Negotiating Venue

amberlefever

Hi everyone,
So this week my fiance and i are planning on calling up the venue we once looked at and ask them to meet with us again to ask some questions. The place is breautiful and i love it and i think I showed a bit too much excitement when we first went to visit the place. The women handed me a "contract" i guess of what the rules and expectations of the place already are on our very first visit. This to me at first was w/e but now i think its almost not allowing for any room to negotiate when there are some serious problems with the "list/contract"
First the reception can only go till 9pm. Which i can work with but 10/11 would be nice.
Secondly the place is a Bed & Breakfast/ Vineyard. We want to book all the rooms.
When on our first visit we asked if any "deals" would be given for booking all available rooms for the weekend she did nodd but nothing offical.
Thirdly to get married their is an additional fee (expected). But also to use the "barn" that we would get ready in and i would walk out of is an addition fee on top of the marriage fee?.
Lastly if they set up or tare down its another fee for EACH process? I have never head of that! especailly when your paying for the venue?

SO i feel like we may be getting nickled and dimed  We want to pay for everything they offer but there is alot of stipulations and extra fees...

what do you/anyone think/have advice on the best way to negotiate getting rid of these extra fees or adding things to the deal/contract to help us get a better bang for our buck!

cwaggoner07

I would do a quick post on your local message boards to see if any other girls used that specific venue and any advice they may have.
Good luck!

amberlefever

thank you! great idea!
i should add too the place is rather new its only been open for three years so its steadily gaining an identity.

AmJam04

Things definitely may be different in your part of the country, but one thing that I ask all of the venues I've been visiting is "what exactly does the site fee cover?" If it seems like it doesn't cover much, and "typical" things (like set up/take down) are not included, I'd be sure to see a detailed list of exactly what it would cost to have those things done and determine if those costs are reasonable.

Do not sign into any contract you don't 100% support -- they're always negotiable. And if the venue is unwilling to work with you, then go elsewhere and get exactly what you want and need!

bonge

quite a few venues add fees for every little thing. I agree with getting a full price breakdown before signing anything because once you sign your signature is gold. If it becomes something you do not want to live with then i would find another venue.

lyndausvi

All those charges seem reasonable to me.   Every venue prices different. Some make you pay for all services even if you don't need them.  Others makes you pay for what you need.

First the reception can only go till 9pm. Which i can work with but 10/11 would be nice.  There might be a noise ordinance involved.

Secondly the place is a Bed & Breakfast/ Vineyard. We want to book all the rooms.
When on our first visit we asked if any "deals" would be given for booking all available rooms for the weekend she did nodd but nothing offical.  It's not unusual for them not to give specific prices until they know when and what you are booking.  

Thirdly to get married their is an additional fee (expected). But also to use the "barn" that we would get ready in and i would walk out of is an addition fee on top of the marriage fee?.  Sounds about right.  Most places charge for each room you use.   

Lastly if they set up or tare down its another fee for EACH process? I have never head of that! especailly when your paying for the venue?  If find places like B&B have setup/breakdown fees because they do not do events as often as places like say a hotel.  So that means they will have to hire additional staff to help and that costs money.  Places like a hotel already add those costs in.

SO i feel like we may be getting nickled and dimed  We want to pay for everything they offer but there is alot of stipulations and extra fees...

what do you/anyone think/have advice on the best way to negotiate getting rid of these extra fees or adding things to the deal/contract to help us get a better bang for our buck!   You can try negotiating anything, however they don't have to negotiate.  I think getting some sort of deals on the rooms and the barn are reasonable.  The setup fees are less likely because they might have to hire outside vendors to help. 

amberlefever

Thank you to everyone for your incite we actually ended up booking the place today!!! with the help from some of your posts! We were actaully able to negotaite the "barn" and room fees.=) and the tear down=)!!. The place is a B&B but its also trying to establish itself as a celebration hall/vinyard which is an additional buisness. To #Lingerlonger1. I thought the same thing but the B&B house is not exactly close to the area where we would get married so the "barn" i would use to walk out of and they were charging us for that.  So since they are only in thier third wedding season and with some positve attitudes and praiseing of the place they worked with us and i feel like we have a beautiful venue=)!!!