Vendor Price Negotiating

In all honesty Celia has some really good advice for this situation

I think that most vendors would be extremely offended if you tried to negotiate with them. A wedding planner might offer this because they have relationships with vendors and feel that they are in more of a position to negotiate. Coming from a bride who is personally invested in the wedding, I'd think that a vendor would feel that their services were being diminished. I just wouldn't do it.

I think that's strange that the planner charges extra for that. That's usually a perk of having a planner- they can get special pricing because of their relationships with vendors.

Some vendors will work with your budget and personalize a package for you but that means getting less for less money, not the same for less money.

I wouldn't use that planner.

I don't know about America but here most Venues have wiggle room and you can negotiate with them.they are quick to say no to things or just tell you how much extra it will cost. It really depends on what you are asking for and who from. For example our venue was a hotel, they had three different price package's. I asked them because it was a Thursday wedding what could they do for us. They gave us the middle package for the price of the lower one (€5 off per Head). They offered two complementary parent rooms, we said all our parents are remarried could we have four, that was no problem. We asked about having persecco at the drinks reception. They said they would do half punch and half persecco instead of all punch for us. I also asked about having a choice of deserts,we were told how much extra per head it would cost. That was fine, we were chancing our arm with that one. There were a few other things that we also got from them. My friend when she was getting married told the hotel that they didn't need the complementary gym membership that was offered,could it be swapped for something, they were allowed to have a third dinner choice for the banquet instead of two. My brother also made similar negotiations with his hotel. With photographers, we didn't do any negotiation as it's not a service that you do that with. We were told by the hotel to ask for a midweek discount from our wedding band and under no circumstances to pay the same as a weekend. We did ask about this and we got €300 euro off. But then this isn't America, and our co-ordinator in the hotel told us which venders to ask for discounts from, and which not to.

I wouldn't ask for a price decrease, but if you love a vendor who is out of budget, you can always say "here's my budget, what can you do for that?". For instance, a photographer might be able to lose the second shooter, ditch the albums or maybe reduce coverage by an hour or two. I think that kind of negotiation is fine, but not "I'll only pay you $xx for your services even though you've quoted $xy".

In my city, it all depends on the venue. Those that list specific costs will not negotiate as their prices are set.

Those that do NOT list them and say they are on a day by day basis or date dependent negotiated with us.

So it's usually pretty upfront on whether they do negotiate or not.

My venue brought down the cost of the ceremony fee by over $150 I believe. I would present in the way Kiwi advised. And honestly, I'd lose that event planner. If you're trying to bring down costs of certain vendors you can just get rid of her and that will save you money right there.

I did not negotiate persay but most of my vendors accept credit cards and payment plans.

I asked them if they would offer me a cash (check) or paid in fully discount.

Since most of them pay 3% to credit card processing fees most were will to drop that off if I paid cash - which was not a small amount for my caterer and bar bills.

Also my photographer the packages got larger and the amount of time you got her for went up. I wanted more things - but I needed the smallest amount of time - she agreed that's what I needed time wise. So she made me a custom package with less time with the same print/album perks

@erin That's a good point! We saved a LOT on our florist for paying in cash in full. You could always ask vendors about that, too.

I honestly think it is the least rude way to save yourself some cash. Even my small dress shop gave me a paid in full/full pay discount.

And I wouldn't pay someone a fee for it. The point of having coordination-planning is their help with this - if she nickel and dimes you for her help - it might be time to replace her first

It is interesting that it's brought up "would you want to be paid less for your job?" No. No one would. But employers negotiate with potential employees all the time. We negotiate for cars, home prices, cell phone plans, hotel upgrades, why is this different?

Before I hired my planner, I asked if there were any discounts or out of season price breaks for my caterer and photographer. There is no harm in asking as long as you are respectful.

Everything is negotiable. But not everyone is interested.

I think others have brought up key points already. First thing, if I get nothing but choppy emails about price, and have no idea why this potential client is interested in my services in particular, I find that trite and rude. Really there would be no call to action on my part to offer them savings. Really, it's about attracting more with honey than vinegar. At that point, that vendor's style and approach should be researched for your own knowledge so they know you're serious. AND be flexible.

I have re-configured my packages to help accommodate a couple's budget. They have to come my way too. Things cost a specific amount for a reason, their budget doesn't dictate that. If a bride is lovely to talk to and answers my questions, and is flexible, I am more likely to work with her. I gave an additional hour they needed and not charge for it, for a recent couple, they didn't expect it or ask for it, but they were transparent. I maxed them out, and they could have used the extra hour in my middle package, so I gave it to them. It's all in the approach.

Ask politely, offer to give up something in exchange for a lower price. Some vendors will be able to work with you, some will not.

I've had two or three vendors negotiate with me (them starting it). They'd tell me their price & I thanked them for their time but told them they were out of my price range. They came back and asked what my price range is. When I to,d them, they'd tell me what they could do for they price or how low they could go for a certain service.

So I found that being honest about what I could pay has helped me! I haven't done this with vendors I could afford - if it's a fair price & I could pay it, I did.

I negotiated a lot with my vendors. I offered a reasonable price and will receive less goods and services. A good example is our videographer. His price for 10 hours is $1,900. We countered back that we'd like a package for $1,500. He gave us less hours for $1,500 and we made a deal. Our florist offered us a package for a lot of money. I asked for more greenery and less flowers and she cut it down. All reasonable negotiations.

It never hurts to ask politely and not low ball. Offer a reasonable amount and expect to possibly get less than a normal package.

If there are parts of the package you don't need, you can ask to exclude them for a lower price. Otherwise, I think negotiating is tacky - it costs what it costs and if you can't afford it, hire someone else.

Any prices changes started from me asking what can be taken out of the package. I never wanted to come off like they didn't deserve to be paid for their work. Or telling them my max budget for that particular item and they initiated adjusting the package to fit that specified budget. "Negotiating" has been fairly easy for me.

I think negotiating is fine - as long as you're polite and show you're willing to "give" on something, too. I always started with "I really want to work with you, but my budget is X. Is there anything we could do to make that work?" And most small business owners will come back with an offer. For example, our DJ (known by name in our area) suggested we work with one of the other DJs on his team, and that he could offer us a lower rate if we did. We had heard great reviews of the second guy, so we said sure!

If you are going to want to negotiate with all your vendors, the best tip I can give is to book an off-season date. All of our vendors were able to be much more flexible because July is slowwww season for weddings in DC. If we'd been talking about May, there'd be no reason for them to offer a lower price, since there are so many more couples demanding their services.

Be kind and respectful, and you'll do great!

When we went to the venue they were our absolute favorite, we visited 3 times and the last was with my FMIL who works in car sales. She loved it too but we agreed it was just a little too much. When it came time we knew where our guest count was expected and what their minimum was. We offered a higher minimum for a discount on the ceremony fee and they accepted so it all worked out. It never hurts to give them your budget and see what they can do just be polite about it and be prepared for them to say no, just as its your choice to ask it's their choice to say no.

Good luck!

I suppose it's wouldnt hurt to ask. But IMO the price is the price is the price. It's not like buying a house, it's more like going to the grocery store and buying cereal. Do you go the cashier and say how about $1.95 instead of $3.75. Also, maybe it's just the way I think, but do you really want a vendor who just offers random prices, how do you really know that youre getting the best price?