What to do about vendors who won't give you estimates/pricing?

I personally didn't use any vendors who couldn't give me a "ball park" estimate via email. I'm very busy too and only really had time during work time to email people. If they couldn't communicate via email they were out. Not much help but that's what I had to do.

Tell them you don't want to waste anyone's time by setting up a meeting if they aren't in your price range and that you will not meet without seeing prices. Someone will give you a price

On to the next. tell them what you said, "I really appreciate the few vendors who give me sample menus/package options. I don't have time to sit down with every vendor only to find out they are well beyond my price range. " If they aren't willing to help you and them both save time, move on.

I think if you're willing to give them some fairly finite idea of what you are looking for, they should be able to give you a range. I don't think that anyone would expect an exact price until the real details were hammered out, but any service can be all over the place, dollar wise.

I'd be honest with them. Tell them you can't waste your time looking at $$$$ when you need $. I've found that they will generally give some sort of range then. When they won't, move on. Tip: make sure what you want is included in the price. I found that although my caterer was a bit pricier than I had hoped, it included alcohol. So it really wasn't too terrible.

Them wanting to meet with you is standard. I think its so you can see how fabulous their service/product is and "find room" for it, because its something you ABSOLUTELY NEED! Yeah, I've run into it more than a few times.

I was the same way and luckily didn't have to deal with that much. I think when I first started contacting vendors I'd e-mail them and tell them my date, venue, etc and ask about basic package pricing. They pretty much all complied. If they didn't, they weren't considered and went off my list. As you said, I don't have time to meet everyone so at least give me a general idea of where your prices start and we'll go from there.

A lot of times, vendors want to meet with you to get a feel for you, your FH, and what they can best provide for you in relation to your personalities and desires. They understand that your money and time are tight and valuable. Use this to your advantage. Meeting with someone could possibly help you to drive their price down, because they will clearly be able to see that you are willing to walk away if the price isn't right. Also, inquire about conference calls (which I just had with my WP because she's in NJ and I'm in FL) and online meetings. Technology is a great thing nowadays.

I wouldn't use any vendors that wouldn't give me a ball park or a general statement before meeting with them.

I sent e-mails to vendors and was upfront about the fact that I am on a budget and want to know if they are even in my budget before I set up a meeting. We live 3 hours away from where we will be getting married and I did not have time for that. If they didn't respond to my e-mail I moved on.

It is a waste of your time and theirs if you are meeting and they provide $$$$ services and you have $-$$ budget. Tell them you don't want to waste their time when they could be meeting other potential clients, unless they can ballpark it based on 100 people.

I always told vendors this is how many guests, this is what I need and this is my budget. That way the ball is in their court. I'd always tell them 10% below my real budget just to leave some wiggle room. That way if they are out of reach they won't want to waste their time either.

Honestly, I moved on. I provided them with as much information as I could. I even told them that I was trying to not waste my time or their time by trying to find out if we could even afford them prior to setting up meetings and going into more detail.

Also, vendors that couldn't provide info via email and/or tried to force a phone consultation or meeting when I obviously was no where near that stage yet were eliminated from contention as well.

Most vendors that I contacted were phenomenal and responsive and I'm extremely happy with who we've contracted with to date.

There's a ton of wedding vendors out there. You'll find what you're looking for. Keep emailing them and if you need help you can always ping us in the forums.

If they can't give you a ballpark figure, don't play ball with them. I think they don't want to give you 2013 rates. That was one of the many discounts & biggest savings I had; were booking our vendors & venue early to lock in their current rate.

Don't give up, keep shopping you find the "right" vendors.

Exactly what the Jersey cat said.

I had several tell me they couldn't give me a quote cause food prices could change between now and June, I said forget it and found someone who would give me a quote

For me, that's the most annoying thing about searching for vendors!! It is so annoying to visit website after website and get absolutely NO CLUE on what they charge. Every vendor needs to have a price list. It is obnoxious.

They should at least be able to tell you a range in an email or phone call when they are given some specific information. Anyone that couldn't do that for me was taken off the list because I figured I couldn't afford them anyway. If a price isn't listed, it is usually going to be HIGH.

I've moved on from places that can't give me quotes OR call me back. I've been waiting for almost 2 weeks for this one place to e-mail me back...so I moved to the location across the street, who gave me prices and ideas immediately (Bonus: The new place is $5,000 cheaper than the other place). I think that in this day and age companies should have someone whose sole job is to e-mail out the price quotes & sample menus.

Many vendors want to set up a meeting so they can "establish their value" before giving you a number. This is because, unfortunately, some brides are looking for a price, not a quality of service. Another reason is they may want to get to know you and your vision to see if it's a good match at all. I've planned weddings for less than my "going rate" if it was a bride I really enjoyed and wanted to help. I've also given a ridiculous number to a couple I did not want to work with and would only do so for an obnoxious amount of money. I agree that it is silly they cannot even give you a ballpark figure though, and can understand why it is frustrating to you. I hope this helps with understanding why vendors may be doing this, though.

I moved on too. I'm sure you're pretty busy and like your budget, your schedule is tight. The reason to get estimates via email is to decide whether or not you have time to meet once you know what type of price point the vendor has.

Don't sweat it, just move on....

...NEXT!!!!

I ran in to this a lot too. If they didn't give me the information I was asking for over the phone or in an email they were off my list immediately. I didn't have the time to schedule a million meetings. Id suggest the same for you. It's a lot less stressful. You're hiring them you shouldn't have to cater their requests haha