Reasonable Per Plate Increase?

Re: Reasonable Per Plate Increase?

• NOLABridesmaid member

  

  June 2013

  Did you have a contract with the per person prices stated?

  

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• hmonkey member

  

  June 2013

  mandafern said:

  We now have to give up our honeymoon in order to feed people. Anyone else encounter this?  What do you think a reasonable per plate increase is? 
  

  no offense, but this question has no bearing on anything. as nola noted, if you have a contract, you can ask them to enforce it. if not, you can either cancel your honeymoon or you can try to negotiate down to the $2 you planned for.
  
  

  

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• Wzz member

  

  June 2013

  they sent you a letter? have you pulled out your contract and called to speak to a live person regarding this increase?

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• NOLABridesmaid member

  

  June 2013

  We have a tight budget ($7000) and did plan on a $2 per plate increase

  Hmm. This makes me think you didn't have a contract if you knew an increase was coming. Do tell?

  

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• Gisellerina member

  

  June 2013

  I've never heard of a "per plate increase" except in cases where the menu was changed after prices were quoted and contracts signed.  I too would like to hear more about the contract or lack thereof.

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• mandafern

  

  June 2013 edited June 2013

  We signed a one page contract last September.  It stated deposit, cancellation, decorating, and food & beverage clauses. The only dollar amounts given were in the deposit section. We knew the prices were going to increase due to the "subject to change" clause in the contract. All places in our area have that clause including the grocery store catering.  When we asked other couples who were married at our venue they said the increase was $1-2 per plate, so we built that into our budget.
  
  The only way to get around the clause is to do everything ourselves. We do not have the man power to cook for 200+ people and there are no self catering places in the area big enough. A tent was out of the question due to it being a late October wedding in Northern Wisconsin.
  
  I talked to venue vial email (paper trail!) and have a meeting setup for when my finance comes home from deployment next month.  The venue had a change of ownership since we signed the contract. The new owners wanted us to sign a new contract with new terms. If we did not sign the new contract they would not give us our deposit back. So far, the new owners already dropped the new minimum food and beverage purchase amount of $10,000, are letting continue with our cake (they now require you buy one from them), and they are letting us keep our DJ (after we signed the contract they changed the policies and only allow certain DJs and not allow you to have bands or your own music).
  
  This isn't a fancy place by any means. Just a place that a lot of people in the area get married at (including my sister in law who highly recommended it).
  
  I am surprised other places in the country do not have this same kind of clause.
  

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• mandafern

  

  June 2013 edited June 2013

  Duplicate post.
  

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• hmonkey member

  

  June 2013

  @mandafern did you really flag my comment as abuse? 4 sheezy?
  
  let me explain -- your question is "What do you think a reasonable per plate increase is?"
  my response is that it doesn't matter what we think -- it matters what the venue thinks and is going to charge.
  
  if they aren't that fancy, try to negotiate for the $2 increase you planned for by asking them to serve a less fancy veg, potato or salad.
  

  

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• PirateBarbie member

  

  June 2013

  i would say that a $0 per plate increase is reasonable if you have a legally binding contract. the only way i could see a variable increase from the base rate would be for  items specified at market price  - but this is something that should be included in the contract.
  

  
  

  everything is negotiable. you need to determine your negotiation plan and your ideal outcome, and acceptable alternative. where are you willing to sacrifice, and what is most important?

  
  

  it sounds like your contract was not transferrable to the new management group (otherwise they wouldn't need you to sign with them) so where are you getting the $15 price from?  - i agree that it would not be the responsibility of the new owners to refund your deposit - you'd likely need to pursue in small claims court with the party with which you signed the contract. 

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• Gisellerina member

  

  June 2013

  @mandafern - No, I've never heard of such a clause.  I think pp's suggestion of possibly changing the menu to fit your budget is a good one - have you asked your venue about that?

   

  Oh, and what is "grocery store catering"?  (Just being curious and nosy now - never heard that term before).

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• Wzz member

  

  June 2013

  i don't understand why they wouldn't just charge the XX plus increase at the time of contract if there is a GUARANTEED increase. what a crappy way to do business.

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