Wedding plans include inflation budgeting

LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) – Brides and bridal vendors gather in Longview on Saturday for Emily Rae’s spectacular bridal boutique and events. It’s a day when nearly 35 vendors help brides plan their special day. Owner Emily Gorman said their goal is to ensure all brides can book their wedding in one place.

“They’re all over East Texas, we have Tyler, Longview, we even have some from Hallsville, in the Marshal area,” Gorman said. “We have bakers, caterers, we have DJs, we have wedding favors, we have dresses, wedding planners, anything you could think of for your wedding.”

Inflation is one of the topics that many brides and vendors worry about. Laura Starling is an event coordinator and site manager at the Event Center on Alpine. She said one of the biggest inflation charges impacting the wedding industry is fuel.

“Fuel and travel expenses. I’ve noticed that a lot of people, whether it’s a planner or a rental company, or someone going to the location, have to increase their travel costs,” Starling said.

She added that the supply of cleaning products for venues was very different from a few years ago.

“Getting them at the same price as two years ago is not possible. So it is another internal cost that people have to compensate for. And they have to increase their prices and increase their rental rates”, Starling said.

Another major area impacted is food. Macia Rohrbach is the owner of Lunch Lady Catering and has been with the business for about 15 years. She said the cost of food has risen dramatically, forcing them to raise their prices.

“When we have a wife and we have a contract, what we do is we put a clause in the contract now because the future is uncertain,” Rohrbach said. “When we are 21 days away from the event, we will reassess the price situation, so the price can change per person and no one has a problem with that.”

Common advice to all vendors is to book early and have a budget.

“Book early, book your vendors early. Even if it’s a year away, many of us are already booking or are booked for 2023,” Rohrbach said.

They say it’s important to book big costs and suppliers first.

“You want to do your venue, your photographer, your DJ, your caterer, those are the main things you should focus your budget on and allocate those funds accordingly,” Starling said.

Sunday’s event runs until 4 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Infinity Center, 300 Tuttle Cir. at Longview. They have giveaways, food, vendors, expert panels and more.

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