Did you negotiate contract terms?

We only negotiated one contract (string quartet) and that was because they had said that the prices were negotiable before they sent us the contract.

I think it's okay to negotiate a contract if you are unsure about the verbiage. For example, my DOC's contract says she doesn't decorate, to me decorating means putting the center pieces together, so I had her re-word to define what she doesn't decorate (Draping, etc). Maybe I was over thinking it, but she had no problem doing it and sending over a revised contract.

What exactly are you trying to negotiate?

I think it depends on what you're trying to negotiate. I did with my florist, but I never asked her to change any prices on her arrangements. She quoted me travel for multiple locations and when we decided she didn't need to come to the church I asked if she would consider adjusting the travel charge, which she was happy to do. Our DJ had a clause in the contract about cocktail hour and since we had a live jazz combo I asked him to reword something that implied he would be the only entertainment for the evening, which he was happy to do. What are you asking for, and what push back are you getting?

Absolutely negotiated our venue contract - it was very important to us that every detail was explicitly covered.

I'm trying to negotiate the venue contract.

There's one clause that concerns me and it's called "extra charges"

...basically states that "any unforseeable charges will be added on to the end of the clients bill"

I'd like to change this to something like "all unforseeable activities/requests that could incur a charge will be agreed to in writing by client and vendor, prior to said activity/request occurring"

We negotiated with the band because we told them they were a little out of our price range. They worked with us to come down to a price that still outrageous was doable.

I negotiated with the venue to have things added that I knew other people were getting that weren't offered to me. But I did the negotiating with cash in hand the day we went in to sign our contract. Vendors are usually more interested in getting your money at that time that they will shift a little for you.

I only negotiated pricing on our caterer’s and hair stylists’ contracts, but I definitely negotiated terms on almost all of our contracts (some more than others). The only one I didn’t ask for changes on was our photographers’ contract, and that was because H was the contact for them, and he signed the online contract without showing me first.

We negotiated some verbiage to make it a little more clear (which protects us and the vendor), but didn't negotiate prices.

I have married dozens of lawyers and several of them HAVE changed my contract; not to benefit either party but to make things more clear. I'm very grateful that they did.

I think it depends on what you're asking for. If a venue or a vendor has promised to 'throw things in', they should definitely be in the contract. Venue staff changes and you need to have everything in writing.

"Extra charges" is a little vague; is that overtime or broken stuff? I'd want to know exactly what they are talking about.

We negotiated both prices and verbiage on almost everything. Some of it was just clarification, which we then documented in writing, some of it was additional ex. with our caterer, we added in clauses saying that the event manager assigned to us needed to have worked with our venue before, and that the itemized proposal contained all the charges. We explicitly refused to pay anything other than what was in the proposal unless we agreed in writing beforehand. "Unforeseeable extra charges" was exactly what we were concerned about. Our vendors had no problems with negotiating either terms or prices.

I think negotiating terms can be tricky with some vendors. Usually they aren't lawyers and use a standard contract for all clients, so they can be reluctant to make changes. Are you just looking to have them clarify certain details, or are you objecting to changing whole clauses of their agreements?

Only one. I had to have my photographer clarify her section in the contract that says she requires a meal, or the freedom to leave to obtain one. I had to ask her to add in "if not provided" I didn't want her leaving the site, and had all intentions of feeding her. She had no problem with that.

@Kristin; most of the changes suggested by my clients were really useful ones, and they've stayed in there (force majeure, for example). One of my legal assistants re-formatted the contract to be much more clear, which I really appreciated.

Once in a great while, I'll have a couple with a weird circumstance or an unusual venue situation that warrants a change in the contract ; one that comes to mind is a venue that does cocktail hour and then a tour of the historic grounds. Since it's always an evening wedding, I relax my times of invite/start/late fees a bit because we never really know when the tour is going to end....

Absolutely, pricing and language. So far so good, just make sure you are reasonable and ok with them saying no. My photographer appreciated some of my changes.

I've negotiated prices but not the contract. I would ask to clarify or to add something. For example, our videographer said that they would be able to incorporate videos taken from our phones into the final edit because we're doing speeches at the rehearsal dinner. Our planner wanted to make sure that it was listed in the contract since it was a verbal agreement. Things like that. She also requested that the DJ/MC specify their setup and breakdown times instead of just the "performance" times.

I was probably one of the most annoying brides ever when it came to contracts. I have gone back and forth with the hair and make up and was able to negotiate the cost and make a package to get a cheaper price.

I haven't negotiated prices but went back and forth with many vendors on wording as my FH is an attorney and nitpicked everything. I think your vendors' response is important and telling; I wouldn't want to work with a vendor that refused a clarifying or reasonable change to the proposed contract.

A lot of vendors have contracts written or at least reviewed by their attorney, so are reluctant to make changes. I'm fairly flexible, but one groom (from out of the country!) basically rewrote my contract and sent it to me with their signatures. I told him to change it back and sign it or we would not proceed. He did and was perfectly happy on his wedding day!