The wedding industry is seemingly recession-proof. People are always getting married and willing to spend lots of money to make it a night to remember, even during a recession. The wedding industry in the United States alone is a 161 billion dollar industry.
While there are plenty of ways to save money on a wedding, today I want to share ten ways to make money in the wedding industry.
1) Photography
There are a ton of wedding photographers, and for good reason; with over 2 million weddings a year in the United States, there are on average over 5,000 weddings a day. Photographers can make anywhere from a few hundred dollars to in excess of five thousand for a wedding.
2) Catering
Every (or, almost all weddings) need a caterer. The prices caterers charge range quite a bit, but most will be in excess of $20/person. One thing to remember about starting a catering business is that you will have to comply with a bunch of regulations. This site gives some background on Minnesota’s regulations.
3) Music
The saying goes: If the music is bad at a wedding, it can kill the dance. At least that’s how the theory goes. Established DJs can make around $400+ for their services.
4) Wedding Planning
Wedding planners make on average $3,262. They range from day-of coordinators to full-service. As expected, the costs increase as the number of things the coordinator is responsible for increases.
5) Own a Wedding Venue
Owning a wedding venue will require the biggest investment of anything on this list. Weddings and wedding receptions take place in a wide range of places – from a parent’s backyard to a hotel banquet room. There is never a shortage of couples looking for a place to celebrate their wedding day, and rental fees can range from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars.
6) Rent a Photo Booth
Having a photo booth at your wedding reception is becoming increasingly popular. You can get close to $1,000 if you have a photo booth that you rent for wedding purposes (at least that’s what The Traveling Photo Booth charges).
7) Vehicle Rental
Limos, party buses, the list goes on as far as vehicle rental for weddings go. Prices range depending on how long you want to rent. We rented a 20 person party bus on a Saturday afternoon for approximately three hours and were charged about $350.
8) Sell Wedding-Related things on Etsy
If you search “wedding” on Etsy you will get over one million results. People sell everything from card holders, picture frames, bags, signs, decorations, and more.
9) Rent Linens
Linens are something that almost everyone will need to rent for their wedding reception. They are surprisingly expensive to rent, which is good news if you are the ones renting.
10) Wedding Cakes & Desserts
Last but not least, wedding cakes and desserts are a necessity for a wedding reception. Those looking to get into this business will face the same difficulties as those trying to get into catering, but if you can make a great cake and/or other desserts the payoff just might be worth it. It definitely was for Muddy Paws Cheesecake, who we paid close to $900 to provide various cheesecakes for our wedding.
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What other ways can you make money in the wedding industry?
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The wedding industry is insane! Hopefully we can keep our costs WAYYYY down! We plan on having a pretty small wedding.
@Money Life and More Small weddings can be pricey too! But I definitely realized that each additional 10 people cost x amount more…it’s not cheap.
These are all great ways to make money. My friend is about to have a $250,000 wedding. I’m not even joking when I say that!
@SenseofCents Egad! That’s more than my mortgage was… :S
@Ugifter @SenseofCents Oh my gosh! I have heard of people who got $100k weddings (guy is a doctor and set a budget for his daughters at 100k….unbelievable) but not QUARTER-MILLION!
@Ugifter @SenseofCents That is also more than my mortgage…that’s more than I just got pre-approved for! lol
@DC @ Young Adult Money @Ugifter Yes it’s a lot of money. Her dad is the President or a pretty big airline company though, so they have tons of cash. Her sister just got married last summer and had an even more extravagant wedding.
@SenseofCents @Ugifter Ah I see…makes sense, I suppose if you are making $1M+/year numbers like 250k don’t seem that crazy.
@DC @ Young Adult Money @Ugifter Yeah still insane though! The per person cost just for the reception is $175 (before taxes and fees of about $25K total). And there’s over 500 people going. They are looking at $150,000 just for food and drinks. I want to tell her dad just to pay off my house and I’d love him forever.
Ha! This is awesome! Jefferson and I have honestly gone to weddings, been sticker-shocked, come home, and said “okay, let’s brainstorm…because there has GOT to be a way to capitalize off of all this ridiculous over-spending!”
-M
@seedebtrun Haha I am always thinking of ways to make money so I am usually distracted by it when I’m at weddings. People are willing to pay tho, that’s for sure.
Making paper products, like programs, invites, place cards, escort cards, etc. That’s one of the things that I do for my friends as a gift, that doesn’t usually cost me too much, except for a few hours of time.
@Ugifter Nice! My wife made all that herself, just bought the paper and whatnot and we printed it on our printer. Those things can be insanely expensive if you buy them made.
Great post. I am sure hat there are a number of other ways to make money in the wedding industry. When my wife and I got married I was just surprised at how much some things cost. I think you can mention the word wedding to some vendors and their cost will go up quite a bit just because they know you’ll pay it.
@FrugalRules I’ve heard that when something is for a wedding the costs can go up. Even trying to cut costs our wedding still cost quite a bit in total. I would say it was worth it, tho.
My dad has been in the industry for 30+ years. He is a wholesaler for wedding dress companies. That part of the business is real tough according to him. While the margin is high a lot of people are getting cheaper material dresses made in China which are leading to deflationary pressure on that side of the industry.
@MJTM Very interesting, crazy how whole industries have changed because of China.
I was a wedding DJ for 10 years. Great DJ’s (the ones who rival bands) can make well over $1k for their services. $400 buys a competent college kid and two speakers in most cases.
@AverageJoeMoney Oh did not realize how expensive they could run, thought most were in the $500 range.
Screen printing the bride and groom’s name on stuff is a huge one. My sister is a dentist and she had the bride and groom’s name printed on toothbrushes to give for party favors. Also if you can sew, alterations on wedding and bridesmaid’s gowns can cost big bucks. You might have to deal with bridezillas though, so have a tough skin.
@Eyesonthedollar Great points, thanks for sharing
one of our most requested are personalized m&m’s.
http://www.holytrinityreceptioncenter.com
I can vouch for Etsy. At the last wedding I went to, that’s where all the decorations came from and they looked fantastic!
@MyMoneyDesign Nice! Etsy is a great site since everything is required to be hand-made. You get more unique pieces from it, and there are some people making a lot of money full and part-time through etsy.
Your article does not include how you gain EXPERIENCE in starting these types of businesses. Any business that is successful makes money. Just because you build a business, that does not mean couples will come and book you. Unless you under-rate yourself and charge less than the competition. Where is the $$$ to buy the equipment needed to start many of these ideas. Limos? Venue? Liability Insurance? You must be dreaming. @carolynburkestl
@carolynburkestl I think you are misunderstanding me.
1 – I did not talk about the experience because as the title implies, I’m talking about 10 different ways to make money in the wedding business, not how to gain experience in the wedding business.
2 – “Just because you build a business, that does not mean couples will come and book you.” I think everyone agrees with this? Not sure if you are trying to say I think that all you have to do is start a business and the money starts flowing?
3 – “Unless you under-rate yourself and charge less than the competition.” I think everyone knows that people just breaking into a business are generally cheaper than established businesses. I have multiple friends who charged about $500 (or even less!) for weddings who are now charging $2k+.
4 – “Where is the $$$ to buy the equipment needed to start many of these ideas. Limos? Venue? Liability Insurance?” What do you mean where is the $$$$? When did I EVER imply that these things could be bought out of thin air? It would require an investment, of course….if you thought I was implying it wouldn’t I apologize that I wasn’t clearer, I didn’t realize that would need to be stated.
5 – “You must be dreaming.” You will have to expand on this, I don’t know what you are referencing? This article stated 10 different ways people make money in the wedding business. It did not say that anyone can start this with no experience and no investment up front, or that couples would magically hire them.
Thank you for great information. My friend is about to have a $250,000 wedding. I’m not even joking when I say that!
@Nafeesa You’re kidding! I know people who have had $100k weddings, but not quarter-million. I guess it’s time to get into the wedding business ;)
“The wedding industry is seemingly recession-proof.” not really, it lowwers the head count and people find $250 Dj’s that ruin their day. Over all, people don’t get mairried during these times of high energy, food, and food bills.