What's negotiable?

Everything is negotiable. It doesn't matter if it's wedding related or twenty years after the wedding. Everything is negotiable.

When you are working your budgets for vendors, don't forget gratuities! Some brides forget to factor it in until last minute.

Surprised how snarky some people are being. I just asked if negotiating with vendors was in bad taste or not and I'm getting lots of slack for "going over budget" lol. Not that should defend myself, but our budget was clearly flexible. I'm just venting that things are so marked up just because it's a wedding. Isn't this "community" venue for venting too? Geez

Otherwise, thank you for the kind advice and I already discussed negotiating the venue with my planner, she's wished me Godspeed and gave me the vendors cell I guess we'll see how it all shakes out.

My whole wedding was $700...

Like seven hundred dollars, not seven hundred thousand.

Granted there were only 26 people including DH and I. I hate to say it, but I would've kicked myself for spending more. Our original plan was $3200, but we moved the wedding up 7 months.

At the end of the day, so long as you have a kick ass photographer and a good time, nothing else matters. We got lucky that we have a friend that is an aspiring photographer that gifted us her services.

My advice: Save the money, go on a really nice honeymoon. Save the leftovers for a down payment on a house or a new car.

I would never negotiate. As a family therapist, I have a fee, and if someone called and said, "Hey, would you see me for 75% of that...." I'd be pretty shocked. If I couldn't afford a vendor, I'd either do without that service (we didn't have alcohol or a videographer) or find someone cheaper.

@Zoe--another family therapist! What's up!

I agree with you that I wouldn't negotiate my service fee, but I think wedding vendors are a little different than therapists. I would think bakeries or florists would be willing to be more flexible. However, I also think that if a vendor is clearly out of my budget it's not the right fit.

@Zoe, I somewhat see your point, but when I was negotiating, I wasn't asking for crazy discounts and a lot of vendors even offered to work with me. When I thanked my MUA for the quote/ her time, I told her that unfortunately she was out of our budget. She responded and asked me what my budget was and told me her pricing was flexible. We worked out something that was in my budget. She certainly wasn't offended.

So, I understand your point, but I think a lot of wedding vendors leave a little wiggle room. They need to make a profit because they need to make a living, but small discounts aren't a big deal.

Reputable planners do not get a 10% kickback. They work on a fee basis.

Planners don't generally negotiate with vendors; if I work with ones I love, I will give them a better price because they make my life easier.

You are partly to blame for your budget ; you looked at a venue that was over your numbers, you can't blame her.

Things aren't more expensive *JUST * because they are for a wedding; they are more expensive because they are different for a wedding. This has been discussed here many, many times.

And no, not everything is negotiable. Is YOUR salary negotiable? Mine isn't either.

I think that covers everything.

Well I was gonna say everything Celia said, our prices are not negotiable. If I tell you our prices start at $600 for 4 hours and you say can I do $400 I'm gonna say no. lol I really wouldn't even think about negotiating with wedding vendors. And I LOVE to haggle. I watch all those car shows on Discovery so yeah I love haggling. But not with wedding stuff, just shop around