The Knot Sends Mixed Signals To The Already-Confused Bride
Bride getting mixed signals
There is a separation in publishing and broadcasting between the advertising and editorial departments. This can become blurred on the local level, but on the national level, it’s a clear distinction.
Taken to its extreme, the messages from the editorial side can really undercut the message of its advertisers.
Beau Kramer (KramerDJs.com) read the post on Wedding Misinformation and added a link to a very unfortunate article on the MSNBC site, titled Planning A Wedding For Under $10,000. The most unfortunate part about this article is that the source is the editorial department of The Knot.
Two glaring examples that have no connection with reality are these:
“Photography: $500
Ways to save: Find a photographer who offers a la carte services so that you don’t have to pay for extras like editing, re-touching, and photo albums.
What we found: A Manhattan wedding photographer who’s running a “recession special” wedding photography package which includes four hours of shooting for $500.
Reception Music: $500
Ways to save: Find two-for-one package deals. For example, some DJs offer packages that include both the ceremony and reception. If you want live music, split the difference. Hire musicians to play for the ceremony and cocktail hour and then set up an iPod with dance music for the reception.
What we found: A guitarist and singer duo on Craigslist.com who would play for $500 for four hours. (Just be sure to listen to their sound samples before you sign any checks.)”
There are a few items of anecdotal, such as finding the guitarist and singer on Craigslist.com. These are isolated finds, and not necessarily quality finds.
There are two major problems with this:
- The advice is, at best, spotty. Some items are diabolically nonsensical and detrimental to a wedding.
- The Knot earns its revenue by receiving advertising revenue by professional wedding products and services. Generating such poorly conceived Do-It-Yourself nonsense undercuts the wedding professionals that support The Knot.
To be at such cross purposes, must drive the advertising sales department out of its mind. Read the article to form your own opinion.
Dreadful, really.
Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority
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It would have been nice to see them also explain the disadvantages associated with getting these deals. They did a great job getting low quotes for services. However they never did experience what this 10k wedding would have been like. I would’ve been interested to read an article on how it turned out and if the bride would have done any thing differently.
Great blog Andy. You know I’m no lover of The Knot, and I’m glad that you wrote this because I was beginning to think I was alone in my sentiments.
A $500.00 photographer is absurd, and as you said, I also cannot understand why they (The Knot) seem to have no loyalty to their advertisers, and subsequently why anyone would spend money advertising with them.
The Knot rips off businesses that are already struggling in today’s economy. The make empty promises about ROI and deliver nothing.
Here are two articles I wrote on The Knot and their rip-off antics.
http://www.cuttingedgedjs.com/blog/2009/04/21/untying-the-knot/
http://www.cuttingedgedjs.com/blog/2009/03/22/why-not-theknotcom-for-your-wedding-services/
Thank you again Andy for writing this blog. Needed to be said.
Craig
I was even considering advertising with The Knot.
That’s all changed now.
Beau
Awesome post, Andy! Thank you so much for putting this out there.
Nice article.
In my opinion, The Knot is NOT a trusted friend of true wedding professionals.
Rocky
Rocky,
I appreciate your comment, but my big point is the mixed message problem coming from The Knot. While the advertising sales department works tirelessly to generate activity for advertisers, it is undercut by such a poorly researched article.
While we all understand that not every bride has a boatload of money, this particular set of recommendations was simplistic and gave no context for the decisions.
You and I certainly agree on that.
Andy
I know when I am looking for things for the most important day of my life, I go straight to craigslist! NOT (KNOT).
This is another typical editorial piece by people that do not work or live in the real world. Check with my bride and groom from last night about the “Entertainment” and they will probably tell you they had some “Music” too! (They also paid me 3 times the average in our area for DJ’s) At the end of the evening they both came to me and said “Wow, we are sure glad we found you!”
I would love to be able to interview about 10 brides and grooms that did “$10,000″ weddings based on these recommendations. I bet that would be interesting!
Alan
Andy,
I am sure you are use to all kinds of feed back.. so I am assuming what I am about to say will not offend you.
I think this whole charade on Bella Pictures and The Knot’s editorial department is ridiculous. I am not sure if you have ever worked on a $10,000 – 300 guest wedding or not but I have had my fair share of them. Or how about the bride that has about $1000 to plan a back yard deal. Yep. Just did one of those this weekend for a friend and it was amazing.
What they are saying is not BAD advice, it’s a way to cut corners and save some major money so you can make your wedding day actually happen! When using an Ipod for dance music, does the DJ get cut, yes. But guess what – find another wedding that can afford you for that many hours.
I’m kind of getting sick of this whole thing of how you are portraying them as nasty evil no-good doers in our industry. They are trying to HELP couples be able to have the BEST day they can possibly afford. It’s not about how many weddings a DJ or Florist is going to lose… it’s about the Bride & Groom which it should ALWAYS be about them. I think you are losing sight of that through out this whole thing. I have offered the some of the same options and have requested that the bride and groom try to spend as much money as possible on their pictures because that is probably the most important vendor they will hire.
Maybe Bella Pictures shouldn’t have gone on TV as a wedding expert and offered advice… but I’m pretty sure we shouldn’t be sitting here pointing fingers and judging them for trying to help out some very budget conscious wedding couples.
Also, the Knot throwing the Cake Bakers under the bus? Really? They just offered a solution that saved hundreds of dollars and the couple get a wedding cake!!!!
I am really in total disagreement with all of your statements and I usually read all of your blogs… I am afraid you have lost a reader Andy.
Ashley
Ashley,
Thank you for your comments. I am not offended. Opposing points of view are welcome. I would be disappointed if you stop reading, because you disagree with a flurry of posts because that means your point of view would be missed in the future.
On TheKnot.com: I don’t conclude that they saved the bride any significant money at all. It all looks like accounting to me, By choosing to go in-house with a hotel baker, for example, the bride and groom are still paying the cake cutting fee. It may be disguised within the price of the cake, but it’s all there.
My biggest problem with the TheKnot.com’s article is that it is all over the place, not really giving clear money-saving advice. And, for small businesses that advertise with TheKnot.com, I would believe they would be mortified.
If one does some research on Bella Pictures you will find that the long view is pass/fail. They function as an agency that books photographers, often last minute, to fill their obligations. Often, the bride doesn’t meet the photographer until a couple of weeks prior to the wedding. Sometimes not until the wedding day. Perhaps more than any other vendor, the connection between photographer and wedding couple is key, as they are together, at close range, for the entire day.
It’s no wonder that the many critiques I read on photography from Bella Pictures has been wildly inconsistent. Sometimes, 4 or 5 stars. other times, 1 or 2 stars. A specialized service such as photography should not get feedback that’s all over the board.
Finally, you completely lost me on notion that an iPod DJ is ever appropriate. The lower the budget for a wedding, the more important entertainment and MC functions become. What one can afford always requires choices among the many decisions. In almost any situation I can imagine, hiring an inexpensive part-time DJ for a few hundred dollars (if one could not afford the full blown professional) would still be better than an iPod. I highly encourage you revisit the video I posted showing the flow of an actual iPod wedding.
The writing I do is meant to be challenging, not rose colored. I make every effort to write in the best interests of the bride AND the best interests of the wedding industry businesses. I have not lost site of the wedding couple, at all. For all the reasons stated in my posts, I see almost all the advice as very weak or diabolically bad.
You and I see the same information and reach a different conclusion. That’s how it works sometimes. However, to tag my well-reasoned remarks as a ‘charade’ is an unfortunate choice of words.
Again, I welcome your different point of view. I hope you elect to continue reading.
Warmest regards,
Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority
I recently started advertising on TheKnot after I attended a webinar with ADJA and TheKnot. After reading through some of the articles, it makes me feel like I was completely blindsided.
Ashley,
I understand your point of view, but I feel it may be misguided a bit.
As Andy has stated. Entertainment is one of the most important vendors you could invest in at your reception.
I recommend reading Peter Merry’s book, “The Best Wedding Reception Ever” You will discover just how important entertainment is to a wedding.
Also visit the American Disc Jockey Associations website (adja.org)
Here is some useful information via the ADJA for you to think about before you bring an iPod to serve as your entertainment.
*AFTER THE VOWS…
72% of all brides say they would have spent more time choosing their reception entertainment.
Almost 100% say they would have spent more of their budget on the entertainment.
During wedding planning, Brides say their highest priority is their attire, followed by the reception site and caterer – reception entertainment is among the least of their priorities. Within one week after their reception, 78% of Brides say they would have made the entertainment their highest priority!
When asked 81% of guests say the thing they remember most about a wedding is the entertainment.
65% of all couples that chose a band to entertain at their wedding, said, if they had it to do over again, they would have chosen a disc jockey.
Sincerely,
Daniel David
Owner, 3D Entertainment
Great article! Interesting thing to think about … the world of weddings is an interesting one, to say the least! (added by Mobile using Mippin)
Katie
We get brides and grooms calling thinking they should get a deal because they saw an article in theKnot or similar website that says they should expect this. We are very reasonably priced and work off of a rate schedule that takes into account paying 6 people to arrive early, dress in tuxes, Emcee and coordinate the wedding, play any request, create a rockin’ dance party, sing and play for up to 8 hours, be ready for overtime without notice, and on and on. Our bands make these weddings memorable and fun for everyone, something I’m pretty sure an ice carving cannot achieve.
I sometimes think we need to raise our rates, then offer a 10% discount to bring them back to where we already are, just to deal with this issue. That way, brides think they’re getting a deal even though, in truth, they already were!