Discrepancies in venue/caterer quote

I don't understand why you would expect to be comped for all those things? Did you change anything in the menu or guest count to change the price?

I don't understand the expectation of a discount or comped items either. They have to rent, or purchase the items that you will rent. Get real, they are in the business to cover their expenses.

No menu or guest count changes. We asked because we figured it didn't hurt to ask, and we have friends who have had the rental fee waived at this location before. So they have done it in the past. I certainly wouldn't have minded if they came back and said they couldn't make any adjustments. What bothers me is that they made it look like they cut us a deal, but then upped the price of other items.

Get real? That's rude. I'm sure I'm not the first person to try and negotiate with a vendor. Maybe I should've elaborated more; the total bill is just under $16K. Making $2K about 12% of the total price and hardly a show stopper.

I never said I "expected" to have anything comped - I simply asked the venue for it, fully understanding that I may not get it. And frankly, we'll pay it either way because the location is special to us. The appetizer thing just rubbed me the wrong way, and I wanted to know if anyone had a similar experience with a vendor.

Amanda, it's great that you were able to negotiate... I suck at it! But that's what you're SUPPOSE to do with events such as weddings. It never hurts to ask for a deal.

Back to your actual post.... I would bring it up. I've not had this happen to me but since it was discussed, I'd make a semi-big deal about the pricing. I would be concerned about what other issues you could have come up with the venue so it's best to address it now so they know you mean business!

GOOD LUCK!

I bought a book recently.on amazon about hidden costs and scams brides run into a lot amd hidden vendor fees was all over it. I personally didn't have problems because my location is owned by the state, but they mentioned many different ways.the locations add money, mostly in hidden fees and bad deals on the alcohol/bar.

No, it's not normal, but there are two options:

a) They did it intentionally hoping you wouldn't notice (but I doubt it, it's more likely the next one) OR

b) Two weeks went by and somebody forgot what you agreed on. Most likely they have a template, and just forgot to adjust whatever you negotiated.

Call them and with your sweetest voice say you believe there's a mistake. Although we did not negotiate the price per se, we did negotiate some terms of the contract. We went back and forth a couple of times until it was right. But I realy thought it was an honest mistake.

I wish I knew how to negotiate with people better! Kudos to you! This has not happened to me, but we are still in the very early stages of planning. But now I know what to look out for, so thanks!

Yes, I said get real and I do mean it. You are asking a vendor to reduce their price and lose money. They have to pay for the items you want free, or at a reduced cost.

I do not know what business you work in, but, if I asked you to discount my tab, would you?

This question comes up a lot, in my business. I am in the wine business. People either want a discount, a donation or my industry discount at wineries. Umm, NO! Those that ask me for a freebie or discount will not turn around and give me one on insurance, supplies, etc.

$16000??? Thats just crazy to pay in general.. I would check other places

Why would 16K be crazy? People live in different parts of the country, and have different socioeconomic statuses. There's nothing wrong with paying if you can afford it and if you see value in it.

This is a much larger example, but the principle is the same. I work for the department of defense selling aircraft and yes, we do offer discounts, often amounting to millions of dollars worth of savings for our customers.

It's called an economy of scale: essentially, providing large quantities of an item allows fixed costs to be distributed more widely, thus driving down overall cost (two-glasses-of-wine explanation). It's not swindling some poor unsuspecting vendor or "expecting" freebies. It's about having an honest business discussion about what is and is not feasible at a certain price point. If it can't be done, that's fine too. It may not be doable in every line of work. But it never hurts to ask.

Thanks for the input, all. We're going to go visit tomorrow, deposit in hand, and just ask them to fix the appetizer/entree price discrepancy. I have copies of both the old and new proposals, so hopefully it's an easy fix. I'm sure it was just an honest mistake.

No, there's really no harm in asking.

Have you been dealing with the same person? It just occurred to me we had the same problem with the hotel where we had the block for our guests. But we talked to a different person every time, so that was getting pretty complicated for everyone, and of course increased the errors.

Amanda, I'm not sure if it is standard practice or not but I would be a bit skeptical of a place that would attempt to pull one over on me, even if it has a sentimental place for me. It is possible that it was an oversight as someone said but it just seems a bit too coincidental they would claim to offer you a discount on one end but at the same time "accidentally" over charge you in another area. Anyway, I hope it can be worked out to your satisfaction but in order for that to happen, you are going to have to address it with them.

@ Kathy R. My mother used to always say "nothing beats a failure but a try". My FH and I switched our venue for reasons it would take too much focus away from the topic of this post to go into. However, while looking for a new venue, we came across two hotels. Hotel A was offering a specific package that was cheaper than Hotel B and Hotel A offered to price match our original venue even though the original venue was about $3000 cheaper (con't)

Well done Amanda - please share what happens tomorrow!

Plus because they were a hotel, their package included a room for the bride and groom as well as one for each's parents (original venue could not match b/c it wasn't a hotel.) Anyway, when we toured Hotels A & B, we found hotel B wasn't offering quite as much as hotel A, nor did they offer to price match. When I told the consultant at hotel B what Hotel A was offering, she not only matched them right down to the hotel rooms comped but we ended up not having to purchase hors deurves (sp?) by the piece but ended up with cheese, veggies and 3 passed hor deurves. A addition not offered by original venue or Hotel A AND we were able to increase our guest list by 30. So yes venues are in the business of making money, but they also are capable to overcharge in the first place so there is wiggle room and why should a bride not get in on the wiggle?

I think, what is being missed here, is that caterers are not making a huge profit. You say that you are asking for a 12% reduction. Have you asked what percentage the caterer/venue will actually make as a profit? It may well be close to the amount you want free

While many may think that a food/rental quote is spendy, the customer never seems to ask what the expenses in that quote are. Trust me, most caterers are note getting rich off of one event.