About Us

Weddings 'R' Us was established by the proprietor (Valerie Monk) in March 2005. "Planning a wedding is extremely hard work. Above all else, it is very time consuming with the bride having to make many phone calls and having to attend various appointments/consultations…. In addition to this, it is often difficult to get a straight answer out of companies as to how much something is going to cost.. and the bride is often faced with hard-sell "sales" people or even worse - the complete opposite kind of people who have a complacent attitude toward their potential customers (as they seem to have plenty of business with or without their order!) … All in all, planning a wedding is stressful business and has been known to reduce many a bride-to-be, to tears! " With this in mind, Weddings ‘R’ Us was formed – this is the wedding planning agency who cares about your big day and making it perfect for you! We do not take over the vision of your special day (as that is yours), but we do lend a helping hand with the planning and booking of the event (and we are happy to give ideas/inspiration if required). We can also help co-ordinate on the day if necessary! Our agency supplies portfolios complete with pictures, sound files and price lists – what you see is what you get – there are no hidden costs!! Any quotes obtained for you are non-obligatory. With Weddings ‘R’ Us there are no sales pitches, no hard-sell tactics, no catches. We simply invite the bride to look at the portfolios in her own time – even if the comfort of her own home (if she has access to the internet)…. No request is ever too small and Weddings ‘R’ us will endeavour to help plan the perfect day in any way they possibly can!! If you work, have children, or are just plain active and need assistance with your wedding plans, you’ve come to the right place!! Weddings 'R' Us can make it happen!! Our Prices: Weddings ‘R’ Us offers a FREE* service to the bride & groom......... ( * ) Our Free planning service is subject to those companies on our books (our affiliated providers/suppliers) being utilised by the Bride & Groom. How can we offer a FREE service? It's simple!! The companies utilised by Weddings ‘R’ Us are responsible for paying our fees (on a Commission-basis referral scheme). We guarantee, that our fees are not added to your bill at any time - not directly through us or through the suppliers we use! Some wedding planners would suggest that couples are not likely to get the best deal from us if we work on a "commission-referral basis scheme"......We beg to differ!! Of course these planners would say this, as they want the business themselves; and they fear that we may steal business away from them if we offer a FREE service to couples. To my knowledge, Weddings 'R' Us is the ONLY planning agency who operate a FREE service at this time.... In support of our operation and how we work.....we would like to make it known, that we have good working relationships with our affiliated partners and can sometimes even negotiate better deals for you. We are also able to track their reliability and quality of provision. We also take customer feedback very seriously and if any of our affiliated partners are seen or heard not to be performing to a good standard, they are removed from our books (whether they are willing to pay us for a referral fee or not!). So you see, it really is the Brides and Grooms best interest we have at heart! At Weddings 'R' Us, we pride ourselves on doing a job well. We would not wish to associate ourselves (knowingly) with a disreputable company/service provider. You can rest assured that we do our best to get the best deal for you - with the right kinds of providers! However, should you not wish to use our affiliated suppliers and you would like us to book other companies (not currently affiliated with us), this is not a problem. The choice is yours! We do not impose our choices on anyone! In these circumstances however, we would need to charge (similarly to other wedding planners) a small fee for our efforts (as otherwise we would be working for free - which as you can appreciate, no-one can afford to do!). Our fees are very competitive and are as follows: * Bookings - £10 per service/product booked (only applicable for bookings made with companies/providers who are NOT affiliated with us). Other services we offer (where a fee applies): * Finding a Venue - £50 (Weddings 'R' Us are NOT affiliated with any venues and therefore do not get any commission when referring clients to them). Due to the amount of time & research it takes to find a suitable venue; a one off fee must therefore apply. Should you wish us to book a venue on your behalf (after we have undertaken this research), this will incur an additional "booking" charge of £10 (due to the fact that no Venues are currently affiliated with us). Please note: Finalising details with the Venue(s) chosen, is the responsibility of the bride and groom (e.g. guest numbers, menu etc). The fee of £50 is for the research component only and this is non-refundable should you opt not to go with any of the venues we find. We therefore recommend that brides and grooms (wherever possible) search for their own venue first and foremost, and look to us for help if they are unsuccessful in their quest or do not know where to begin.  * Venue (Details management) - £100. If you require us to manage the details with the venue e.g. sort menus, finalise numbers, negotiate extras etc with them, then this one-off fee will apply. If you opt for this option, the £10 booking fee (as stated above) would be waived. Obviously, we would need to liaise with you in order to do this, so work on your part would be necessary, but we would take control of this situation and basically "keep on top of things" for you. * Extra Consultations (Planning & Ideas) - £25 per hour (Note: EVERY couple gets 2 FREE (1hr) consultations with us! We usually recommend that one should be used to pull together ideas & to discuss your requirements; and the second one should be used closer to your big day to finalise all the arrangements and to make sure nothing has been missed. However, some people do require more face-to-face contact with their planner. We appreciate this fact and are of course willing to do so for the small fee (as stipulated above). Please note: extra consultations are by no means essential and you can still have an excellent day without them! * On-the day Co-ordination - £250 (This price includes checking all service providers are aware of date/time etc (in the weeks leading up to the wedding) & on the day co-ordination/sorting of any last minute glitches. Note: There are NO charges imposed for Advice & guidance OR for those short consultations undertaken via phone or email.

Weddings 'R' Us - Bridal Boutique & Event Planning Studio 20 - 22 Fountain Arcade Dudley DY1 1PG Tel: Val Monk (Event Planner) on: 01384 348578 / 07861690015