Photographer Candice White Offers her Beautiful Home for Wedding Photos – Replete with the Ceremony!
The e-mail had a tone of desperation: “I hope you guys can help me. I am STRUGGLING to find a venue that is decently priced for a wedding that will probably be about/under 50 people.
As for my budget, I have about $5,000 to spend. I’d like to get the most bang for my buck, and if I could do the ceremony and reception in the same place, that’d be awesome. Better yet if the place catered and had tables/chairs/etc. I really like the places that coordinate everything for you, but for the right price, I’d be willing to do it all myself.”
The desperate groom went on, “I’ve already looked into the Bird’s Nest, Providence Place, and Big Thicket, among dozens and dozens of others. We are leaning towards Myers Park, but the Hall is just too big for us, so I don’t know. I would prefer to keep it in the Dallas area and not venture out to Fort Worth or anywhere too far away from Dallas. Seriously– ANY and ALL suggestions are welcome. I’m so frustrated that I’m to the point where I just want to go to Vegas, elope, and forget all about a proper wedding!” The e-mail was signed simply, “Bruce.”
What he was learning was the crazy high price of a simple wedding in the city of Dallas.
Even spare loft spaces downtown, with little decoration and no amenities, are priced too high for some couples: a local venue posts their prices in an online ad as this:
“We have fixed prices for weddings depending on what day of the week it would be…. Prices range from $1,750 to $3,500 depending on the date. For non-weddings we price as follows:
Saturdays - $350 per hour
Fridays - $250 per hour
Sundays and all others are $200 per hour.”
With a typical wedding and reception a minimum of four hours, even on a Sunday the event – just to rent the space – is $800. Add food, at an average of $45 to $65 per person – and a bar tab of up to $35 more per person - decorations, a DJ, and a photographer, and it’s no wonder that the average wedding in Dallas costs about $25,000! That’s $20,000 more than the desperate author, “Bruce,” of the e-mail has to spend.
Candice White would rather those who want a simple, elegant wedding on a budget save their hard-earned money and enjoy a nice honeymoon. A professional photographer, her home sits on a ¾ acre lot and her gardens are maintained to provide a beautiful backdrop for professional engagement and wedding photos. Now she’s considering allowing smart couples to add to their photos by having their wedding at her humble – and gorgeous – century-old home.
“I call it the ‘Total Wedding Package,’” she says, replete with engagement photos, then pictures during the ceremony, and reception photos. Her cottage is a perfect place for Boudoir Bridal or photos as the bride is getting dressed with her bridesmaids or mother. Her backyard is the perfect space for a small outdoor wedding. The cottage on her property can also be added onto the event package for the honeymoon suite. “After all the family and guests are gone, the couple can stay in a quiet, secluded space.”
A typical wedding photographer charges a minimum of $2,000 just for the wedding portraits. Candice is offering a full service of engagement, wedding and professional portraits – plus a small wedding venue for up to 50 people – for about $2.500. A friend of Candice’s can cater the event with heavy appetizers for $10 to $15 a person, and a night spent in the Honeymoon cottage is about $75. She can also rent tables, chairs, table clothes and wine glasses.
A thrifty couple can have their lovely backyard wedding for under $3,000 and BYOB for the reception after.
Candice has a guest room on Airbnb which is rented out on a regular basis, but she can reserve it for the wedding couple’s parents or best man or Maid of Honor, if they are coming in from out of town.
“Mi casa es su casa,” says Candice, who is known to have lovely back yard dinner parties throughout the year for her eclectic group of friends ranging from artists and writers to teachers and local business owners.
Located in a quiet neighborhood of Elmwood, Oak Cliff, her home was the most popular on The 2011 Old Oak Cliff Tour of Homes. She was hostess for the two days and kept hearing that it felt like they were in Tuscany! Built at the turn of the century, the 100-year-old structure was a speakeasy in the 1920’s, and is the perfect backdrop for a Texas wedding. There is also cupola tower off of the master bedroom which is perfect for the blessing by the officiate before the ceremony!
Candice is booking her ‘photogenic’ home for wedding events for late summer, fall, early winter and spring 2016. Smart and thrifty couples can contact her now to save in their future to begin a beautiful life together without starting it in debt: call Candice at 214-770-1934; or e-mail her at: candice@candicewhite.com. See her website at: http://candicewhite.com or Keep It Simple (Sexy) Wedding: kiswedding.com.