Negotiating

I think there is a difference between genuine and silly negotiation.

Things I have got inc:

- cheaper chair covers because I trusted the ladies and was willing to pay the balance up front;

- hairdresser up to price match another a cheaper quote I had found elsewhere because I really liked her style;

- venue to inc canapes in our package rather than paying something silly like £4 per person for something on a stick!

I think if you dont ask you dont get.

Both my VOG and TOG have done me deals whereby I pay the base package (which are not cheap for either) but get some extras thrown in.

Good luck- nothing ventured nothing gained. Also if you have the time suggest you get a few quotes for everything, that way you'll know if a supplier is being fair to you or trying their luck!

Hey Wilts!

NEGOTIATE ON EVERYTHING! the motto is if you dont ask you dont get!.

Your not being cheeky, most vendors expect it TBH.

To give you an idea where we saved....

VENUE - were quoted £11,400 by our venue, got a quote from somewhere else(knew we didnt want it there) @ £7k and asked our venue to match it (which we knew they wouldn't) but they said they'd do it for £9,500 (SAVING £1900)

DRESS - My Dress was £999, she wouldnt discount as i am having extra detail added BUT i asked what she could do and she is throwing in the hoop, veil, stole and alts for that price!

MENTS SUITS - Saved over £250 by asking for group discount AND a discount for paying all up front

CAKE - £465 for the 3 tier designed version (we wanted 4), said we'd do that price for a 4 tier and she could have the order there and then and asked if we paid cash upfront, would she do out cake topper free? - SHE DID!

INVITES - never got these discounted but did get 2 free tickets from her to the NEC Wedding Show this month saving £34

CHaricaturist - He would not reduce the price as said wouldnt be worth the travel for any less than he was charging but we got an extra hour outta him.

Photo's - again no discount but negotiated a free copy of the album (smaller size for both the mothers) AND a guest board.

Thats all i can think of at the mo but am sure others have examples, dont be shy, think of A) the money you could save or B0 what you could do with the amount you save! you'll soon be motivated to ask! xxxx

It'll depend on the supplier, date of the wedding, length you need them etc.

Generally whenever I've met someone and they've tried to negotiate prices it's a clear sign to me they are buying on price first and quality second.

That doesn't mean that you are and I'm only referring to my business, which is photography.

A lot of vendors overprice things with the expectation to negotiate. Whereas others, like myself don't (because we can't).

Doing the groundwork first, i.e. letting the vendor know your budget before they meet you is a good way to save the time of both sides involved in the discussions. I have my discounts upfront on my site to account for local weddings and short duration / weekday ones.

Some vendors don't put any prices on their site at all. Those are good ones to try as they're essentially expecting a discussion on price. Just ensure you say what your budget is.

I wish we had negotiated more, but I personally felt really cheeky especially as our wedding is a Saturday in June. I'm much more of a bargain-hunter than a negotiator!

That said, we did get stuff thrown in by our caterer... it was a fab price to begin with (£32 per head for a 2-course sit-down meal with tea/coffee/mints and soft drinks, plus all tables, chairs, covers, table decorations etc and staff/bar staff) but she also threw in a couple of extras for free e.g. cake table and cake plates/cutlery which normally they charge for. I have heard that it is often easier to get a venue to throw in extras than it is to get them to reduce the price... don't know how true that is, but you can work out your priorities and go from there!

Also, be ready for this reply:

' Our costs have risen by 7% since last year but our prices haven't '

Which is something to keep in mind, base running costs have gone mental. It cost me £35 in Diesel to go to a Sikh wedding on Saturday.

I have to agree 100% Chris... I also don't negotiate because I believe in charging the correct amount of money for the job. I put prices on everything on my website so people know exactly what they expect to pay before they book so I don't often get people asking for discounts. Most suppliers who do offer discounts actually don't as you say. They just overinflate their prices so they can offer discounts if asked but make more money from the people who don't.

A valid point. Only going on experience.

One lady 4 weeks ago asked to meet up with me, one of 6 photographers. She was upfront with me and said I've been offered this by this person, this by the other, what can you do etc. I did my best for her but didn't really move all that much.

What she neglected to mention was who the other photographers were.

I didn't get the gig and did email to ask who did get it.....oddly no reply....I consider myself a nice chap and if they haven't got the decency to let me know, so that I can look at my own pricing more critically, then I'm glad I didn't get it!

Hmm it looks as though its a tough one, like Lynnie-peeps says its difficult to know who would be willing to negotiate and who wouldnt without trying first. But I also wouldnt want to offend our potential chosen suppliers!

Our venue gave us a standard package-type quote so I'm guessing when I revisit this weekend to pay the deposit this will be the time to fine tune it? For example we're thinking of asking for bucks fizz and pimms for arrival drinks rather than the £1600 worth of champagne they have quoted us for 80 people.

We have already reserved the date with them, so they know we have definitely chosen them over anywhere else - I just hope they dont take advantage of us

Thanks for all the replies xx

It always pays to ask. I don't put privces on my website as all of my items are Bespoke & I would rather make something that the Bride has helped to design. My designs are a base to work from so each item is priced by what flowers & the amount of work involved.

Some dates are open to negotiation for Chair Covers & Venue dressing depending on Travel & date.

Agreeing with everyone else; definetly try and negotiate as much as you can. We have and its worked really well so far!! I dont like asking for money off things so I have left that all to my OH and he has done a fantastic job!!
maybe if you feel a bit rude asking then your OH wouldnt mind doing it?

xx

My sister and her hubby got married recently and didnt think to haggle with anything.

My OH's brother and his wife got married also recently and haggled with absolutly everything. From the flowers, to the venue, and said that they saved an absolutly fortune. For a £10k budget their savings were in the thousands.

I have yet to book my venue, but after going to see my 1st venue, the 1st thing I told the guy was that we were paying for the wedding ourselves and are having no help, and therefore our budget is tight. Immediatly he made it clear that their prices were negotiable.

I haggle all the time, with everything. Its just my nature.

Since you sound like a haggling newbie, I need to give you one important piece of advice, and thats when haggling you cannot haggle and compare two non alike items.

You can't haggle on a pair of Jimmy Choos and say you can get something simillar and cheaper in Asda for example.

So be very cautious when comparing different caterers, bands, photographers, cars etc. Usually one is cheaper than the other becuaser the quality isn't as good, and you'll just look foolish.

But otherwise, go for it, haggle away.

I have never haggled, although I would like to!

For those who have had success stories - how do you approach it? Do you go in saying "hmm...I'm not sure, that's too expensive" and pretend that you're not interested or do you just ask "what else can you give me for that price?"

I have been able to get some money off some things like the venue (£1200 off) and the decorations (£150 off) and I have found discounts from different places to get discounts on things like Jewellery (10% voucher etc) Most of these discounts have been because we are booking things so far in advance so we are also taking advantage of using 2011/2010 prices for our wedding in 2012.

The Venue gave us money off because we wanted a saturday in feb but the price was cheaper for a friday so we said is there anyway to do the Sat for the Fri price and we got it.

We also got a discount card from our registrar which we can use on a long list of local suppliers for 10% off and as we have had to give notcie in another district they also sent us a discount pack with discounts so maybe some other registrars around also do this.

My OH is a super negotiator and I usually get him to help me haggle. He has even got a discount and free stuff on a laptop in PC world lol. He never pays full price for anything big and he has been really good when talking to suppliers.

Anything you buy online or in normal shops do a quick search for vouchers or discounts online first as I have found some great vouchers for debhenams and jewellery shops online saving me a lot of money.

If you have a smart phone/iphone there are loads of apps that scans barcodes and will give you a list of prices in loads of stores so you can find the cheapest ones.

Hope things help