Wedding Business Solutions

If weddings and events are all or part of your business, you’re in the right place.

The Wedding Business Solutions podcast is where you’ll get real-world ideas to help you sell more, profit more, and maybe even enjoy the process a little more, too.

Hosted by Alan Berg CSP, FPSA, one of the wedding and event industry’s most experienced sales and marketing speakers, each bite-sized episode gives you practical, easy-to-use ideas you can apply right away. Whether it’s converting more inquiries, following up without sounding pushy, improving your website, handling ghosting, raising your prices with confidence, or using AI in ways that actually help your business, Alan shares insights with his signature mix of common sense, experience, and humor.

Alan is the author of 16 books, including AI for the Real World and Shut Up and Sell More. He’s also been named one of the “Top 100 Speakers to Watch in 2025” for the third year in a row by Motivator Music on LinkedIn, and is one of only 46 Global Speaking Fellows worldwide.

Some episodes are just Alan sharing ideas and stories from decades in sales and the wedding industry. Other episodes feature conversations with industry pros, entrepreneurs, and experts who can help you work smarter, make more money, and create better experiences for your clients.

If you’ve ever thought:
“Why are they ghosting me?”
“How do I book more of the right clients?”
“Why does my website get traffic but not inquiries?”
“What should I actually be using AI for?”
…you’ll probably feel right at home here.

You can read full transcripts of every episode at podcast.AlanBerg.com.

Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss new episodes, workshops, and ideas you can put to work immediately.

If you’d like to learn more about Alan’s speaking, sales training, consulting, AI workshops, or website review services, visit:
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You can also reach Alan directly at Alan@AlanBerg.com.

Note from Alan:
I invite guests onto the podcast because I believe they can bring value to you, my listeners. Occasionally, I may have a business relationship or affiliate connection with a guest or product discussed on the show. My first priority is always providing useful, actionable information, and I do not sell guest spots or paid placements on the podcast.

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Wedding Business Solutions

Don't say "expensive "!

August 26, 2026 • Alan Berg, CSP, FPSA, Global Speaking Fellow

0:00 | 8:40

Don't say "expensive "!

Are you letting your own wallet dictate what you think your clients can spend? Do you know the difference between something being “expensive” and something delivering real value? In this episode, I challenge the way we talk about pricing and explain why “expensive” isn’t about the dollar amount but about whether the value matches the investment. Could changing your mindset around this unlock new possibilities for your business and sales?

Listen to this new 7-minute episode for a fresh perspective on pricing, priorities and how to confidently ask what you’re worth.

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/

Summary

In this episode, I dive into the real meaning of the word "expensive" and challenge the way we use it in the wedding business. The conversation focused on how "expensive" is not about the amount of money someone spends but about the value and return on investment they feel they receive. I explore situations where clients spend more than they expected but are thrilled with the results, explaining that in those moments, the experience wasn’t actually expensive, even if it represented a higher outlay than they anticipated. A key theme that emerged was the importance of understanding priorities. People put their money where their priorities are, and what seems like a high price to one person may not feel the same to another based on what matters most to them.

The discussion explored common struggles faced by wedding professionals, especially when it comes to raising their prices. Several points were raised, including that viewing your own service as "expensive" can actually hold you back and make you hesitant to increase your rates. Selling based on your own wallet rather than focusing on your client's priorities and perceived value limits your growth. I share stories from my own experience in the industry, highlighting how overcoming my own limiting beliefs about pricing and value allowed me to confidently charge more and deliver even better results. Ultimately, the message is clear: erase the word "expensive" from your vocabulary, focus on the value created, and trust that clients who see that value will be happy with their investment.

Are you going to Wedding MBA? Use the promo code - Alan - to save $20 off your tickets, at www.WeddingMBA.com

And don't worry, if you can't use your tickets this year, they're transferrable or you can hold them to use next year.

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:

Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/weddingbusinesssolutions
YouTube: www.WeddingBusinessSolutionsPodcast.tv
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3sGsuB8
Stitcher: http://bit.ly/wbsstitcher
Google Podcast: http://bit.ly/wbsgoogle
iHeart Radio: https://ihr.fm/31C9Mic
Pandora: http://bit.ly/wbspandora

Don't say expensive. Listen to this episode. See where I'm going with this. Hey, it's Alan Berg. Welcome back to another episode of the Wedding Business Solutions Podcast. I was at an event speaking at an event just the other day, and I heard somebody talking about one of the sponsors and saying that their particular things they were selling were expensive. And I said, you can't say that. You can't say that unless you're the buyer.

And even when you're the buyer, you can't say that unless you got good value for the money that you spent. See, there's a difference between spending a higher amount and something being expensive. Because if you're getting your money's worth, if you're getting value from it, then it's not expensive. And I hear people all the time will tell me, you know, somebody spent more than they wanted with me and they gave us a 5-star raving review and they say, well, it was expensive, but you know, we got—everybody loved it, it was fantastic, was all that. Well, then it wasn't expensive. Yeah, was it a lot of money? Maybe. Yeah. Was it more money than they've ever spent on something like that? Probably.

Was it more than they wanted to spend on it originally? Possibly. Maybe. Likely, right? But what makes something expensive is not the amount of money you spend, it's the value that you get back, your ROI, your return on investment, right? If you spend $50 on an ad in your local school bulletin and you get nothing from it, that was expensive because you don't have that $50 to spend anywhere else, right? Now, there's also the intangible. You spend $50 to support the school, there you go. So you could have just given, donated the money to the PTA or whatever. You placed the ad, you weren't expecting anything back. That's fine, right? Then it wasn't expensive. But, you know, somebody that buys a $5 million house, you know, who can afford that and loves the house and the family grows up in it, wonderful.

Well, that's not expensive. Now, to somebody else who can't afford $5 million house, then it seems expensive, right? It is a lot of money. But again, there's a difference between something being a high amount of money and something being expensive. Because it really comes down to, besides the ROI, it comes down to priorities. Because we put our money where our priorities are. Now, if you don't have a lot of money, your priorities are food on the table, roof over your head, clothes living to where, that's absolutely. We get past that point and now you spend your money on priorities. And some people taking a vacation is a priority and they will put that money towards that.

They might even spend out of proportion to their income for their activities because that's important to them. It doesn't make it expensive. Again, it's, it maybe it's more than someone like them would typically spend, but if they loved it, if they had a great time, it's not expensive. And you have to change your mentality because if you think things are expensive and you, then you'll have a hard time raising your price. And this is what I found over the years. I'm not going to say this is 100%, but I found it a lot of the time. Most of the time when people start using the word expensive, they have trouble raising their rates much higher than they are currently because that's in their head. Oh, we're going to be too expensive.

It's not your wallet. When I do sales training, whether it's one-on-one, whether it's on Zoom, whether it's in person, one of the things I'm almost always asked to teach is don't sell with your wallet. You know, there are a lot of people that get into the industry a little bit younger, and if you're trying to sell something that you've never bought before, right? So whether it's an officiant or flowers or a dress or a band or a DJ or a photographer or videographer or any of the things that go with a wedding, especially venues and catering, right? They've never spent money like that before. So when you're trying to sell that, especially let's say you're at a higher end, let's say at a venue, and the average wedding in New York City is, what is it, it's over $80,000. And if you've never spent that kind of money on an event, right, and probably if you're really young, you might never have spent 5 figures on anything, you know, maybe a car, but other than that, no, certainly not an experience. So really, you, it's hard for you to say, well, that's going to be $80,000, right? Mind you, that's the average wedding, which means a lot of them are higher and some of them are lower for sure, right? So I found this a lot where they love the product, you selling your product, you selling on the results and people love it. And when it comes time to asking, there's a trepidation because you're like, oh, can I tell them it's going to be $34,000? Can I tell them it's going to be $900? Can I tell them it's going to be $6,000? Because to them it seems like a lot of money. And that it's expensive is in your head, but it's not your judgment.

And if you don't believe me, just go, go to a parking lot, look at the cars. Cheap cars, old cars, new cars, fancy cars, not fancy cars, beat-up cars, cars where the paint is peeling, cars that are shining so you need your sunglasses, they're so clean and shiny, right? Comes down to priorities. I've spoken about this before. The only reason I'm driving a 2024 vehicle is because my—the one I had before, which I loved and low mileage, but it needed too much work and I couldn't put the work into it. I could have afforded a new car before that. I just didn't want one. I loved my car. I used to joke that my—actually, it wasn't a joke.

My favorite feature is it was paid off, right? That was the feature that I loved. That's with my wife's car. She doesn't want a new car. She loves her car and it's paid off, right? So why would we get another one? So it's priorities. It's not affordability. Right. She can afford a new car. She just doesn't want one or need one.

So you can't go by that. You go by priorities. And if somebody's priority is to spend, you know, out of proportion of their budget for their wedding with you, don't be afraid to ask. Don't be afraid to ask. I've told the story, variations of it before, but, you know, long story short, in 2013, a friend of mine, we were talking about what we were charging then and could we ever get, you know, this next number and you know, I charge double that next number now. The number that I wasn't sure I could ever get, I charge double that now. And I'm not afraid to ask that number because I know that I'm providing value. And if you don't see that value, then you're not going to hire me.

And if you do, you can say it's expensive, but if you're getting the value back and if your people are selling more and you made your money back and then some, then it wasn't expensive. That's it. So try to erase that number from your head, even when you're the customer. If you want something, right? And you can afford that thing and you love it when you have it, you're getting utility from it, whether it's tangible or intangible, it wasn't expensive. Yes, it might have been a lot of money. Yes, it might have been more than you've ever spent on something like that before, but that doesn't make it expensive. What makes it expensive is if you're not getting utility, if you're not using it, if, if it, if it breaks soon or whatever, okay, now you can say it was expensive. Otherwise, save that word, put it away, try to never take it out, actually.

Well, thanks for listening.

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:

Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/weddingbusinesssolutions
YouTube: www.WeddingBusinessSolutionsPodcast.tv
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3sGsuB8
Stitcher: http://bit.ly/wbsstitcher
Google Podcast: http://bit.ly/wbsgoogle
iHeart Radio: https://ihr.fm/31C9Mic
Pandora: http://bit.ly/wbspandora

People on this episode

Alan Berg, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow

Host