The art of negotiation

My cousin in law simply told her caterer she couldn't afford him and he slashed his price. I think it's very hit or miss with vendors though. If it doesn't work and you still want them you'll have to pay or change what you're looking for. I think during off season it may be easier to negotiate.

Thank you, we are getting married on NYE so definitely can't take advantage of off season pricing. I appreciate your response though!

You're probably not going to be able to haggle much given your date is hogmannay (other wedding "prime time" dates are also tricky for getting discounts. They might do some upgrades or extras if they like you but go in expecting nothing but the quoted product/price.)

Be flexible. Be pleasant. Don't go in with an agenda.

If you're in a position to recommend them (perhaps know of others getting married soon) then mention it - if you were referred, bring it up.

I haven't had much luck negotiating with caterers.

Doc and photography however I did.

On NYE, you'll pay top dollar for everything. You should just accept that now and move on.

My date is NYE and I got an off season discount at my venue...

as for caterers, I have heard that some vendors find negotiating/haggling offensive. they are offering a price based on what you have asked for and they are businesspeople who have to make a profit. That said, you can probably ask for them to make changes to the quote to bring costs down. I tried negotiating with one caterer ("we are really trying to keep it at $X per person. what can you do to work with us?") and never heard back from her. another quoted me as if we would have 3 entree options on the buffet. I asked to see a quote with only 2 items, and he was happy to modify it.

so my advice would be instead of saying "we want all of this, but cheaper", be willing to compromise on the menu itself.

On NYE? possibly off season, but not necessarily. Staff gets paid more, for starters and that's a big part of the ticket.

As a business person, I used to give people my best price going in. You want to be less? Then something has to go; a course, an hors d'oeuvre or two.

But almost no one will give you the same thing for less money.

What Celia said. When I told caterers I couldn't afford them, they said it was the best they could do and unfortunately they couldn't do any less.

This is the kind of thing you can usually get away with if you have a friday/sunday wedding, or an off-season date. I wouldnt expect it for holiday dates or saturday, prime dates - especially not new years eve, with a caterer -- because youre competing with not only other weddings, but also new years eve parties.

As someone who has had to order a lot of catering for work, I would suggest what Kelsey did. "Our budget is $X how can we keep it around that price?" The really good caterers are great at making suggestions for tweaking your menu and portions to stay within your budget (provided said budget is reasonable).

You likely won't have much luck haggling on your date. Personally, I find haggling offensive. It has always sounded like "hey artist, I know you think your craft is worth x, but I disagree, and think it's only worth y." I was up front with my vendors - I told them my budget was tight and asked if there were any bridal show discounts available. They all knew I was planning from out of town, and that I wasn't able to come into town for the big bridal show. All but 1 extended a small discount. ETA all of the discounts involved tweaking the package. Also, I told my caterer my budget upfront, and she built a menu within that budget. There were several things I asked for that I couldn't have because of the budget.

Good to know. Since I'm new to this, I appreciate all of the advice. Some caterers have been upfront saying "this is the best we can do because it is NYE" while others have not. I do expect to pay a premium for that date but wasn't sure if there may or may not be room to negotiate. Thanks all!

On NYE you are going to be out of luck. That's a holiday so you will.most likely end up paying more than most.

Samantha, the advice you are getting here is good. It will be very, very tough to negotiate on a peak night during holiday season...but it can be done!

I've been on both sides of this in the hospitality world, and the "here's where we are comfortable, is this something you can work with?" Or "our budget is X, do you have any flexibility?" Both work well. Acknowledge that you know it's a peak night and emphasize that you want to work with them and why.

I despise the word "haggle" - approach it as a conversation where you want BOTH sides to come out as winners. Be upfront about your budget and be ready to walk away if need be.

I can't imagine haggling with my caterer. I just took it at face value and went with it.