Have you ever been successful haggling venue cost?

I have haggled catering costs and everything else - but not venue - for catering I have used the family gathering instead of wedding and gotten much better prices. I would tell them your budget and haggle.

"Never pay full price for what can be haggled down!" Lol I haggled everything basically! The best way to open the convo is to talk about another venue (name a name) and say how they are offering similar services for considerably less. Lets say $5 or $10 a person. Ask them if they would be willing to match and that will open the haggle door. Also if u have an amazing photographer you can mention allowing the venue to use your wedding photos in exchange for things such as better linens, dishes etc. trust me I haggled down the venue, the cake, my dress, the photographers, makeup you name it lol also being flex about the date helps the haggling, if you are willing to get married on a Friday prices drop dramatically!

What are you using the venue for? I'm confused . To answer your question , yes I've been able to work with the venue by taking things out like less appetizers etc. so you could try taking things away?

Everything is negotiable - BUT - especially in the event of a venue, you have to be cognizant of and understanding of the fact, that even if your event is small and / or relatively short - they would have to turn away other business in order to accommodate you. in addition, whether you have 6 or 50 people, there is still a baseline amount of money involved in opening the venue for business (power, water, insurance, housekeeping, staff, etc etc)... not to say they will not work with you, just to say that there are other factors that determine cost besides hours & number of guests... if that helps at all...

I got a venue site fee down 50% since I was only doing the reception there. The ceremony and cocktail hour will be at another location :-)

You can get things added in, but should not be asking to haggle, if its out of your budget, Im sure there are many other locations.

In terms of the venue having to turn away other business or cost of running the venue - that's really not applicable. It's a huge outdoor location so it wouldn't stop them using the venue for another event, and it would be of no cost for them to let us use the tiny bit of land we'd need.

In a follow-up email they mention the indoor location they use for weddings too, so it may be that the price they gave was for the cost of both - maybe they assume we've having a reception (I've noticed often when emailing vendors etc. they don't always fully read the emails or realise that when we say it's small we mean it!). I'm kind of hoping that this is the situation, that the price quoted was them expecting a huge wedding and reception in their hall...thus why I'm hoping to try haggling.

As said we could literally go get married, take photos, and be gone before they'd even notice we were there...but obviously we don't want to do that without permission!

At that time of year, I'd say it's probably not going to happen, but do get clarification and let them know exactly what you need. They may just not understand your requirements.

I have couples contact me all the time and say "I have a wedding to arrange; how much does it cost?" Well obviously, 4 people with no guests, no bridal party and no personalized story is less than a wedding where I have to organize everyone, cue music and photographers, write a love story and be on site long enough to do so.

So talk to them! It can't hurt!

I would call them and tell them exactly what you are doing. Is there not a park or something you can use for free? Some require a permit for like 15 dollars.

My ceremony venue gave me a better price openly when I first spoke with them because of the low number of people I was having. I would definitely mention it and ask if they could lower the price a bit to meet closer to your budget.

Our venue did the same thing as Tatiana's. Usually they charge $2K but we were only having 50 people so they came down to $500 for the day. That being said, when I had to reschedule, they were happy to allow me to do it because someone willing to pay the 2K was waiting in the wings for my date.

My venue knocked $5/pp off the price (which doesnt sound like a lot, but it is with 150 people!). The venue price includes open bar and we explained that the wedding party and 75% of the guests do not drink and they were nice enough to knock the price down. It worth a shot

For the record - having this venue is the most important part of the wedding ceremony, so there is no finding another cheaper venue (if this place hadn't existed then we'd get married out in the middle of the desert for free) and so if needed we will pay $2500...it's we'd just that we'd rather not blow that much on a venue given our wedding size, and with no services from the venue, etc.

Could you maybe do it at a time when they wouldn't book the venue? Maybe a morning during the week? Just some options that may lower the price. All you can do is ask and see what they say.

I don't haggle, but I ask nicely.

We booked a discount day with our venue (a Friday), so that helped a lot.

By asking nicely, I got discounts from the band, ceremony musicians, rehearsal dinner venue, dress, and videographer. I'm sure we'll get a good deal on alcohol too.

I guess you would call it haggling. Our original venue was a country club. When we decided we wanted to change the venue (b/c they switched coordinators during our planning process and I only found out about it when I called to ask a question). We looked at a couple of hotels. When I told the coordinator at the hotel we eventually picked what we were being offered at the country club plus what the other hotel was willing to give us which were both cheaper than the Marriott. She priced matched so to speak and we got a great deal.

I'd imagine you might have some luck if you chose a non-peak day. Since it's only going to be you and your kids, could you do it during the week instead of a Saturday?

While you might not think that you being there would stop them from doing another event there, it might strictly be their policy. If you could choose a day that events don't usually take place, they might be willing to be more flexible.