It seems that every bride I hear from just pays whatever their vendors asked.
I think some of the prices are ridiculous but feel I have little leverage since most vendors can get some other bride to pay their asking price.
Another method is to give the vendors their price but ask for more to be included. I'm fine using the latter appraoch but don't know if that will work either.
If anyone has successfully negotiated with a vendor on LI - please let me know.
I think we all need to help each other get the best prices we can.
I'm not trying to lowball anyone. Vendors who work hard deserve to be paid well - I just feel that prices are not competitive because we never make any of them work for it.
eliz808
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
I think negotiating is important but it depends with whom you are doing with it. My view is why not try. The worst they can say is 'no'. My reception site was difficult because it in demand and in the City it was useless but with other vendors I am negotiating all the way. Most of the brides on here are very helpful with letting you know the norm with prices from certain vendors.
pschica
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
we negotiated with many of our vendors, but not all.....we usually played good cop, bad cop - fh would call sayign that i loved them but that it was too $$ or i would call saying fh loved them but they were too much $$ - they all worked with us then to lower the amount of throw in a little more!
sophie78
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
I found that the florists are the hardest to negotiate with. We also weren't able to negotiate with the videographer because his prices were going up anyway.
We got extra stuff thrown in for the reception and photos.
peabody
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
I negotiated my with ceremony/reception site and it worked. I got a lower price per person, a lower guarantee, and they waived the ceremony site fee.
Jenny5150
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
DH negotiated on photography, reception, limos and invites and saved us a decent amount of $$$.
I handled the florist, DJ and gown and believe me, I wish my DH was with me at the time. I never negotiate and I know he would have saved us a lot of money!!!!
I just asked DH what vendors we negotiated with and he replied 'Everyone I dealt with.'
larryswife2be
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
Being that my FH is KING negotiator, he has had numerous conversations with a couple of vendors in lowering prices or throwing something extra in. He''s good at that kind of stuff
kathleenmarie
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
We negotiated with everyone. We just couldnt pay the top prices and asked what they could do for us. If they wouldnt budge we used someone else. Most were able to give us a package we could afford. We were very lucky to have found such great vendors.
shawl
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
Especially at the beginning when we were booking the most expensive vendors, we negotiated with everyone. Even when we didn''t negotiate per se, we made sure to get discounts (e.g., 10% off my dress for opening a store credit card, discount on invitations because we were ordering so many). But now that we''re feeling more crunched for time, we''re comparison-shopping in terms of prices, but not really negotiating as much. I also agree about the post about the difficulty in negotiating with florists.
HearzBellz
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
we negotiated will all of our vendors & got cheaper pricing. (except for the strings quartet, but that was OK) I also think we had a better chance of getting lower pricing because we are getting married on a Friday in January
LisaT
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
we negotiated for my gown, our reception hall, photographer & videographer.
I tired with the band & florist, but no luck (though our florist did throw in extras).
-also negotiated with the hotels we used on our honeymoon.
Betty
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
I would say definatley bargain with photographr. When I called to book (after we had seen them) she gave me what I asked for and I felt I should have asked for more!
NYCHICK
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
FH and I are both negotiators so the vendors had a double whammy. We negotiated on every vendor so far and got what we wanted. But I think the florists are going to be the most difficult.
wenndypoo
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
Actually I found my florist to be the easiest to negotiate with. We did negotiate with everyone, and everyone gave something, except the photographer who was 100% firm on his price.
It''s certainly worth a shot, like someone else said, the worst they can say is no.
xjulietx
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
I didn't try to negotiate at all. I just sat and listened and when it came time to make a decision, I said I needed to go home and think about. They all started throwing things in then. The catering hall threw in a pasta course and cut the price of the dessert trays, my photographer added another parent album and threw in a low-res disk (e-mailing quality, not for printing). I got $400 off my gown. My flowers came in under budget, so I was okay there.
I have found that if you just make like you need some time to think about it, they start giving you more.
KerrC
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
We negotiated with almost every vendor. The easiest vendor was the florist. Wedding prices are so over inflated that I refused to just accept the given price. I think that most vendors are prepared to offer more for the price quoted...they just won't offer anything until asked, or if you say well, I need to think about it. Why not try, like everyone said, the worst they can say is no.
tarakinspa
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
I think florists may be the hardest to negotiate with because it is basically asking them to lower a price on their artwork, thats a tough one.
suven
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
I was able to negotiate with the band and videographer. I got a few extras from the reception, but in retrospect I probably could have done better...
Still working on dress negotiations...
blissbride
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
I always offered what I could pay to the vendor. It makes it easier on them and on you. If your budget is too low, nobody's time will be wasted. Also, keep this in mind, they are one of many competitors out there. They want your business, and as long as you're not insulting them, you should be able to express your financial limits and what you would like. It worked wonders for me.
kelly6273
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Re: How many have negotiated with vendors?
I didn't negotiate because I was a chicken, but hey...it can't hurt! Give it a shot!
