The Aisle Files
A behind-the-scenes look at the wedding world—uncovering secrets, sharing stories, and spotlighting real industry expertise. It’s memorable, modern, and versatile.
The Aisle Files
The Transparency File - Opening Up About Transparency In The Wedding Industry
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Come hang with us as we open up about transparency in the wedding industry. We deep dive into a Vogue article written by Contributing Weddings Editor, Shelby Wax.
Grab your drink of choice, get cozy and follow along!
Thanks for opening this file with us, we’ll see you next time on The Aisle Files!
Have a wedding story, planning tip, or hilarious mishap? We’d love to hear it and maybe even share it on the show!
Send us your stories: hellotheaislefiles@gmail.com
Connect with us on Instagram: @theaislefilespod
Good morning. Good morning.
SPEAKER_02Oh my god, I'm so tired. I am really tired too. I already told you why, but I had a severe case of acute rhinitis. Sneezing attack. Which is not fun. But if you also get this, what I learned uh that I didn't know is to use warm pom presses on your sinus region. Yeah. And also take medicine. Don't let it get to the point where it's an all day. Yeah, because I get this like once or twice a year, and it's so awful. It's just so awful. And then you just get in a really bad mood, and you're hurting nothing like wants to happen. Yeah. But you can't fall asleep. We're opening up the transparency file today.
SPEAKER_00Well, we're talking all transparency in the wedding industry.
SPEAKER_02Well, trying. There was a post that inspired me to make this a little louder and in our like local area. But um I texted Jessica right away and I was like, we should talk about this. And she was like, Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Totally thinking she was talking about a different topic. Yeah. But I which I think absolutely talking about.
SPEAKER_02I think we should still touch on that actually, because it goes into what we talked about last week with the AI file. So you saw something about Vogue.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, allowing vendors to put their logo on photos and like making it seem like they were in the Vogue magazine. Um, and this was like a really quick blippet that I saw um from another podcast, like wedding podcast. Um, but I have firsthand experienced this from a photographer because I have seen them post that they have been in like Vogue magazine, and then I went to go to like Vogue Bridal, type in their name, and their name is nowhere on their website.
SPEAKER_02I thought that we did that. Yes, we did that together, didn't we? Yes, no.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yeah, because that one photographer. And so it makes it seem like, oh, this photographer is so amazing, they're on they're in the Vogue magazine, but then when I am an intense investigator, I will get down to the root of everything. They were nowhere to be found. And even anywhere on Vogue Bridal, they were nowhere to be found. So I think that's another like yeah, you like you said, it goes on to like the AI file of being like, you know, it's real, right? But it kind of goes back into today's where it's transparency about that they're not actually in that Vogue magazine. And I think Vogue was saying, like, you're not able to use it anymore for like just to do it in a sense, which I just don't feel like.
SPEAKER_02I'm surprised that it was that they were ever letting it slide because isn't that trademarked?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, unless it's they're using it, yeah. I don't know. I don't know the whole story, which I'll have to get into it more. I need to find that podcast again. Because I listened to five seconds of it, and it was just about that one little part. Um, but yeah.
SPEAKER_02Wow. Well, I yeah, that's when I saw this article on Vogue by Shelby Max. Um they posted about it on Instagram, and I also like browsed some of their articles, and I really liked the tone of a lot of them. So I'm going to recommend Vogue weddings as an inspirational option for couples or to be weds, Shelby. That was amazing. Um, she talks about in her article the transparency of the wedding industry and how it needs to improve, which I absolutely agree. And also how much the budgets are for real vogue weddings.
SPEAKER_00I truly love the part about being transparent because planning my wedding now was a shell shock. Finding out all these pricings of vendors and what things cost. And even though I'm in the industry, I should know some of it. I don't know all of it. Right. So if there was more transparency, it does help with. I know he's being so cute on my library. My puppy is sitting with Justin and he's being so sweet. Um, but I think it would have helped also create more of like a realistic budget and know where you can put things into your budget.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00Um, but I'm it was kind of shocking to see some of these vogue weddings, the what the actual cost is. But it makes sense now that I see the cost for some of these photos.
SPEAKER_02Right. And I think that's what's something that I really admire about them releasing that information is that so many people can look at that and be like, oh, well, how much could that possibly cost? You know, the first wedding, the total budget was over $500,000.
SPEAKER_00Okay. It's insane for 245 people. Right. But still.
SPEAKER_02Um, it was planned in Mexico. Uh, so I'm sure gorgeous. And they spent $53,600 on sh photography. I don't know what that included because it doesn't like tell us that. Um, it also does say that their florals were gifted. So I don't know.
SPEAKER_00That's this is a weekend though. So it's a rehearsal general wedding and a welcome party. Yes. So that could be even if you divide that by three, that's still a lot.
SPEAKER_02Right. And also depends on the amount of coverage that they had for each of those days.
SPEAKER_00With about nine grand. Ugh. My heart is hurting.
SPEAKER_02So that's why this is such a good thing because when you're looking at, you know, editorials like this, I think it is so great to get inspired from them, and that's what they're for. Not necessarily to just like copy, you know, it's just what can what inspiration can I get from this that I'm seeing. So, and your, you know, vendors should be able to dream up and inspire with you. Like, if you know, I mean, I think that's part of our job.
SPEAKER_00And I think too, is like if you have, if your inspiration is there, your florist, your photographer, your venue is gonna be good at being able to take that inspiration and then um creating it into like what is more like realistic within your budget, or you get a really nice planner who can design your wedding very similar, but not at the price tag that some of these weddings have. Right.
SPEAKER_02A good planner, decor person, florist, photographer, they will be able to bring it to a level that is more attainable for you. Yeah. I'm gonna repeat that though. A good planner. And this is definitely a conversation you should have from the beginning if if you're really wanting to not spend an exorbitant amount on certain things, and you're working with a planner and a florist, there are ways to do that. And I'm excited because we are hoping to have some new guests this season. You have a lot of planners that want to yeah, lots of planners. There's a floor couple florists we'd like to speak with or have on, and we're in talks with them right now, so get their perspective on right, because you know that's what's this is all about. So but a good designing planner will they can do some when if they don't do design, they'll know somebody who does design and decor. True, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like there's one planner that I work with a lot. She I always say that she can design a wedding, she doesn't just plan a wedding, she knows how to take your vision and design it. And sh I've done some pretty insane looking weddings with her. Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Can I put that down before I break it? So you're not gonna break it. She's got her fidget. So the next wedding weekend on the list in the article is a wedding weekend in Tuscany. Um, Shelby notes that the couple initially wanted to spend seven to eight hundred grand.
SPEAKER_00Euro.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02This is euro. I'm but here. Oh. And then um they ended up spending over a million in euro. And one of the things that they noted was that transportation costs, transportation costs were very expensive in Italy, which makes sense because when you're doing something like this, you do have to factor in those like unexpected costs, like accommodations and transport, because no, not everybody's gonna be able to just like rent a car or get around how I'm trying to do an exchange so I can see what someone's oh for to dollars, yeah. Um, well, the euro is worth more than the dollar right now.
SPEAKER_00So their accommodations buyouts. I'm guessing they bought out the entire location that they were at was almost 450,000.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00American American dollars.
SPEAKER_02Crazy. Wow. Um, another thing to note though is that each of these um weddings that they're talking about in this article, there's something specific that the couple wanted out of their day, and this couple wanted like great entertainment, you know. So I hope they got that. I'm sure it was absolutely stunning.
SPEAKER_00Again, what would have been cool is if they attached some of the photos that they were talking about. This would have been cool. Oh, yeah. Just because this is really interesting to see.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's interesting to see the difference in cost. Well, because this is euro, what would that be for photography?
SPEAKER_00That is correct because get the lead.
SPEAKER_02The wedding weekend in Mexico was overall less budget-wise. But it looks like they spent more on other things.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like this weekend, this one that went in Tuscany, it's like a welcome party, pool party, and a farewell dinner. Okay, so they had an extra event. They had an extra event. They did spend more, but I'm guessing that I mean their accommodation buyout is probably a third, a third of their budget right there. I mean, their photography is only 28. So I'm guessing their photographer probably that's their normal pricing, or they because they did so many events all one weekend, they package priced it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So you're not having to travel, you're doing money, that kind of a thing.
SPEAKER_02Well, also, I think this is really interesting because I have seen that like the services that we provide here in Europe are less expensive. Like, photography is not what it costs here in our area. This is one that I've been wanting to talk about. So it's an intimate wedding in Canada.
SPEAKER_00It looks like they did a welcome dinner, farewell, farewell dinner, and a tease. So cute.
SPEAKER_02Photography is more of what I would expect here for one wedding or for this whole weekend? Well, I guess it just depends on the photographer, but in the I feel like this is more in my range. But they spent 10,844 for what I don't know if this means that they photographed each thing, or I guess that's like another thing, is it only the wedding day? But these numbers seem more common to what like people in our area might be spending, but without having the welcome dinner, farewell dinner, and tea, I guess that's more of a thing that I see when people are doing a destination. Like my couple in Austin had a welcome dinner, they had their casino night and then their wedding day. So the photography here was around uh just under 11,000. Their florals were 6,500. I know.
SPEAKER_00Some of these numbers, I was like, wow, I'm really like that's great. And I'm guessing they had, I mean, if you have three events and you're doing florals, yeah, it's 65.
SPEAKER_02So the only difference I'm seeing here majorly is that this guest count was for 50 people. So they really did still bring out all the stops for their guest count.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they still did everything like super alap elabit, lavish, whatever the word is. But there's just things that they it looks like were more important. Their DJ was only $1,700. That's you would for those if they did all even if he DJ'd all three events, that's less than what a DJ cost here.
SPEAKER_02Oh, and that I would say it's kind of similar for one event though. Yes. For one event.
SPEAKER_00But if that DJ was for three events, that's pretty amazing. I like that they did a swap visit for themselves. I mean, their food, their food and beverage for the venue was like $440 per person. But does that include, you know, the three days food, beverages, and rental? Yeah, and the rental. That's pretty decent for like three days. That's like 140-ish per day.
SPEAKER_02So their total was just under $80,000.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I think it was um interesting to see that. And then this is what I would expect totally for near Cape Cod. Yeah. Was just under $200,000. Um, their guest count still wasn't like a lot, only $115,000. So I'd say that's pretty average guess count. Um, their most expensive item was, of course, a venue, including food and beverage. Yep. Um, which we talked about that in an episode. I think in the venue file.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Yeah, and then the number two to them is their planner. That's pretty like half their venue cost. Oh, yeah. Food cost.
SPEAKER_02That's amazing. So they did a rehearsal dinner and a day after brunch as well. So it's not bad for three events. No. Uh, one thing that I'm seeing consistently across all of these is that a couple tended to spend more than they originally were planning for.
SPEAKER_00Which is pretty normal.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I'm at the here's my card stage. Just buy it at this point.
SPEAKER_02Um so this is really interesting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We're now on uh a France um wedding with 200 guests, and it is labeled as a backyard wedding. So they got married in a church and then had a family backyard transformed for their celebration. Their total budget was $40,000. Wow. Yeah, I think that's fantastic. And it says it they saved a lot of money on gifted.
SPEAKER_00Uh you see this? The couple had 25,000 euros gifted from their to cover costs.
SPEAKER_02So they originally were hoping to spend 30. Um but their budget cap was 40 because they understood it was a little unrealistic to expect that. They wanted to make sure their guests would eat well and we wanted a nice table. I bet you this was stunning. Yeah, absolutely. So there's definitely, I think what's so nice is that there's versatility in this. I love the way Shelby put this together, that she, you know, gave us a range of options and locations, and I think I think it's cool to see the last one.
SPEAKER_00They did everything DIY, not though. Like they did DIY their invitations, and it's only a hundred euros.
SPEAKER_02And I feel like that's an entertainable thing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, a lot of couples do DIY, they don't um they donate it.
SPEAKER_02Oh, this is really common. So usually the church will ask for a donation for you to get married there, and their church donation was 800 euro. And I feel like that's pretty normal. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00In in dollars, that's pretty standard here.
SPEAKER_02So this is another three-day celebration. I feel like that's been wait. Was the backyard a weekend?
SPEAKER_00No, just the backyard and wedding.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00So it's not bad for one one event.
SPEAKER_02Um, okay, last one, another wedding weekend, this time in Portugal. Guess count is 110. They spent again the most in the the thing in common with all of these is that food and bev is among the top of the budget. So they did spend 15,500 euro on their photography. Uh, their planner was 7,500, venue was 7,000, fashion was 17,000. I would have loved to see that. That's what I would, yeah. I wish that's why I want a photo of the weddings. And they went in, uh, Shelby notes that they went in wanting to spend a hundred thousand, but they wanted to make sure that everything was beautifully shot and they increased their budget for photo.
SPEAKER_00This is also the first wedding on this entire um article that had a videographer.
SPEAKER_02Oh, nice.
SPEAKER_00So that they really took into account like what they really wanted was photo video of their events. Right.
SPEAKER_02Uh she even notes that the couple said photography was definitely somewhere they were willing to spend more because it's the only thing you can take away physically from. I agree with that. So that was something really important to them. Um, I think this is important. Also, this that that wedding was an American couple, and they were hit a little harder as well because of the global economy, and because the dollar is not as um, it's declined versus the euro, so they they had to pay a little bit more.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But I mean, they had a wedding in Portugal, so they also know that they wouldn't change a thing.
SPEAKER_00That's good. I they had furniture rentals. I would love to see this. But like their invitations and paper is only $2,000. And what was their guys come again? Like 110. So it includes like save the dates, your invitation, menu printing, place cards, probably welcome sign, all of that. Like that's actually, I mean, it's probably on the higher end, but it's actually if you think of like how much stuff you have to print.
SPEAKER_02What have you been spending on invites?
SPEAKER_00I have had the best luck with invitations. I've actually spent zero dollars. They've gifted it all to me. That's amazing. Yeah, shout out Bloom in Color because he I designed it all on Canva and then they did it on their end, and he has not charged me. And I keep getting mad at him. I'm like, can you give me a bill, please? Even if it's like five dollars, like let me pay something. Um, but all my invitations and my save the dates have been all lovely gifted from them.
SPEAKER_02That's amazing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I've been very, very, very fortunate for that one. It's probably like the only real large gift from a vendor, which I'm absolutely okay. I don't like getting discounts from vendors because I feel like I know their worth and I want to pay them what I know their worth is. And so I always hate being like, Can I have a discount? Like, no, give me, give me your costs, and I'm gonna give you my credit card and charge it before I forget about it. So, but I mean, I would probably say that with between I mean, I looked on Etsy for a lot of my inspiration for my invites, and I think my invitation suite was going for like $20, $30 an invitation if like somebody was to print like design it and print it. And then the envelope liners, I think when I like got the pricing for it, it was almost like $300 for the amount that I needed. So that's a pretty that was pretty steep. But I didn't pay that $300 flat. I love the envelope liners. I'm obsessed with that. I'm waiting for them to go out. Like they're sitting in this box, and I'm just Waiting to double check everything to make sure I have everybody.
SPEAKER_02That's gonna it's gonna be so beautiful. I'm so excited. Um also such a popular date. Your date. I know.
SPEAKER_00That's because the date is beautiful. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02The sequential. Very popular. I have constantly seen that date come up. Um well Shelby Wax is the contributing weddings editor at Vogue, and we are so thankful for her talents in giving this article out to us. Um also go uh to vogue.com slash I think it's weddings. Yes, vogue.com slash weddings, where you can see more by Shelby and other um editors there at Vogue. I am loving reading some of the articles that they put out and coming from someone who is pretty, I don't know, picky about the kind of wedding content that I consume. Yeah, I would say they're actually they have good content. Yeah, that's what I would say. And I would definitely refer my brides to some of these if they needed it. Um like the best bridesmaid robes for pre-ceremony festivities. I love that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I didn't look at it yet. I need I like that they have like the how-to's and advice because everyone needs a little how-to.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because there is so much information out there, and it can get overwhelming when there is so much information out in the world. It I mean, I think it is overwhelming. And as a couple, you get decision fatigued on trying to make decisions when you have 500 decisions to come make or 500 options to choose from.
SPEAKER_02Right. Which I think I empathize with that, even though I didn't like plan a wedding, a full like wedding, or I haven't done that yet. Uh, I can definitely see how just having to search for other vendors in life because it's uh similar in other industries. So I think my best advice for um to be weds that are in their vendor search era is to pick three vendors, reach out to them, see what their pricing is, if it falls within your budget or you're willing to spend a little bit more or less, you know, have that call with them, see how it feels, and sleep on it, you know, like, or if you're like, you know, that's what you want, you know, just go ahead and secure your date with them. Or get a planner.
SPEAKER_00That's gonna be mine, a planner. That's gonna be I luckily I have a planner friend that I am asking eight. Well, I have two of them, like 18 billion questions, and they're both booked on my wedding day, sadly. So, like neither of them are like able to actually do it, but I'm getting so many questions, and one of them's going to my final florist appointment because she knows the vision that I want, and I know she can articulate it probably a little bit better than I can articulate it, but a planner. I I do wish if I could go back, I probably would have gotten a full planner because they you tell them your vision, they give you the vendors that fit in that vision instead of me having to find the vendors that fit in my vision. So that would be, you know, luckily I had you photography and content creation, like sold. Yeah, so that was easy. And I knew who my florist was going to be, but I wish I had somebody to tell me what I wanted for that. Like here's my Pinterest board. Now tell them what I want and help me get there because that was hard at the beginning. Yeah, now it's starting to come easy. But a planner, a planner, a planner, I know it's an investment, but your wedding isn't an investment. Get okay there.
SPEAKER_02I agree a hundred percent. And if and it's okay if that is not in your budget, at least still find someone to do month of coordination for you because I mean it's great when venues have event coordinators, but they're also worried about the venue and what needs to happen there. They're not like your wedding day coordinator. Correct. You know, they've got to focus on catering and that everything's working in the space. They've got to work with all the vendors. So they already have their whole list of items to be in charge of. Correct. So if you want somebody in charge of your wedding day, you need to hire someone from that or speak with your venue and see if they have like an add-on for you. Sometimes venues will do add-ons.
SPEAKER_00Add ons. Yeah. Like sending people, yeah. Another thing is if you can't afford a full planner day of partial full planning, always just pay for a consultation with them. Like you can pay for like a one-hour consultation, two hours to see where you're at and where they can guide you in the right direction too. And that would be a little bit more cost-effective. If you need somebody to tell you, like, are you on the right track or are you not on the right track?
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00That might be a nice option as well.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I like that. Because at least you're not going in blind, you know, or trying to like find this information yourself, and then you don't know what's good advice or not, you know, if you're just like searching on the internet. So um, I think this has been really nice to explore. And there are so many good, like recent Vogue weddings listed on here in all different kinds of areas, all different kinds of vibes. So absolutely. Uh definitely check out Vogue.com slash weddings for some wedding inspo or you know, the advice and how-tos and stuff.
SPEAKER_00I think this also can go into like I know it says like the real budget of Vogue weddings, but I know this was a huge topic years ago in our industry about transparency and pricing on websites. That's another thing too. I mean, as a venue and as a bride, I think there's two parts of it. We have our pricing listed on our website. I have a starting, yeah. At least starting is a nice way to, but when you don't have anything, um that's a little hard. Right. Because then you're like, oh, I love your work, but then you get the price back and like, whoa, you're out of my budget. Like I'm like you kind of get your hopes up a little bit to then be kind of saddened a little bit, which is hard.
SPEAKER_02I also in my inquiry form, it's asks like what range your budget's in, and it starts at between five and seven. So like they already know there too, like this is the starting range.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I I mean there's just so many vendors out there that it does, like I was saying, with um that decision fatigue. But just that easy, and I know everyone wants to get on a call, see if you work personally with them and you fit with them or get in them in to see the venue, but sometimes it's it's nice to be able to like not get your hopes up. Because I did that when I went to a venue and I loved it, and then I saw the bottom line cost, and I was like, Yeah, no, I'm not paying this. Yeah, because it was way out of my budget, but they wouldn't give me pricing before I walked in the door.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's hard.
SPEAKER_00And you're like, okay, but I fell in love with the venue, but you're way out of my budget, and I can't like I don't want to be venue broke. Wasted my time. Yeah, I want to be venue broke. I want food, but like other things were a little bit more important than barbecue on at a venue with plastic plates, you know? So that was really something that I think needs another back conversation at is being more transparent with pricing and being up front, like sending it right away versus hey, let's get on a call to talk about my pricing. Right. Send me pricing, then let's see if we can hop on a call to see if we fit within each other's style.
SPEAKER_02So as soon as I get an inquiry, I'm sending them pricing based on whatever they've told me. And then if they let me know what their venue is and I haven't been there, I'll try to send them like similar venue options that I've photographed at, you know, so they can see that. Um, and then I usually say, like, if you'd like to chat, just let me know. Like, here's my number. And I give them my my work line. Yeah. So if they want to. And I mean, that has been really I mean, I feel like that's pretty up front.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Oh, absolutely. By giving pricing, I feel like having a starting price too helps on websites. Yeah. Because if you don't even have like a baseline or anything, people are kind of like, where are you at pricing? Where are we coming in at? We have our full pricing. Because we are so booked that sometimes I need to we need to filter it. Like I need to see if we're even gonna be in your budget.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And not that we're, I mean, we're not expensive. When I say we're not expensive, we there's some other venues around us that are with food and beverage that are way more expensive. Yes. Really? Absolutely. Way higher than like their minimums are higher, their rental fees are higher. But food is very different between us. So that's where it's really hard because couples compare, they try to compare apples to apples, and we're not apples to apples, we're apples to oranges. Yeah, you know, but I think our pricing is very decent. But I'm I need you to see our pricing first before we can get you into see a tour because we're so busy that we don't want you to fall in love with the space first, and then the price is so hard that you lose it. Like we want you, we want that more transparency with pricing. So the only thing pricing that's not is like upcharges and stuff like that. But like upcharges are also all depending on what you're what you're doing. Like, are you doing an Aperol spritz or are you doing a Moscow Mule? Because those are different. It it's two different pricings within the bar packages. Aperal sprites. Those are pretty decent. Still thinking about my signature drinks.
SPEAKER_02I know. I can't wait to talk all about it and share everything from the day. But for now, we are going to wrap this up. Thank you so much for joining us.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for opening up this file with us today. We'll see you next time on the IELT files. Bye.
