Discounts for paying early?

Because most vendors (especially the heavily sought after ones) book a year or two out they would probably by now have most of 2021 already booked and actually scrambling to find 2020 brides dates for that year as well so you’d probably be at more of a disadvantage for finding your date for next year. I’d start calling and email the vendors you’re seeking now to get a feel if that holds true for the area you’re getting married.

I feel like that would be a bit unethical. Like you said a lot of people are struggling, including the vendors. They have businesses to keep afloat and families to feed. My wedding is also next May, we paid full price for everything just to help out our wonderful vendors.

I’m not sure how that would work, but you should book now. The brides that had to cancel/postpone their weddings are going to take up a lot of 2021, so those dates are going to go really fast, if not gone already. I personally would probably not try using the virus as a bargaining point because to me, I just wouldn’t feel right about it.

View Quoted Comment Yeah, good point. Since we are having a economical smaller wedding, a lot of the venues we have looked at are new or obscure so they had full availability when we started working with them but I need to follow up. It's hard that we cant visit venues now so I feel like we need to go with one of the handful of venues we have already visited.

View Quoted Comment I guess I should have clarified that that virus also hit us financially and has reduced our wedding budget by over 25% so with some of these vendors who we like, we may not be a able to afford them unless we can work something out. I guess I was just wondering if paying upfront is something that vendors would give a discount for.

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A lot of vendors will do a cash discount if you pay in cash. Just an idea

You could ask your vendors directly, but I don't think that it's very likely. As PP's mentioned, a lot of 2020 brides are rescheduling for 2021 so while they aren't working right now their schedules will probably be pretty busy next year. Yes, they probably are scrambling for income but they also need their clients paying them in full for their services.

I would be really wary of paying any more than absolutely necessary to cover deposits/retainers right now. In the event that the situation has not improved significantly enough by next year for you to have the event you planned and you are forced to postpone or cancel, any extra money you pay could be in jeopardy especially if you outright cancel or push your date back to a day when not all of your vendors have availability. There was at least one other bride on here who made early payments and struggled to get them back after her event needed to be canceled, even though they were extra and separate from the non-refundable required deposit. I also have a friend in California who says some vendors have already gone out of business and closed up shop because the economic downturn hit them so bad, so its possible that if Covid-19 continues well into the summer and more couples are forced to cancel and move weddings, some vendors you can book now might not be around in another year if they don't have sufficient funds to cover the revenue loss. Once a business goes under, there is generally no chance of getting your money back for any services paid for but not yet rendered. I would pay the minimum you need in order to secure your vendors for your date and nothing extra.

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Thank you, that's a great point!

Yes, we done this with vendors. We booked them and paid them prior to the coronavirus but I’d imagine they’re even more eager for cash in hand now than before. The discounts weren’t substantial (5% off videography plus bonus 60 second short that wasn’t included in package and 8% off photography) but I’m the kind of person who always negotiates for the best price possible.


I disagree with PP who say negotiating for discount is unethical. If giving you a discount doesn’t make economic sense to the vendor, they won’t give your one. Simple as that. You’re not holding a gun to anyone’s head and forcing them to give a discount. Some vendors said no when I tried and I accepted it. I tried negotiating other things like an free add on to the package or waiving their travel cost. In the end, I chose vendors whose worked I liked and whose prices I liked. Both you and the vendor have free choice over who they choose to do business with.

I've had some success with this actually! The vendor seemed to like the idea of being able to generate cash flow now to get them through the other side. The only downside is if they go out of business for some reason we lose out but I'm willing to chance it.

If you have a contract with them, I don't see that happening - unless there's a provision for that in there. I don't see why you can't ask about paying early or paying in cash, but you can't really get mad about it if they decline or say no dice.