NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Wedding costs take the cake

By Alice Hudson and Rhiannon Horrell
Herald on Sunday·
15 Nov, 2008 03:00 PM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Happy couples planning their wedding day may be taking a closer look at their quotes as the financial crisis grips the country. Photo / BOP Times

Happy couples planning their wedding day may be taking a closer look at their quotes as the financial crisis grips the country. Photo / BOP Times

KEY POINTS:

You have picked your dream venue, agonised over choosing the photographer and plumped for the perfect cake.

Now comes the real shock: your already big wedding bill is likely to be much larger than necessary.

Suzanne Carson, director of Christchurch-based Events and Wedding Professionals said it was common
for suppliers to boost their prices for weddings.

Overseas couples getting hitched here - often without relatives, guests and a full reception - were commonly charged "horrific" bills of up to $1000 for wedding photos. "That's just to take a few shots, put them on a disc and send them on their way."

Auckland wedding planner Amy Davidson said clients often asked her whether rumours of wedding mark-ups were true.

"You will look at a cake online and it will be one price, then once you mention it's for a wedding the price can suddenly go up."

The Herald on Sunday made two calls to five venues, photographers, cake makers and hairstylists selected at random from around the North Island.

We asked first for quotes for a wedding for about 80 people, then for a birthday party and family reunion for the same number of guests. The difference in several areas was marked.

A summer Saturday wedding at Waiheke Island's popular Mudbrick Vineyard costs at least $15,000. The price of a big birthday bash - three courses for 80 guests - was $6120, excluding beverages.

Owner Robyn Jones said wedding parties used the whole venue. The vineyard employed wedding co-ordinators to help with every aspect of the day, set menus started at $77 a head and there was no mark-up on wedding food.

At the bistro at Black Barn Vineyards in Hawke's Bay, venue hire for a birthday dinner for 80 people was $350. But a wedding cost $2000, which included a "fully set dining room" and use of the courtyard garden.

A Black Barn spokeswoman said the wedding hire charge included administration and co-ordination fees and was "completely different" to a birthday party.

Most photographers offered bridal packages involving at least four hours' shooting.

We asked Auckland's Aaron Lang if a two-hour option was available. He told us we could get 800-1000 shots, including 150 high-resolution versions of our favourite wedding snaps on a disc for $1200. When we asked him to attend a family reunion for the same length of time, the quote was $450 plus GST for 400-600 shots, again with a high-res selection.

Steve May, of one2onephotography, quoted a similar deal for a family reunion but his cheapest wedding package, including at least four hours at the event, started at $1950.

The photographers said several factors pushed up prices. Weddings required far more creativity and time, particularly for post-production work.

"We can be climbing trees - last week we were out on Coastguard boats," said Lang.

The price of cakes also soared once "wedding" was mentioned.

At Albany's Chocolate Earth a two-tiered plain, round chocolate cake with white icing, cake board and ribbon would cost the happy couple $390.

A similar cake, encased in chocolate, for a birthday party was $275.

At Mt Eden's City Cakes, adding a second tier to a chocolate ganache cake added an estimated $220 to the price. Manager Susanna Pattison confirmed the quotes but denied prices were "hiked" for weddings and said they were clearly stated on the website.

She said wedding cakes were tiered, and involved more detail and work. A birthday cake with the same detail would cost the same.

Tracey Lee of Chocolate Earth said many cakemakers charged more for weddings, but there was a "vast difference" in the style of the two cakes.

"People are willing to pay $70 an hour for a plumber but when it comes to cakes they say to me `What is it made of? Gold?' They don't realise that you may have spent 15 hours working on a cake."

At Barnaby's Hair Salon in Auckland's Newmarket, a bridal do was quoted as costing "from $100". The same styling for a birthday was "from $85". For bridesmaids with long hair worn out in curls, the estimated cost was $85 each. The same style for someone going to a party was $60-$85.

At Wellington's Bliss Salon and Spa, a bridal hairdo was $155 with bridesmaids $85 each. A "complicated style" for a birthday girl was $85-$95, and curls for her friends $65 each.

Barnaby manager Olga Lomakine and a Bliss employee both said bridal parties needed extra time and care.

But Carson warned suppliers they may not be able to get away with wedding premiums for much longer. "With the current economic climate people aren't going to stand for it. People are going to be watching every dollar."

Consumer New Zealand chief executive Sue Chetwin was not surprised by the results of our survey.

"Maybe couples planning a wedding should try to avoid mentioning the [wedding] word," she said.

But Christchurch wedding planner Emma Newman doubted suppliers in her area would dare charge more for weddings.

"It's a small place, and they couldn't get away with it."

If anything, clients who went through a wedding planner could receive a slight discount.

Newman advised prospective brides to be upfront to ensure they got the best prices.

"If you think there may be an issue, be honest about it. Ask whether you can be reassured you are getting the same deal as someone who was having a conference, or a birthday."

Wedding planner Amy Davidson said couples should try omitting the "W" word when asking for quotes.

The 28-year-old, of Auckland's Wonderful Weddings, said some venues she had booked for clients hiked prices "because they could". One exclusive lodge slapped a $5000 surcharge on the bill for one January wedding.

Davidson, who is getting married in two weeks, said she had been doing her own research and had noticed differences in the price of cakes in particular.

Cake makers using expensive fondant icing had a good excuse for higher prices, but hairdressers couldn't necessarily justify the extra cost.

"Ball styles can be very complicated and wedding styles can be simple, so they can't say it always takes longer."

"You have to shop around."

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: Rhiannon Horrell

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

$1 million Ferrari hits man's prized Honda Civic

New Zealand

Smokefreerockquest Showquest Nelson Final

Premium
New Zealand

Court holds forestry directors accountable for environmental compliance

03 Jul 06:00 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

$1 million Ferrari hits man's prized Honda Civic

$1 million Ferrari hits man's prized Honda Civic

Aldrin Mariano's 1995 Honda Civic EG8 was destroyed while parked in Newmarket in Auckland. Video / Wheel Hub NZ

Smokefreerockquest Showquest Nelson Final

Smokefreerockquest Showquest Nelson Final

Premium
Court holds forestry directors accountable for environmental compliance

Court holds forestry directors accountable for environmental compliance

03 Jul 06:00 AM
Smokefreerockquest Bay of Plenty Regional Final

Smokefreerockquest Bay of Plenty Regional Final

From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP