2014 Venue Wedding Package Prices Went Down?!

kelceya

Hi ladies, we'd really appreciate some help. My fiance and I are getting married in 2014. We thought it would be smart to pay a deposit on our venue and sign the contract ASAP before prices went up for the following year. Imagine my surprise when perusing the venue's website today I found that prices per head for 2014 had gone DOWN $10! So far we've only made an initial blanket deposit, without giving exact numbers or choosing our specific services. But does signing the contract lock us in to higher "2013-2014" prices? Should we try to negotiate? Should I bring it up with their wedding coordinator now, or wait until money comes up later in our planning?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks so much!

clg1213

Since you refer to a contract, you need to look at what it says.  If it is silent on the issue, I'd write to the coordinator... "We can't believe that we're under the one year mark!  We were excited to see the price list online.  Can we get an official copy with details on extra options so we can start thinking more definitively about our plan?"  

Maggie0829

You need to read your contract and see what it says about pricing.  If it doesn't say anything or you are confused by the wording then you need to contact your venue coordinator and ask.

kelceya

Thanks for the tips. The contract says "Prices valid for weddings booked for 2013 and 2014 before 31st December 2013. Prices will be subject to change for weddings booked after this date". I understand "valid" as an indication that they cannot be increased due to inflation, but I'm not really sure if that leaves room for negotiation...so I guess I'll be shooting the coordinator an e-mail soon!

Maggie0829

kelceya said:

Thanks for the tips. The contract says "Prices valid for weddings booked for 2013 and 2014 before 31st December 2013. Prices will be subject to change for weddings booked after this date". I understand "valid" as an indication that they cannot be increased due to inflation, but I'm not really sure if that leaves room for negotiation...so I guess I'll be shooting the coordinator an e-mail soon!

Yeah, not sure if there is much wiggle room with that.  It is almost written as "we will not up your price but we also won't give you any discount if the prices were to go down."

But it is always safe to double check with your venue.  Hopefully they honor the newer (and lower) prices for you.

ashleyep

My venue had a clause in their contract that said they were allowed to raise prices by up to 5% if costs went up. 

So I added a clause back that said they had to tell notify me by a specific date (which I agreed upon with the coordinator) and I also added a clause that mentioned prices decreasing as well.

But it's definitely worth a try.