Probably about 50% of the time, the budget question comes back blank. Now either one or two things are happening, 1) they don’t have a budget idea yet or 2) they don’t want to tell me their budget. If it is the first one, that they don’t have an idea of their budget, they need to be talking to each other, parents and anyone else who will be contributing to the budget, not making plans yet. You don’t need to meet with anyone or book anyone until you have at least a preliminary idea of what you will have to spend.
Now, if it is #2 then that’s a whole different problem. Most of the time when people don’t want to share a budget number it is because they think a higher budget might make my price go up, it doesn’t. I don’t care if your budget is $15,000 or $150,000 it does not affect my pricing. My prices are based on what will be involved with your wedding. How much time it will take to plan, how many assistants I will need, how many locations are involved and how much travel is involved. Not telling me your budget saves you nothing.
The reason I need to know the budget is to see if you can actually afford what you are planning. Can you afford the vendors you are interested in? I don't want to suggest vendors you can not afford. Do you have a realistic idea of what a wedding actually costs? Are you inviting more people than you can possibly afford? I have no interest in trying to plan a Tiffany's wedding on a Walmart budget, as they say. It's just not possible and no one is going to be happy.
Keeping your budget a secret from me or other vendors is a mistake. Instead of going to a caterer and not telling them your budget, tell them what you can afford to spend per head and see what they can come up with. You might be surprised. Same with florists tell them your budget numbers and let them work wonders within your budget. Keeping your budget a secret from your vendors is not going to save you anything and can lead to a lot of disappointment and heartbreak.
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