Putting this wedding order together is making me nuts!!

[Michi]

Ok so I started by figuring out MY cost for all the supplies for these candles, which comes out to approx. .83 each. Does that sound like a lot for a 2oz. candle?????

The reason I said "approx." is because I haven't (or the bride hasn't) decided which FO to use, and we all know how much the price on that can vary. And also because I don't know for sure if they want me to do labels for them, and HOW THE HECK DO YOU FIGURE THAT COST IN??? I mean how do you figure the cost of each label and the cost of the ink??

NOW, my biggest problem is coming up with MY labor/profit price??? EEK For my reg. retail candles I basically charge 3x's my cost, but that seems a bit outrageous when you're talking about 250 candles, and I'm scared she's (the mother and my friend) is going to freak out if I charge that much.

My hubby says my labor is worth a LOT and that 250 candles is going to take a lot of man hours etc. and that I shouldn't be scared/feel bad about adding that in.

So for those of you that have done wedding favors, or have bought wedding favors recently, how much is the going rate for these little dudes???

She (the mother) called me this week and really wants a price for the ASAP, since the wedding IS in March.

[Trish]

83 cents definitely sounds high for cost of one votive. I remember my first cost on votives was about 65 cents and I couldn't believe how high that was!

What are you packaging them in? The packaging might be the price killer!

Are you figuring your cost per lb of wax, so 8 votives?

[sudsnwicks]

$0.83 does seem high, especially when I can get a lower number even when I buy a 10 lb slab of wax instead of a 50 lb case. You might want to double check your figures just to be sure.

[sawyer's moon]

I thought she said she was doing tins...I don't know if it's still high for that....but I would think that's where a majority of the cost is coming from.

Jen

[Michi]

I'm not doing votives, they are 2oz. tins.

Here's the break down (I'm pretty sure I figured it out right )

Per each 2oz. candle tin:

wax (2oz)= .10

tin= .47 (this includes my shipping costs, they are actually .41 ea.)

FO= .14 (this is based on a higher priced FO that may or may not be used)

wick= .06

label/ink= .06

total= .83

I am really guessing on the label/ink cost, since for the life of me I can't figure out how to get that cost. ????

Sooooooo, what do you think?

I've searched and searched those tins, and that's the cheapest price I have been able to find. (specialty bottle)

[katinka]

I mean how do you figure the cost of each label and the cost of the ink??

Hi

What I do to figure the cost of my labelling is to take the cost of the paper or label sheet devided by the amount of labels I get out of it. For ink, I asked my printer company what the average cost is for printing a colour page. This I then also devide into the number of labels and add to the previous figure to get a total. If you are using a normal printer that uses cartridges, you can have a look on the back it normally says how many pages you can get out of one cartridge. Just devide cost of cartridge by amount of pages and then by amount of labels. This is if you really want to be accurate.

As for what to charge, I personally would charge them a wholesale price for 250 candles, but I would make sure that I included ALL costs before doubling the price.

HTH

Katinka:)

[Trish]

Ahhh, sorry! I saw 2oz candle, and my mind went automatically to votives...

I don't think it's too bad, if you doubled your cost and slightly round up to $2 each, they're looking at $500.

$2 for a wedding favor is not a bad price at all, IMO. It's just a matter of whether they want to pay that much. I have a feeling they think they'll be getting them cheap since you're making them, you know?

If I had an order for that many, I would give them wholesale pricing. You'll be able to make a ton at a time, I think it will go quicker than you realize. The labeling will take some time however...

[AngelaVA]

I am currently in the process of planning bridal shower favors and wedding votives for a good friend of mine and I am having the same issues. I am charging my friend my wholesale price because it is a big order, she is my friend and she just wouldn't pay retail. I won't make as much money, but it is still a big sale. I would go with wholesale pricing, after you include all of your costs. If you can, round up a little to get some money for your time and effort.

Check out some other wedding favor sites too, to get a handle on what else is out there. These are a few I found.

http://www.myweddingfavors.com/travelcandle.html

http://keepsakecandy.com/wedcandles.htm

[Michi]

Thanks for the links Angela, that helps a bit to see what others are charging.

I can't believe that first site is offering them in the organza bags as well and only charging $2.50-the bags are a nice touch, but geez that would really add up in costs for ME.

The other site is also charging 2.50 for theirs (without the bags), so I'm assuming that's pretty much the going rate.

So, what kind of favors are you doing for YOUR friend?? Details please!! type of candle, color, scent etc. I'm nosey like that sorry. LOL

[AngelaVA]

Okay, I just went to add up all my costs for these wedding candles and I don't think I can even make wholesale

For the wedding, I am doing frosted votive holders, filled with unscented container wax. I am still looking for the best price on the frosted holders. So far, I've really only found www.cudge.net. I need to test them though and after adding up the wax, label, wick and container cost, I get about .83 each. There is no way my friend will pay over $1.50 each for these, even though she isn't paying to have them shipping to her (we live in the same town) and they are being hand-made to her specifications. So, I think I might charge $1.45 or something like that. I won't make a lot of money, but at least my costs will be covered. I doubt that it will take much testing for the votive holders (crossing my fingers now).

For the bridal shower in March, I am making purple 9 oz balmoral candles, scent to be determined. She wanted a candle in the $6 range and at wholesale costs, I can do this candle. I will actually be making more than wholesale (but less than retail) on it if I charge about $6.50 and so that might help make up some more profit that I am losing on the votives.

It is really frustrating to do this though. My friend will pay out the nose for expensive save-the-date magnets and other stuff like that, but doesn't think that my candles should cost that much. I mean, they are hand-made to her specifications, but they are supposed to be dirt cheap I guess. She mentioned that she was hoping to get the votives for under $1 each, but if she wants them that cheap, I am not the place to come. I don't want to lose a sale (or a friend), but I don't work for free. Seeing as how we are both graduating law school in 4 months, you would think she would understand that people need to make money on what they do, but she is a little spoiled and it's aggravating. Okay, I am done complaining now. Thanks for listening. I do think this stuff can be more trouble than it's worth sometimes, but maybe I'll get more sales out of it.

Oh, and I am labeling the bottoms of the votives and containers with my info and the scent name. I can't print round labels well on my computer, so I will probably get them from Peak or have someone here do it for me.

[katinka]

"She mentioned that she was hoping to get the votives for under $1 each"

LOL, some people will always try their luck. If she wants them that cheap, maybe she should get machine pressed ones!:rolleyes2

You know, I consider myself a good friend, and I know in a situation like this I would rather pay more than less, especially if it is a friend who makes them and I know their are made with care and attention. Plus one hand washes the other... Anyway, I am sure they will turn out very nicely and that you'll get some business out of it. Good luck!

K

[AngelaVA]

"She mentioned that she was hoping to get the votives for under $1 each"

LOL, some people will always try their luck. If she wants them that cheap, maybe she should get machine pressed ones!:rolleyes2

You know, I consider myself a good friend, and I know in a situation like this I would rather pay more than less, especially if it is a friend who makes them and I know their are made with care and attention. Plus one hand washes the other... Anyway, I am sure they will turn out very nicely and that you'll get some business out of it. Good luck!

K

Lol, unfortunately she isn't that good of a friend. More like one of those that I hangout with at school because she's there and we don't hate each other. My law school is rather small and we have been in most of the same classes since our first year. She is rather spoiled and selfish though and definitely isn't my best friend in the whole world. That's why I won't even bother doing this if I can't make something of a profit. She wouldn't rather pay me more. I think she might be one of those who look at handmade gifts as "beneath" those that are mass-manufactured by a brand-name company. Her clothes, car, education, etc all come from recognizable names. It means a lot to her. But this is business and if I want my business to succeed (which I do), I'm not giving anything away for free. Cheap yes, free no.

[katinka]

YOU GO GIRL!!!:highfive:

K

[sudsnwicks]

Ah, like Trish, I thought you were doing votives. For a tin, $0.83 sounds about right. The trouble with tins is that the container costs about the same whether it's a 2 oz or 4 oz tin. So, being 2 oz, the tin is going to be the bulk (more than 1/2) or your cost.

[Michi]

Your "friend" sounds about like my "friend" in that we are not really close but she is my neighbor and therfore I can't really get away from her, KWIM??

Sounds like those votive holders you found are costing a bit more than my tins, since you're not even including a fragrance in those and we're coming out at the same price.

I would just tell her the price that you are willing to give her (don't under sell yourself) and leave it at that, she can take it or leave it, and if she'll probably end up whining about the price, and then you can just tell her all that's involved and that you have to make SOME money, afterall, it does take quite a bit of time to make all of them.

I'm thinking I'm just going to go with $2 for mine, that way if she balks at that price, I can just send her to those links you gave me earlier and she can see that most are going for $2.50 ea. If she still balks, I might go down to $1.80 ea. since that would just be about double what I'm paying for the supplies.

I still need to test mine as well, but I've got some of the tins here (I ordered about 8 of them when she first asked me about it months ago) but I'll have to retest with the FO that is chosen just to make sure.

Now, my big thing is, how to present this order, since this is my first (and probably last) I have NO clue about how to go about the paperwork etc. ????

I want to get at least the money for the supplies up front, just in case it (the wedding) falls through, I don't want to be stuck for all this.

And that could very well happen. Since they've been engaged they've broken up about 3 or 4 times.

Is that the right way to go about it??

Geez, never knew it would be this much work, I guess I wasn't thinking about all the business end of it, just thinking about how I could make them and give them to her and that's it. LOL

[smellywax]

Don't do it for pennies...it is not worth your time and headaches if she can't pay what your labor is worth. I just had a friend as me to do them as well and I said, what are you looking to pay per favor because for me to do it, they would run $3-$4 each since I use premium wax and fragrance. She then said that was too high and I suggested she just find some cheap candles if cost was a priority...she got the hint

[sharyl55]

Michi, when you give the Mother the quote tell her you need at least 1/2 the money up front. That way you have your supplies covered. I haven't done wedding favors but think that is a pretty common practice.

[AngelaVA]

Yeah, I would definitely ask for 1/2 up front as a deposit. If she were buying them off them internet, she would have to pay the full price upfront. As for all other wedding related stuff, she has already had to put down deposits for that, so this shoudn't be a foreign concept to her. I would give her short contract, stating what you are going to do exactly (2 oz tin in X Fo, etc) and writing in the deposit amount, how much will be due after you make the candles, what date it will be due (like on receipt) and then have both of you sign it. She gets a copy and you get a copy. When she rented the reception place, church, etc . . . she had to sign a contract and this should be no different.

[Reese]

Ok have to chime in on this one. When I was making candles at home and the City required me to get a home permit for the business I had to go around to my neighbors and make sure that my candle making would not bother them. At that time my next door neighbor's son and my daughter's friend at the end of the street were getting married. They asked me if I would make the floating candles for the center pieces and I agreed. Being the nice person that I was (as you can see I said WAS) I did the candles and matched them to the brides maid dresses which was a PITA as it was a ugly green color and did not charge them anything. Needless to say when I dropped the candles off and even after the wedding I did not even get a thank you note or a thank you to my face from any body. Not the brides mom, the bride or groom. Now you can see why I said I WAS a nice person regarding candle making for a wedding when it comes to friends or neighbors. It wasn't the money that brothered me. It was that fact that not one of them said thank you before or after the fact.

So in my humble opinion charge them either retail or your wholesale price and don't let friendship cloud your business judgment!!!!

[Groovy Chic]

My two cents worth on the subject since I do wedding orders - you're selling yourself way too short. I charge 4 times my cost. And if the customer wants container candles, they furnish the containers and I fill them. Most of my wedding candles are made from Palm wax and I make both the pillars and the votives. My last order consisted of 160 votives and 10 pillars (3 x 6) and I made over $400.00. Time is worth money and a high quality product is worth money. If they want cheap, they can go to Walmart, lol. The point I'm trying to make - you can bet she isn't bargaining with the flower mart or the bakery thats making the wedding cake. Also, I do ask for a deposit of 50% and the remaining to be paid before delivery. Set your terms, put it in writing so there will be no misunderstanding about the cost and deliver a high quality product on time.

Ok, that's my 2 cents worth, now back to your regularly scheduled program :whistle: