Price increase

sonic-vision said:

Always great points Taso.
I have never got into the venue's end of the business but I have seen the practice used. I am having more venues telling me to have a certificate of liability and sending a copy. As I have slowed way down and become a single opp I buy single day event liability now.

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Idk how much single day is or how many events you do but State Farm for my business is under $500 a year. Lately I’ve been having every venue it feels like ask me. I know every wedding in march did and the ones coming up in April a total of 9 venues.

rickryan.com said:

Seems overly complicated to me. I don't like charging different amounts for different days or different seasons. To many "ifs" in my book. I do a simple, year-round pricing and it takes $1,000 down to lock in your date. The balance has to be paid off 30 days prior to the event. I don't care if you make regular payments, pay in chunks (most clients do this) or wait until the 30 day mark.

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Fascinating thing about the wedding industry is that most don’t have any expectations cause they e never done this before. What happens is people start looking at other venues and they start to see what the norms are. Everyone else will be giving off season discounts, Sunday discounts, venue only options. When you’re the outlier, despite you thinking you’re making it simple, you’re in fact potentially making yourself seem like something is off.

rickryan.com said:

Seems overly complicated to me. I don't like charging different amounts for different days or different seasons. To many "ifs" in my book. I do a simple, year-round pricing and it takes $1,000 down to lock in your date. The balance has to be paid off 30 days prior to the event. I don't care if you make regular payments, pay in chunks (most clients do this) or wait until the 30 day mark.

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Looks simple to me . Taso has a good point on discounts. Also, I would think volume would count for something?

sonic-vision said:

Looks simple to me . Taso has a good point on discounts. Also, I would think volume would count for something?

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Well I say it would depend on what the discount is. In Taso's case he has mentioned giving a discount for certain situations. So with him giving a discount, he still is getting paid a nice amount of money. He recently talked about doing a wedding on a Thursday which is why he decided to give a discount on the price. Even with the discount he's still in the top 5% in terms of price.

djtaso said:

I was also wondering, does Rick need to include all 3 days? I can't imagine everyone needing 3 days for a wedding.

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The answer is: yes, most likely for any event that has more than a few moving parts.

There's no staff, no inventory; everything but the infrastructure has to be brought in by another vendor or the client has to do it themselves. That means they need the time and space to prepare ahead of the event, and retrieve or vacate after the event.

I would liken this to having a large tent event. The tent needs to be in place at least 2 days in advance because no other work can start until it's secured. A lot of DJs are oblivious to the staff size and logistical work that precedes their actual arrival at an fully operational event venue.

Proformance said:

The answer is: yes, most likely for any event that has more than a few moving parts.

There's no staff, no inventory; everything but the infrastructure has to be brought in by another vendor or the client has to do it themselves. That means they need the time and space to prepare ahead of the event, and retrieve or vacate after the event.

I would liken this to having a large tent event. The tent needs to be in place at least 2 days in advance because no other work can start until it's secured. A lot of DJs are oblivious to the staff size and logistical work that precedes their actual arrival at an fully operational event venue.

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i understand for most custom and/or elaborate events yes you need added time. But specifically in ricks case, everything but the centerpieces are there (tables chairs linens are there). Around here you only get to book for the day of, and your vendors have access 3-5hrs early to bring it all in.

djtaso said:

i understand for most custom and/or elaborate events yes you need added time. But specifically in ricks case, everything but the centerpieces are there (tables chairs linens are there). Around here you only get to book for the day of, and your vendors have access 3-5hrs early to bring it all in.

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There's no staff. There's no staff. There's no staff

The only thing that can compensate for a lack of staff is more time.

rickryan.com said:

You make a good point that this is usually the first time a bride is doing this, so she's not quite sure what to expect. Of course, I think that changes after they've done tours at several different places. Circling back to the pricing routine, Bob got me to thinking. Perhaps it might be better to not list all the prices on the website. Instead, I'm thinking to lead with the DIY option and put $2,950 as the starting price. I'd then list out the all-inclusive package, but no price on the website. Same goes for photography and Planner/Director add-ons. You get those prices at the tour. Thoughts?

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I’d put “venture rental” prices starting at $2950 and “all inclusive prices” starting at xxx

djtaso said:

. . in ricks case, everything but the centerpieces are there (tables chairs linens are there).

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I've been to a lot of venues where the families are the ones doing the decorating and providing a lot of nuances that the skin and bones venue does not. I've also been to many better venues where again the family is directing the style and taste and a staff person(s) are following through on seeing that things are arranged as the bride has discussed, and that vendors have access to what they need to get their ends accomplished too.

At Ryan Acres the advertising says "We" and then people arrive to realize it's one guy's backyard. (I know, I'm being deliberately hard core to emphasize this point about how important the perception of "staff" really is.)

As a venue this could easily be perceived as an after-thought to someone who's real goal is selling DJ and photography services in a tightly controlled setting. This is just one guy in control of everything your big day depends on. That's gotta be a pretty tough sell on most people.

I work with some family owned venues and businesses, and while I might be meeting with the owners - there's always other people around with various skills and responsibilities. A lack of visible staff and resources is a red flag that needs to be dealt with before the perception becomes a reputation.

rickryan.com said:

I'm toying with the same notion. The day before is pretty much a given around here. Everybody wants the day for rehearsal, setup and rehearsal dinner. I throw in the day after so they don't have to clear out their personal effects during the reception. About half the time the couple stays overnight in our bridal cabin. It's a good selling point to let them know they don't have to work to clear their personal effects the night of. On that last day, they typically show up around noon, get their stuff loaded and then they're gone.

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Also, What are the actual odds of a Sunday wedding couple booking for that particular Sunday any way? MOST venues I frequent typically only book Saturday, and often have nothing going on for the day after on Sunday. Now, very busy venues want those sales, and will sell by the day only. They will typically do a 9 or 10 hour total time frame for the event. 6 hour event with 2-3 hours for load in/set up and 1 hour for tear down. SOME down in DC only do 8 hours...5 hour event, 2 hours for load in, and 1 hour for load out. Pretty darn stringent, and sell an additional hour if the couple wants it for another $1,250+ for to have a 6 hour event.

The less popular venues with less than 70-80 event bookings per year are likely to do better by selling 2-3 day bookings for the venue like what you are doing. It's a better selling point to those couples that do want to relax, and stay the night on property vs the wedding factory type of venues.

I found out a few years back, that since hotels fell off with the wedding trend years back that what the hotels will offer is a Breakfast for the wedding couple's family/bridal party that stays at the hotel for the night and they do like a 10 am or 11 am BRUNCH in the same room that the wedding reception was in. So the staff flips the room for the brunch the following morning while Me the DJ is tearing down and loading out after the reception!

DJ Ricky B said:

Also, What are the actual odds of a Sunday wedding couple booking for that particular Sunday any way? MOST venues I frequent typically only book Saturday, and often have nothing going on for the day after on Sunday. Now, very busy venues want those sales, and will sell by the day only. They will typically do a 9 or 10 hour total time frame for the event. 6 hour event with 2-3 hours for load in/set up and 1 hour for tear down. SOME down in DC only do 8 hours...5 hour event, 2 hours for load in, and 1 hour for load out. Pretty darn stringent, and sell an additional hour if the couple wants it for another $1,250+ for to have a 6 hour event.

The less popular venues with less than 70-80 event bookings per year are likely to do better by selling 2-3 day bookings for the venue like what you are doing. It's a better selling point to those couples that do want to relax, and stay the night on property vs the wedding factory type of venues.

I found out a few years back, that since hotels fell off with the wedding trend years back that what the hotels will offer is a Breakfast for the wedding couple's family/bridal party that stays at the hotel for the night and they do like a 10 am or 11 am BRUNCH in the same room that the wedding reception was in. So the staff flips the room for the brunch the following morning while Me the DJ is tearing down and loading out after the reception!

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Man, Jersey and Philly are a whole different breed if this is the norm. I have every Sunday in sept October and November booked.

And yes once in a while family sets up… but they still only get a few hrs prior to do so. Even less if there’s a daytime wedding at venues that do multiple events.l a day.

djtaso said:

Man, Jersey and Philly are a whole different breed if this is the norm. I have every Sunday in sept October and November.

And yes once in a while family sets up… but they still only get a few hrs prior to do so. Even less if there’s a daytime wedding at venues that do multiple events.l a day.

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Some DJs I am sure book more Sundays than I do down here, but to have EVERY SUNDAY in a 3 month period to be booked? I guarantee nobody down here has that.

The other DJs I talked with at the bridal open house I did last month all have similiar experiences to me. They don't book many Sundays. One guy told me he already had all Saturdays in September/October booked for this year, but November was wide open. He mentioned that because I told him I only had 1 in September at the moment and it was slower than previous recent years.

I don't think I have ever booked more than 10 Sundays in a year. Even back in 2012-2013 when I was doing over 55 events a year. This year I don't even have a Sunday wedding booked. Outside of my neighbor's Sunday event that just occurred yesterday, and a couple of bash leads I have seen come my way, I have not even had a strong Sunday wedding inquiry for this year.

I had a Thursday in January, and I have a Friday in May. Everything on my calendar right now is a Saturday outside of that, and booking season only has about 30 days left to go before it is done. By May 15th booking season is largely over every year for me.

DJ Ricky B said:

Some DJs I am sure book more Sundays than I do down here, but to have EVERY SUNDAY in a 3 month period to be booked? I guarantee nobody down here has that.

The other DJs I talked with at the bridal open house I did last month all have similiar experiences to me. They don't book many Sundays. One guy told me he already had all Saturdays in September/October booked for this year, but November was wide open. He mentioned that because I told him I only had 1 in September at the moment and it was slower than previous recent years.

I don't think I have ever booked more than 10 Sundays in a year. Even back in 2012-2013 when I was doing over 55 events a year. This year I don't even have a Sunday wedding booked. Outside of my neighbor's Sunday event that just occurred yesterday, and a couple of bash leads I have seen come my way, I have not even had a strong Sunday wedding inquiry for this year.

I had a Thursday in January, and I have a Friday in May. Everything on my calendar right now is a Saturday outside of that, and booking season only has about 30 days left to go before it is done. By May 15th booking season is largely over every year for me.

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I was slightly, off, I thought it was every Sunday, but for a few of them I'm marked booked, but it's in fact cause I'm traveling out of state for a wedding and have the entire weekend blocked off, sorry about that. However my Sunday's are just as equally popular as Fridays.

When Sunday's are incentivized by the venues as well as many volume based vendors, they suddenly become popular and fill in the schedule. Also, for Weddings, if Saturday's are no longer available at your favorite venue or when you freak out at the pricing, you instinctively go to Friday or Sunday. Fridays actually are tough for some to take off work to make it to the ceremony, and even if they can, traffic on a Friday is a nightmare... so they view Sunday's as a more convenient option. And for those that want a nice wedding on a steeper budget, do Thursdays (as provided by an example below).

Here's my breakdown of contracted 2025 events. I'm done booking for 2025, with exception of 2 weekends that are open in december that I'm open to booking, so this is a safe final ratio:

- 7 Thursdays (4 proms (too expensive to do a prom on a Fri/Sat, 1 Sweet 16 (during summer so no school and they get a nice discount) + 2 weddings, one being at a venue that's nearly $1000 per plate for a Saturday in the same month)
- 16 Fridays
- 31 Saturdays
- 15 Sundays
- 1 Monday (wedding)
- 1 Wednesday (NYE)

In 2024, I had more Sundays than Fridays.

- 3 Thursdays (proms)
- 13 Fridays
- 33 Saturdays
- 14 Sundays
- 1 Tuesday (NYE)

In 2023 I had 15 Sundays booked for reference.

I guess we just love to host events in Jersey lol I dk what to say.

This is also why so much of what we do is influenced by the local market. Booking a place and having everything be DIY here is virtually unheard of unless you're doing a tent wedding or you're at a VFW. Hotel weddings are considered low end here, whereas in other states those are the high end locations. We hardly work with event planners here, whereas other states everything revolves around the planner.

rickryan.com said:

After 3 years of operation, I've never had a Sunday wedding. It just doesn't happen here.

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Generally speaking, your pricing doesn't encourage Sunday weddings. Not saying that there's even demand for it in your area, but even if someone wanted a Sunday, they're likely not calling you. You did that by design whether you realized it or not (just like I market primarily to weddings). Your pricing is focused heavily on booking all 3 days, so it's always with the assumption that Saturday is going to be the day of the wedding. Likewise you don't offer discounted Sunday Weddings as somethng to motivate those looking to save a buck.

With that said, your area likely doesn't have enough of a supply vs demand issue to encourage people to consider Sundays. The only one that would perhaps have demand is whatever the most sought after location is. They likely have all their Sept/Oct Saturday's locked in, meaning that if anyone wants that location bc it has a certain value that others can't replicate, they'll have to choose a Friday/Sunday.

Here the demand for these dates comes from two things... all the high end venues get booked for the prime dates 2 yrs in advance... and lower price for Friday and Sunday's is very motivating when you're talking abotu $400 per person for a Saturday vs $250 per person for a Sunday and a 150 person minimum.