Knottie says vendor costs this, vendor quotes way above

McRogol

Do I need to put my negotiating skills to work?  Have vendors increased prices since knotties booked them?

Twice now I have contacted a vendor that a fellow RI knottie has recommended and/or shared pricing of, only to find they are either not in my budget anymore or no where near my budget.

Two examples:
Casey - Hello Love Photo - recommended after I posted about looking for a photog in the 2K-2500 range - her least expensive package is $3000.
Gracie Lou Events - someone referenced them as their day of coordinator for $750.  When I inquired they don't even offer DOC services, only Month of and it costs $2600!

I don't hold my fellow brides-to-be responsible, I just don't understand the descrepencies!

Anyone else run into this?  Do I need to get down adn dirty negotiating?!

eharitos

To be honest I have negotiated with every single one of my vendors!  They quote a price and I have offered them a counter - usually a little below what I am willing to spend.  I have found that everyone is willing to come down and or even meet my price!  A lot of times I feel like vendors jack up prices, especially if they ask where you are having your wedding and they determine that your venue means you must have $$$.  Don't feel like you have to get agreesive with it - I find that just a polite email indicating that I would really like to book them - but they are above my budget - usually does the trick!  Good luck!

RIFallBride

Definitely try to negotiate. 

That photography increase seems reasonable, the knottie probably booked her earlier.  That is the difficulty with getting price quotes on here since timing is everything.  The knottie quote from Gracie Lou events seems way too low based upon my knowledge of them, they are full on planners more than DOC.  Note I have never contacted Gracie Lou events this is just my perception.  There are plenty of great reasonably priced vendors out there, unfortunately it takes more leg work sometimes.

Eyejewel

it could also be timing since if your in the swing of wedding season things seem to be getting higher in prices. Ive had luck negioating with about half of my vendors.

RoyalOrient

Vendors will adjust their prices every year which is why early bookings can save you money. However, I will say that with Gracie Lou Events, I used a new service on weddingwire that helped me find vendors within my budget - I set a price point and they matched me with vendors in the area (available in MA Only). Gracie Lou Events was willing to work with my budget and at the time they offered a DOC service. 

As for negotiating, I had great success with most of my vendors so it is definitely worth a try. 

i2012do

I agree. Negoiating worked for me. Even if vendors didn't come down on the price they were willing to throw in something extra, an exctra half hour of service, or something else etc.
 I know I have mentioned that Hello Love was in that range. but I also booked her in 2010 for my 2012 wedding, and the increase isn't all that  much more from what we are paying.

As far as Grace Lou I had the same experience, they no longer offered DOC... but I have sent you a PM about this

Sarah MD

I found it really helpful to know what your budget is.  That way you can email and say, "I've heard great things, but have a limited budget.  I currently have $600-700 allotted (oh and round down, as they'll always agree to the top limit) for X service.  Is that something you can work with?"  My budget was super low (well, it was supposed to be) and I used the fact that April is kind of off-season to my advantage.  A lot of people said sorry, that's too low, but you only need one vendor per category so one yes makes it work.

I agree with a PP - it's full blown wedding season.  With everything in full swing. vendors are busy.  I bet in the fall, when they're running out of clients for the year, they're more willing to negotiate.  You can always look at stuff like venues, officiants and invitations in the mean time.