Wedding Business Solutions

Should you charge a lot more for an event that's far away, or just say no?

• Alan Berg, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow

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Should you charge a lot more for an event that's far away, or just say no?

Should you take on that event that’s hours away—or is it better to just walk away? What happens if you charge a much higher fee and the client actually says yes? Will the extra cash make up for the inconvenience, or will you regret saying yes just because of the price? In this episode, I share my perspective on how distance, motivation, and honest decision-making come together, with real-world examples and a simple rule to follow the next time you’re tempted to say yes for the wrong reasons.

Listen to this new 5-minute episode for practical advice on when to charge more for travel, when to turn jobs down, and how to protect your business (and peace of mind) from regretful “yes” decisions.

If you have any questions about anything in this, or any of my podcasts, or have a suggestion for a topic or guest, please reach out directly to me at Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or visit my website Podcast.AlanBerg.com 

Please be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave a review (thanks, it really does make a difference). If you want to get notifications of new episodes and upcoming workshops and webinars, you can sign up at www.ConnectWithAlanBerg.com  

View the full transcript on Alan’s site: https://alanberg.com/blog/


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I'm Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you'd like to suggest other topics for "The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast" please let me know. My email is Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com. Look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.

Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site:

©2025 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com

Did you just charge a lot more for a job that's far away or not take it. Listen to this episode. Let's talk about it. Hey, it's Alan Berg. Welcome back to another episode of the Wedding Business Solutions podcast. This is an ask me anything suggestion from Ian in Ireland. And Ian had a request for a job that was far away and he's thinking, I don't really want to go out there, but maybe I just charge them a lot of money and then maybe I should do it. And you know what's funny, what it comes down to is if you don't want to do it, you shouldn't do it, right? So how badly do you not want to do it? As opposed to just charging more? Because you have to say to yourself, what if they say yes, are you going to then feel good or bad? Right? So there are some times when you're like, okay, like for me, if I have to travel a long distance and it might take more of my time, things like that.

So do I want to give up an extra day for that? Is it worth it to me? And if I charge more, is that going to make it up? Which most of the time would be fine. But sometimes I've had like, I don't really want to go there and if I don't want to go there, the answer is no to any price. It's not no to the higher price. It's not just saying, you know, know, only if you pay more, I'll go. If you don't want to do it, you don't want to do it. I, I think I've told this story, but I was in Mexico one time speaking in an event and there was a party and we're out by this beautiful resorts pool and drinking the hand and I heard people talking and somebody said, if you don't want to do the wedding, just charge a high price. And I said no, if you don't want to do it, don't do it. Because whatever why ever you didn't want to do it is still there.

So in the case of this one, Ian, you're saying it's two hours away. Not, not that I don't want to do the job, but it's two hours away. So do I want to do it? Because that's two hours there, two hours back. Now I don't. Every one of you has something different whether or not you need to be at the event versus just going and setting up for the event, right? So depending upon what you do, right? Entertainment, you're going to Be there all night. Flowers. In many cases, you know, you have to come and break it down later or you have to arrange for somebody else to break it down. Is it a drop off thing? Right, if you're doing decor, you're going to have to come and pick that decor up later.

So it's not just the two hours, it's two hours there, which means leaving earlier than you normally would. It's being there for the event and then coming two hours back. Now that could put you very late. Do you have to pay for, you know, are you going to want to stay overnight? So are you going to charge enough that you have for a hotel, assuming you don't need to be back first thing in the morning? So, Ian, what I would say is if it's just a matter of distance but you're okay doing the event, then, yeah, charge more. Whether you're charging travel, you're just charging a inconvenience fee or whatever you want to call it, you know, as opposed to a convenience fee. If you're okay doing the event. Yeah, yeah, charge them more. It's fine if you don't want to do it, you know, there's other reasons why.

And if distance just adds to why you don't want to do it, you're like, yeah, I would do that if it's closer. But no, I'm not going to go do that. Then the answer is no, sorry, I'm not available or I don't service that area or whatever it is. But remember, if you didn't want to do it, just charging more. I've spoken to so many people about this and people that have done it, everybody that's done it, and that includes me. And a lot of you listening is like, no, I'm never doing that again. I am not going to just charge more because I didn't want to do it. And now I just feel dirty, right? Like I took it and gosh, I still have to slog through all the reasons why I didn't want to do it.

And that's just, that's not a good plan. It's not a good business plan at all. So, Ian, if you want to do it, great, charge them more for that because it is more of your time, more of the distance, perfectly fine. If you don't want to do it, just say no. That's what it is. Just say no. So thanks for the suggestion. Go to podcast alanberg.com Click on the Ask me anything button and make your suggestion too.

Might end up on the podcast. And Ian, I will see you in October in Ireland.


I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or you can  text, use the short form on this page, or call +1.732.422.6362, international 001 732 422 6362. I look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.

Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site:

©2025 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com


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Alan Berg, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow

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