Weddings & Events in a recession - Bartering

It seems that watching the news, reading the paper or even just talking to friends lately is peppered with saddening stories of jobs lost, businesses closing and economic downturns. It’s downright depressing but a reality of the society which we live in. It effects every individual aspect of our lives, from our hairdresser to our favorite lunch shops. Everyone is spending less, trying to save more and sacrificing luxuries.

With the air of negativity that seems to permeate everything, it’s especially interesting to be in the wedding and special events business. You feel the purse strings tighten and the number of people who look for some discount seems to increase. It seems in weddings, the first items off the list to help with a budget seems to be the planner and the videographer followed by larger photography & entertainment packages and extra items like candy buffets, cigar rollers and independent performances.

Yet it is at these times that you can find deals that are out there if you research enough. Creativity runs to extremes and can save you lots of money and make your wedding so much more personal because the decor and details are totally and uniquely yours. I will elaborate on more in future posts about other things but today’s is dedicated to Bartering.

BARTERING.

Have you ever considered what your skills are worth and if they can in fact be used as a payment method? I meet with clients all the time and most times I don’t’ even know what their profession is. They might offer a service which is comparable in price to the items they are looking for. So don’t be afraid to offer your services in lieu of payment. One of my favorite blogs recently mentioned Bartering for your Wedding and we recently joined Big Day Barter . So those of you out there that are…

• accountants, now would be the time to offer tax services
  
• lawyers are usually always needed
  
• painters, plumbers, handymen and contractors - a house always needs a little something
  
• marketing & graphic designers – advertising is always of importance to businesses
  
• bloggers – yes you can even capitalize on this if you have a blog with a large enough following.

Colorblind Productions has had success in this in the past and are open to doing it in the future. Have you visited our home offices and notices as you walked up the walkway the great cobblestone stamped concrete and stairs we have. Well, you guessed it the reason we have that is because we did the wedding of the owners of Novacrete (which I cannot recommend enough for not only great work but the speed and efficiency of it) We had our driveway, front walkway and a patio built in the backyard in exchange for a full wedding package including DJ, plasmas, photo, coordination and video services. Basically every service we offer with the exception of Karaoke. Do not underestimate the power of bartering.