Connecticut

What's the BIG DEAL??

Just wondering: Throughout the planning process, was anyone pleasantly surprised to find that with a little effort/negotiating, a vendor threw in some extras or knocked down a price? What was your experience?

Re: What's the BIG DEAL??

  • edited December 2011
    I actually didn't even try to negotiate.   Our vendors were all willing to work within our budget, for example, the caterer suggested more affordable meal options for us, but they still had set prices. 
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  • rel830rel830 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I suck at negotiating so I didn't for the most part. FI did get our band leader to agree that if we added an 8th musician, we could do so at a much lower per-player rate. We just did and the band leader laughed when he read the contract because he forgot he'd agreed to such a low price. I guess FI will do all our negotiating from now on.
  • edited December 2011
    I am very happy with our vendors, our caterer allowed us to order off there banquet menus instead of their wedding package menus which saved us over 20 dollars per person Our photographer is a personal friend and she gave us 50% off our package.The Venue we are using normally charges $1250 to use it for the day, but the woman who runs it told us if we signed up for memberships (which cost us $40) we could get the member rate of $850! I didn't even have to ask for discounts really, I just told them I was on a budget and they offered up some really good deals!
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  • edited December 2011
    I was shocked that negotiating or asking for something else worked.  My FI did the major stuff (photographer, venue, etc.) and negotiated with them all, which kept us in our budget.  We are having our wedding at a inn and asked them for a room on our 1 year anniversary (the rooms start at $300) and they said yes, I was shocked.  I stink at negotiating so I only was able to get a little but every bit counts!
  • edited December 2011
    We're having our reception at Amarante's in New Haven, where my parents had their reception 35 years ago. When we told Peter (the coordinator) that, he made our minimum head count 150 instead of 175. I definitely didn't expect that, and it was awesome of him!
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  • caitcancecaitcance member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We have a coordinator, and part of the reason we hired her was so she could negotiate for us (she didn't).  FI did though and it turns out he is awesome at it.  I only wish we did it more (first few vendors booked we did no negotiation).
  • edited December 2011
    We've only booked our venue so far- they do the catering too. We tried to get the price down, tried to get them to throw stuff in, but they wouldn't budge. The only thing they did for us was lower the minimun head count.... by 10 people.I plan to have my FI negotiate with whoever else we talk to... I'm not too good at it! lol
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