Hank Lane- info/price negotiation?

Hi-
First time poster :) I recently got engaged and we are getting married on 5/12/12 :)
We just met with Hank Lane last night and I was curious if any of you have had success in negotiating price with them.
We told them our budget and music tastes and were presented with a band that they felt would fit our requirements. We really liked the band (even though we didn't see an actual video- just a montage of pictures of the band and their music playing over it) but when he gave us a price, it came out to be only $300 less than our budget- and this was for reception only. If we added cocktail hour and ceremony music, it went over our budget.
How rigid is their pricing? Will I have any success if I try and negotiate? I also wonder if this is really the ONLY band they have that would fit our budget/music requirements...
On a side note, should I be concerned that I can't see a video anywhere of this band? How do I find out where they are playing (I wouldn't be opposed to being a 'wedding crasher' for 20 minutes so I can watch them!)
Thanks all!

Re: Hank Lane- info/price negotiation?

congrats and welcome!!

I think you should never book a band without seeing them perform in person. We saw 5 or 6 different bands. Our band is East Coast Band, they are amazing!! We saw them perform 4 times at bars on LI and NYC. You need to see how they interact with the audience and involve everyone..it's hard to judge just hearing the audio

Re: Hank Lane- info/price negotiation?

ITA....plus, coming from a former employee, i dont think they are very negotiable. They are pretty pricey but thats b/c they are great and they are in very high demand!

Re: Hank Lane- info/price negotiation?

i booked with them (through spencer) and i have posted about them a million times before on this site---- one of my favority vendorsw to work with and i feel very confident that they will be nothing but amazing. fm me if you have any specific questions.

Re: Hank Lane- info/price negotiation?

We had a hank lane band at my wedding in October and they were great. We didn't really negotiate on price so I can't speak about that too much. FM me if you have any specific questions.

Re: Hank Lane- info/price negotiation?

I was originally going with HL....I met with someone who 'matched' me with a band. I did go back a second time with FH and my dad and asked if that band was the only one - at that point he got a little annoyed...This band was comperable to others we were looking at....I don't think they will negotiate - they believe their reputation succeeds them - they don't have to negotiate.....Dad got really upset with a couple of comments the guy made - and his cockyness and we decided to go elsewhere....HTH