Booking each part of your party separately usually looks cheaper on the spreadsheet. Whether it actually is depends on something the spreadsheet cannot show you: who is responsible when two suppliers disagree on the day.
What separate vendors genuinely give you
Choice and leverage. You can pick the best caterer you can afford and the decorator whose work you love, even if they have never worked together. For couples with a strong vision and time to manage it, this is a real advantage — and we would not pretend otherwise.
What it costs that nobody quotes for
- Your own hours — the calls, the chasing, the re-confirming.
- The gaps between contracts. Who supplies the tables the caterer is plating on?
- Load-in conflicts, when three suppliers all want the room at the same time.
- The disagreement on the day, where each vendor is certain it is the other's job.
The gap problem is the expensive one
Every supplier quotes for their own scope. Nobody quotes for the space between two scopes — and that is exactly where things fail. Cooling for the drinks, power for the band, who clears the plates so the dance floor can open. These are cheap to solve in advance and expensive to solve at seven in the evening.
When one house makes more sense
When you do not want a second job. If the same team is cooking, seating and serving, the gaps are internal — they are somebody's problem before they are ever yours. You also get one number to call, which on the day is worth more than most people expect.
How to compare them fairly
Do not compare the totals. Compare what each quote actually contains, and then write down every item neither of them covers. That list is the true difference, and it is usually longer than people expect.
The question to ask either way
“Who is on site, directing, from set-up to pack-down?” If the answer is you, price your own time honestly before you decide.
Planning one of these?
Tell us the date, the city and the guest count. We come back the same day with a written quote — no payment is ever taken on this website.
