to create the event of their dreams and exceed all expectations. A devoted wife and mother of three boys, Mary loves style, inspiring food and wine, traveling and especially great interior design. She continues to invest in her ability to innovate and enjoys coming up with new trendsetting ideas with her current and future weddings & events.   In this episode, listeners will hear about: Mary's twenty years of wedding industry experience Pre-qualifying clients prior to meetings so that no one's time is wasted Tips for clearly communicating prices and how vendors can better explain their pricing and policies to clients A wedding planner's perspective when it comes to getting proposals from vendors that are above a client's budget Want to connect with Mary? Online: http://www.diamondaffairs.com/ Instagram: @diamondaffairs This episode of This Week In Weddings is sponsored by Honeybook.