negotiating with officiant?

More of an etiquette question than anything else I gues... met with, and booked, a priest today... and his rate was $500, and as he was signing the contract he said 'I believe I discussed rate with you already, is $500 comfortable?' and we were sort of shocked that he asked, and my FH laughed, and I laughed and he said 'well, tell me, $450, $400, what do you want? to me it's about the prayer' and we said 'well, honestly, we hadn't even thought about it, cause we felt funny negotiating with a priest...' and he laughed and said 'i always hate the donation part of this....let me put $500 and you let me know' and that's what he did....

honestly, the other people that we spoke with were $350 and $400, and we're paying for the wedding on our own and every penny totally counts.... Is it bad of me to ask him if we could make a more comfortable pricepoint since he brought it up? or is that rude or sacreligious????

TIA!!

Edited to say: not a donation going to a church, just going to him (and he drove away in a brand new mercedes)

You can always ask. All you risk is him saying no.

I think $500 is somehow average.

Our Rabbi is $700

I know others are paying more, etc... but my question is, is it okay to ask him if he can come down a little since he offered? Is he treated like any other vendor, or do I not bargain with him or ask him to come down a little because of his role?

thanks :)

Hey,
i am having that problem now.. I am having a very untraditional cermony with no religion and this one guy wants $450. My cermony is going to last probably 20 minutes..
I can't justify spending this much .. maybe $150 - $200 but not $450!!
Does anyone know of a good reasonable officiant?
Help !!!

our officiant told us the same thing. since the offer was even put out there,I more willingly want to give him the $500.

But, it can't hurt to ask. I'm sure he won't judge if you explain your situation.

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Posted by autumrhythm

Hey,
i am having that problem now.. I am having a very untraditional cermony with no religion and this one guy wants $450. My cermony is going to last probably 20 minutes..
I can't justify spending this much .. maybe $150 - $200 but not $450!!
Does anyone know of a good reasonable officiant?
Help !!!

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rev. deb from ceremonies of the heart... she is a vendor on here... she was fabulous!

Listen, I can totally relate to this. We are paying for 90% of the wedding ourselves too and I know how everything counts. If you're already paying $500 for the church why should he receive anything? It infuriates me when priests are driving around in mercedes b/c it makes it look like he's running a business instead of being a clergy man.
I grew up Catholic but I have become really infuriated with some of the things the church's been doing. I understand that $500 is average which is what my officiant is charging as well (and he did ask if that was ok, and I did tell him we were paying for the wedding)
But if you can save some money ans SPECIALLY if that money is going into HIS pocket I would bargain!
It's SOOOOOOOOO sad how people in this world take advantage of the people who are getting married!
XOXOXO
Kitty

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Posted by autumrhythm

Hey,
i am having that problem now.. I am having a very untraditional cermony with no religion and this one guy wants $450. My cermony is going to last probably 20 minutes..
I can't justify spending this much .. maybe $150 - $200 but not $450!!
Does anyone know of a good reasonable officiant?
Help !!!

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They run around $500 these days so I've been told, but one of my friends who got married in 2004 paid $350 for her officiant, if you want FM me and I'll get the info for you.
XOXOXO
KItty

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Posted by autumrhythm

Hey,
i am having that problem now.. I am having a very untraditional cermony with no religion and this one guy wants $450. My cermony is going to last probably 20 minutes..
I can't justify spending this much .. maybe $150 - $200 but not $450!!
Does anyone know of a good reasonable officiant?
Help !!!

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Hi! I am having a non-traditional ceremony also. And, I heard it runs about $400.00. COuld you tell me who you're using? Thanks!