Negotiating

Hey Ladies! I am trying to work on my negotiating skills and figured we all could share what we were able to get for free at our halls. Also I have no vendors yet but I intend to negotiate with them if it's realistic. Any experiences negotiating with vendors?

Negotiating

I got my price cut in half! lol I also offered my venue all cash payments to waive the tax. as soon as you say cash, venues and vendors really change their tune!!!!

as for me, photographers were the hardest. I just e-mailed everyone until i got what i wanted and didn't negotiate with my photographer because i got an amazing deal!! as for my venue, i got an extra action station, half off plates and no tax!!! :) no tax saves so much! lol

Negotiating

good to know!! i will definitely talk about cash with my venue and any vendors i work with!

Negotiating

At our venue we got a goodnight station, a great price on a shrimp station, specialty liquors and beers all by asking. We weren't really into adding a bunch of food so we were happy with what we got for such a great price

Negotiating

BUMPing for more ideas

Re: Negotiating

Our hall was so great!!! They gave us a hospitality hour with open bar and passed hors d'oeuvres so that our guests don't have to go home in between the mass and the cocktail hour. They're giving us ice sculptures, fruit carvings, a Viennese Hour and they're basically letting us design our own menu. The price they gave us to start was really out of our price range, but they knew we were sold on the place so they really were able to work with us if we were willing to choose a different time of year.

Negotiating

Great tips!
Anyone know what works for destination weddings being that it's international?

Negotiating

Be reasonable when trying to negotiate. Don't haggle them. Instead of negotiating to lower the price, ask them to add in a few extras. If you can't afford them, move on to someone cheaper, but remember you get what you pay for.

Me personally, hate to negotiate and I find value in great work when I see it and we gladly paid full price for everything we have purchased and booked so far because I believe they are worth every penny.

And I wonder, if they are waiving tax, are they still paying for it. Because my FH is a CPA and even if businesses say 'no tax' they still have to pay tax on whatever they sell. And most businesses don't have to collect tax on services so that 'waive the tax' thing might be a ploy and you could be paying regular price! LOL

Negotiating

We don't really like to haggle ( or at least I don't) my FH does say what can you do for us or where is there wiggle room and more often than not we have gotten something thrown in free but we set a budget and as long as we are there its not that big of a deal to me.

Negotiating

The only 'negotiating' I really did was at the venue with their Viennese option. Instead of doing the all the different coffee liquors and 'international' coffees with the plate of desserts I asked if they would do a hot cocoa bar instead... he just threw in all the liquors, all the cordials, all the coffees AND the hot cocoa bar WITH all the fixings (whipped cream, marshmellows, sprinkle stuffs) in with the package and that made me happy.


The only other 'negotiating' I will probably ask for is with the DJ. They offer a photobooth (which is what I want for my favor) so I plan on asking him if he can give me a good rate on BOTH the DJ and Photobooth... if not I'll book the photobooth with another company because for the same package its about $200 cheaper than renting it through the DJ.

Negotiating

Can you negotiate a Viennese option after you've already booked and signed the contract?

Negotiating

I will say that at first I felt shy about negotiating b/c I didn't want to look too cheap - now I'm negotiating with EVERY single vendor. It works girls!!!

Re: Negotiating

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Posted by jdellorso

Can you negotiate a Viennese option after you've already booked and signed the contract?

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I'm sure you could work something out with them. Steve, the manager at WSCC told me I could add things up to a week or so before the wedding... 'just to see how my budget goes'.

I think it all depends on the venue and the manager you're dealing with.

They are so wonderful to work with!!

Negotiating

I was able to negotiate the venue a bit with ceremony fees and guest minimums along with time of year/day etc.