Negotiating Reception Cost

nix11

I have just begun my wedding planning by starting to visit potential reception sites this week. I fell in love with the first location I visited. It has everything I've dreamed of and it just felt like the perfect place for my dream wedding.

Problem is...the cost per person is over my budget (about $20/pp). I'm wondering if any fellow knotties have successfully negotiating the price per person down. In this economy, I can only assume some of you out there have.

I'm looking for any advice in negotiating reception pricing!

Thanks!

mbcdefg

It never hurts to ask. Just be polite, and remember that they need to make a profit off your wedding so don't take it personally.

Like PPs said, state what your budget is (maybe low-ball it a bit so you have some room to negotiate) and ask if there's any way you can pay that price ... off-date, off-season, afternoon instead of evening, cut back on food, etc.

We got our hall to knock off $5pp by guaranteeing 125 people, instead of the 100 they originally wanted.

lyndausvi

See if you can talk to the chef.  Tell them (in a nice way) that you have "x" amount of money pp and what can they do for you.   More than likely they will be able to work with you.  Now you may not get the most expensive dish and/or you might have to cut out a course or an app , but they should be able to work to provide you with a good meal within your budget. 

Also negotiate what I call dumb charges like chef's fees, room fees, upgraded chairs and thing that are more of a service than a product.     Room and chef fees are just fluff charges that directly to the bottom line.  It's not like they had to go out a rent a room for you, it's already there. Same with something like linens or chairs (assuming they keep them in house). Food on the other hand they are only buying for this event, so that is why it can be a little hard to drop food costs by a lot.

trix1223

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_negotiating-reception-cost?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:8ead5958-5570-40ec-a703-04974cfec760Post:89c2d87d-61e6-499c-a0ed-442a747fa638">Re: Negotiating Reception Cost</a>:
[QUOTE]Tell them you are on a set budget and just try to be as nice as possible. Honestly 20 is a resonable price all the reception sites that provide food around here are 50 or more. That being out of my budget we are going to use my moms cousin's B&B for the site and get a catering service. We found a really nice one that averages 15 pp so maybe inquire about about using an outside catering service that could save lots also if they dont want to negotiate let them know youd be willing to get an outside service they might be happy to help if it means getting as much money from you as possible. But you have to realize food is probably the hardest thing to negotiate with, you wouldnt go to resturaunt and try to get them to lower the price of your bill and if you tried youd be s#!t outta luck
Posted by gower2be[/QUOTE]

gower-I thought OP meant that the price was $20 OVER her budget, not $20 pp.  But I could be wrong.

Anyway, OP, do negotiate with them.  There may be things that aren't as important to you that you'd be okay dropping that could help you get closer to your price.  My DD and her DH cut $3 pp off their cost just by dropping the champagne toast.  Their banquet manager was great, and really worked with them to bring the cost down and throw in a couple of extra things. 

GL

Sue-n-Kevin

It would help to know a bit more, ie what they are providing you for the price. Is it all the food and alcohol? Just the venue and food? Are any table linens and/or other items thrown in? How many people are you planning on inviting? Who is paying for this?

Yes, you can negotiate, but as prior posters said, you may not be able to reach a price with them that will allow you to have your wedding there. And being polite is something that always works to your advantage.

Some things to think about:
- can you cut your guest list? Is it at the bare minimum now?
- depending on who is financing this, are there alternative payment sources? Parents or in-laws who may be willing to pitch in to have additional family members invited that they insist be there?

Then, get into your negotiations with the venue. Yes, it is a tough economy and many places are willing to negotiate. But if it's as fabulous as you say, my guess is that there are tons of other brides out there with the money to secure the date and venue. Most places, if they see you are totally in love with their venue will do what they can to help make your dreams come true. You need an entire list of all the items included in their per person price, then work from that. What can be deleted? Can you bring your own alcohol? Can you consider the absolute cheapest meal and or food offering? Can you do an appetizer reception with food stations instead of a meal?

Without more info, it's hard to be more specific.

Good luck.

nix11

Sorry I was not clear in my original post!

The venue that I love is $20/pp over my budget (not $20/pp total)! I am in the NYC and weddings here are pretty costly!

The venue includes the venue, food, alcohol, linens (have many colors to choose from), chairs, valet parking and the cake. The price includes stations - not a full sit down meal (I don't want that and think guests getting their food as they wish is best).

I am just afraid as Sue-n-Kevin mentioned, there are other brides who DO have the budget for this venue and the venue will not be as willing to negotiate with me.

Guess I'll just have to cross my fingers and try!

Thanks for all of your input!

Pirata13

I agree with talking to them to see what could possibly be scaled down to cut costs, such as the champagne toast. Also, is the alcohol a full alcohol package? Consider asking to have just wine and beer (& soda), that can often bring costs down significantly.  We opted for that by choice and turns out it saved us over $4 per person for the alcohol.  We are having a light beer and a darker beer, and red & white wines so there is something for everyone. Also, we didn't care for their house wine brand, so we found ones priced the same that we like. They are bringing in one of our brands free of charge since they can either return unopened bottles or keep them to serve in the bar!  It is definitely worth talking to them, you never know if you don't ask. Many of our choices were things we asked about, they were never presented as options, so ask questions!

Sue-n-Kevin

"venue, food, alcohol, linens (have many colors to choose from), chairs, valet parking and the cake. The price includes stations - not a full sit down meal (I don't want that and think guests getting their food as they wish is best)."

I'd still bet there's room to negotiate. Don't give up on your dream. In addition to what the prior poster said about going with just beer, wine & soda (which we are also doing), consider the following:

- do you really need the valet? How much would that take off?
- will they let you bring in your own cake? This is a huge "jack up the cost" item for venues, because it's kind of hidden in the total per person expense. If you can bring in your own, buy a small one with a couple of layers, and get a sheet cake or two from Costco (they are $15.99 here, with cream fillings, all white frosting and delicious). They can serve that for you instead.
- cut down on number of stations?
- cut your guest list to the bare bones if you have not already.
- do they have off-season rates? Your profile shows you are getting married in October 2010......would November be ok, and would they drop their costs?

A difference of $20 per person is huge. You can also consider doing a lot of DIY stuff for the other things related to a wedding (flowers, centerpieces, etc) to save yourself money. There are tons of ideas on the DIY and budget boards.

Good luck.

michaela48

Nix

I am also in NYC. We were able to negotiate 65 dollars off the original price they quoted, as well as have them add in 3 food stations in our cocktail hour. We went back and forth with the venue many times and eventually got it down to the price we needed. I am not sure how far out you are booking, we were booking in September for an August wedding. They did not have any weekends booked at the point we were looking so I think that helped us a lot. Not sure when you are looking to book and in what type of venue, but in NYC many hotels don't book that quickly in August. I was told by many venues that August was not a popular month in the city, because it is very hot and a lot of people leave the city on weekends during that month. It ended up helping us with negotiating down our cost.

In our negotiations we agreed to host our sunday brunch at the hotel and also explained that we would have many guests booking rooms at the hotel. We stressed that we would have many guests spending money at the bar, hitting at the restaurants in the hotel, etc. We also agreed to have a minimum amount of people, but a number of people that we knew that we would have anyway. They were going to include a cake and it was adding 10 pp, so we had them take the cake out because we knew that we could find it cheaper. GL!