What Does Event Stuff Cost in Austin?| Twinkle Backdrop (part 2)
Yesterday’s question was…
How much do you think these custom twinkle backdrops cost? (in total there were 3 separate 20′ x 14′ backdrops + on site labor, insurance, design and assembly are all included in this price)
(The vibrant blue uplighting in this photo was provided by another one of our go to vendors – ILD Lighting. Price isn’t included in this breakdown.)
The correct answer was C. $1500-$2000!
Let’s take a closer look…
- 3 (qty.) 20′ x 14′ of the 3 part twinkle backdrop = $1200
- labor = $250-$500
- delivery & fuel = $100
- insurance = $19.50
- subtotal = $1,569.50 – $1,819.50
- tax = $129.48- $150.10
TOTAL: = $1,698.98- $1,969.61
so C. $1,5o0 – $2,000 was the correct choice!
Insight from the vendor:
The three main elements of this twinkle backdrop are the white silk drape, the twinkle lights and the harmony overlay.
Our standard price for pipe and drape over 10’ tall is $10 per running foot which means for every foot long you need the backdrop to be it cost $10. This price includes the pipes, bases, and crossbars to hang the drape as well as drape in the color of your choice, in this case we used white silk drape. All of our drape and fabrics are fire rated and we hold fire certificates for anything we offer. Fire certificates on drape are required by many venues, and this of course makes the fabric more expensive than what you would by at a normal fabric store. The price also includes set up during normal business hours.
To add the harmony overlay and the twinkle lights we also charge $10 per running foot. Harmony is a really beautiful soft fabric that disperses light really well. You can light it from behind with twinkle lights as we did for this event or you can hit it from the front with LEDs or other lighting elements and it absorbs the light beautifully. We recommend this fabric for weddings a lot because it can have a romantic, glowing effect to it. This fabric is transparent, so we always recommend having a solid fabric behind it to hide the pipes and the wall behind. Harmony is a delicate fabric so we buy it new for each event and cut it to size on site.
We had to use about 350’ of twinkle lights in order to cover the area of the twinkle backdrop! We hung the twinkle lights in between the two layers of fabric and hide all of the wires and power cords behind the white silk drape.
These backdrops took 4 people about 2-3 hours to set up which we were able to complete within normal business hours. In this case, the client had an after hours load out so they were charged the overtime labor rate which is time and a half. Overnight labor between 2am and 7am is charged at double the rate. It is an industry standard to price out skilled labor with a four hour minimum.
The labor charges included in the twinkle backdrop breakdown above only reflect the on site labor. By the time any decor items get on site they have been touched by at least 4 people. For instance, once I confirm an order I take it to our warehouse team, who brings the items out of storage, then it will go to the art department for touch ups or customization, from there it will get loaded on the truck for our amazing installation team to bring it to your event to set up.
This invoice also includes a delivery fee which covers the cost of fuel and insurance on our fleet. We also charge a 1% insurance fee which helps us to offset our ever increasing cost of general liability insurance. Strong carries insurance that is above and beyond what is required by the city and state in order to provide the greatest coverage for you and your guests.
Nothing is ever as simple as it seems and there are lots of people behind the scenes with The Simplifiers, our team and your other vendors that you may never meet or even see. I hope this sheds some light on why things, like this twinkle backdrop, cost what they do!
NOTE: This is pricing from a 2012 event and pricing that is offered when working with a professional event planner. Figures from this post are samples and are not guaranteed for future events.
Photo Credit: Jerry Hayes Photography
This “What Does Event Stuff Cost in Austin” | Twinkle Backdrop (part 2) post was brought to you by The Simplifiers – Austin’s top event planning and personal concierge firm, offering full service event planning for luxurious events, dreamy events, quirky events and everything else in between. For more information, visit thesimplifiers.com or give us a jingle at 512.695.7744.
Our Intelligent Lighting Design team loved illuminating this fantastic event with blue uplighting! Thank you for sharing important data on the twinkle backdrop because it’s so popular and Strong Events did a great job!