Venue Bargaining!

DetroitGyrl · April 2010

Hey ladies.. So it's close to about the time that the FI and I set for securing a venue for our Summer 2011 wedding. Because this is such a BIG deal.. I want to make sure I'm getting exactly what we want AND the most bang for our buck.

Have any of you had luck bargaining with your venues? I know the economic crunch is hitting everyone hard and heavy and venues have to make a living to keep their doors open.. but there have got to be ways you can work out specials with your venue. Right? So, here are a few of my questions to the ladies who have already secured a venue:

1. What are some of the deals you've been able to work out with your venues?

2. What do you think is reasonable to ask for?

3. How did you go about asking for the deals?

cmkuno · April 2010

A lot of places just straight up offered us a discount, before we even asked. They had one price online, then when we went to meet with them, expressed some interested but also some hesitation about the price, a number of them dropped the price on the spot. Or did away with/lowered their minimums, waived the cake cutting fee and/or the site rental fee, etc. When we narrowed it down to the two we were the most interested in, I basically let them both know we were very interested, but they were still a bit out of our price range, and the BOTH dropped the price even more! I didn't really even have to do any hard bargaining.

Good luck with the venue search!

Knottie1435582995 · April 2010

We were able to negotiate a number of things with our venue.

First we negotiated that our prices could only go up $2.00 per head (they wanted it to be $3.00). That was at the time of signing the contract. At that time we also negotiated special beverages that were normally offered only as a premium for another $2.00 per head. We got top shelf whiskey added for free, and additionally negotiated to use a different brand of beer in the kegs than they offer normally, again free. Linens are included (napkins & table cloths in white).

Also, at the time of our tasting we were able to negotiage even more. They had to abide by our $2.00 per head increase (that saved us a TON as the prices went up more than that). Further, we were able to negoitage a couple appetizers for free. For example, appetizer package #3 came with 5 appetizers, but we got 7 for the same price.

On the topic of negotiating, we had the most luck with our photographer. And the least luck with our linen people. Everyone else was somewhere inbetween, like our florist wouldn't take the price of the flowers down, but threw in a ton a free stuff instead.

DetroitGyrl · April 2010

Wow - thanks ladies.. Wow CMKUNO - that's great news.

Thanks Melhunny - good info!

ejay · April 2010

When we reserved our reception venue they were already giving us a discounted package. It was just a smidge higher than I wanted to pay... so I told FI that ideally I wanted it to be about $50 pp including tax, tip, etc. When we went in to sign the contract I asked a few questions and let him do all the bargaining and such. Basically we knew we wanted the $50 pp but we didn't straight up say that. FI told them that we were planning on a tight budget, and a high amount of people and was hoping we would pay about X much total which was just slightly lower than the $50 pp. The lady went and spoke with her manager, and came back and offered us $50 pp all inclusive including all the extras in the package.

I asked him after the meeting how he got her to say exactly what we wanted (he works in sales) and he basically knew what to ask for in order to get them to 'meet us in the middle' which was really our demand, so he low-balled it. I was so proud!

blackberryaddict · April 2010

The florist did a lot of things for us for free, without us even asking for it.

I asked the event rental place if he could give us a discount on the chairs IF we went with them for the whole package, he knocked $$ off each chair, threw in some freebies.

It's better to negotiate on prices before signing a contract, it gives you more pull since they want your business and never ask for a specific dollar amount off a certain item - just ask if they'll give you a special price if you go with their company. You don't want to insult anyone and you want a good relationship after the contract is signed.

Edit: what ejay said about giving out your budget is a good tip as well. give them a fraction of your budget and see if they'll match.

Good luck!

DetroitGyrl · April 2010

lol ejay - sounds like your FI knows what he's doing.

Thanks Blackberry - great info.

Kelki · April 2010

I agree with telling them what your budget is. I was able to get my venue to come down $20 a head and include the rum i prefer, even though it wasn't in the bar package I chose. When I initially contacted our venue, they sent me the menu and followed up immediately with a phone call to book an appointment. I agreed to the appointment before I saw the prices, but once i figured we couldn't afford it I sent an email telling the sales person that the venue had everything I was looking for, but we only budgeted so much, so i didn't want to waste her time.

She called me back and offered to customize a menu for us if she could come in at our target amount. I have never negotiated anything in my life, so I am pretty sure I got lucky on this but It made me pretty happy just the same!

Sue-n-Kevin · April 2010

So, DetroitGyrl, I'm reading between the lines here and assume you loved the Whitney, but it's too high?

I like the recommendation above about giving them your budget........and lowballing it. The problem with the Whitney is that if your wedding is on a Friday or Saturday night, any rooms or service they supply to your wedding is reducing the amount of reservations they can take.

Good luck. Tell them your per person budget is X (20% below what they are asking) and I"m betting they can come up with a menu to fit that budget, or any amount you put out there.

Good luck. PS, try the Scarab Club if you can't get the Whitney to "play ball". It's behind the DIA and has a garden outside and banquet facilities inside.

http://www.scarabclub.org/html/weddings___events.html

DetroitGyrl · April 2010

Lol Sue - CLOSE! They are right within our budget.. but our original plan is quite a bit under.. I'm having a hard time justifying spending a little extra money for the Whitney - even though I love it so. It would be a lot easier if I was the only person paying for the wedding.. I guess it's that age old - do you want a focus or a jaguar. I want a jaguar and can afford the jaguar - but the focus seems so much more economical in this day and age.

But you're right - I may be able to get a few freebies here and there - and then it would be a DREAM!. THe scarab club is just a little too small Sue and their garden isn't quite what I wanted so I'd have to find another venue for the ceremony.

Another thing about the Whitney is that they are quite a bit LESS busy these days - so I'm hoping any business I have (within reasonable limits) is business they'd appreciate. :-)

emily1004 · April 2010

We were able to negotiate 10% off the entire bill. The sales lady at the hotel, gave us our bridal suite for 2 nights for free and she also didn't charge us the room fee for the post wedding brunch... which is normally $800 on top of the $15 a head.

I negotiated with every single vendor. I think only one wouldn't give me what I asked for, so I took my business elsewhere. However, I negotiated before I signed any contract. After you sign a contract I can imagine it will be harder to get what you want.

Sue-n-Kevin · April 2010

Well, glad to hear the Whitney, which I KNOW you have loved from day one, is reachable. I'm sure, as others have said, you can negotiate........if not with them, then perhaps another vendor.

Remember, if they won't come down in price, ask if they can offer "something" to make it more worth your while for the price....... maybe an upgrade in the entree, or a dessert for $1 a person, or something like that.

While Detroit is taking hard knocks right now, I do think all vendors that the public uses, and can walk away from, are willing to negotiate. Which makes it heaven for brides!

DetroitGyrl · April 2010

Wow Emily! Good for you - 10% and that $800 fee waived saved you quite a bit. I'll certainly keep something like that in mind.

yes SUE. I loved it! I wanted to give myself at least a week before I decided that I wanted it.. I'm almost there. :-)

You ladies are ALL great businesswomen. I was a little worried that it might be inappropriate to try and negotiate for a wedding.. but I see now that it's ok and a lot of you have had success with it!

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