Every budget conversation starts in the same place: the venue and the catering. They are the two biggest numbers, so they get the most attention. They are also, in our experience, the two least likely to decide whether the evening works.
The numbers nobody argues about
Sound. A room of a hundred and twenty people with one bad microphone is a room of a hundred and twenty people who stopped listening. Sound is a small line and an absolute one.
The on-site team. One producer is not enough above roughly eighty guests. The second and third pair of hands are what keep the host on stage instead of in the corridor.
Coordination time before the day. Planning hours look like overhead on a spreadsheet. They are the reason nothing needs rescuing on the night.
What we tell clients to cut first
- Printed material nobody takes home.
- The third canapé variety.
- Decoration above eye level, in a room where people will be standing.
Get a number before you get a call
You can build a realistic range in two minutes with our budget calculator - services, duration, guest count - and bring it to the conversation instead of waiting for a quote.