Dont tell the bride - Bartering

I was thinking about this and me and one of the girls reckon its partly because they were on tv so the companys are getting advertiseing for free i wich i had the talent to get great prices like that though we tried with our venue but they said no lol xx

It always pays to barter with suppliers, ask what special offers they have on.

Some will offer discounts on large orders or even suggest ways of cutting your budget.

I agree with this - I tried to get a discount with a band and they won't budge...lol That said we did manage to get 10% off our meals at the venue and I got the honeymoon suite upgrade for free which includes the room, flowers, chocs & champagne. That was my contribution!!!!

I got 10% off my dress and the hotel where we are having the reception has chucked in loads of stuff too but as we are designing our own menu they are also totally flexible of food prices so there's some wiggle room there.

Otherwise we haven't negotiated anything. OH did try with the suits from a local company and the discount she offered him worked out at about £1 a suit!! So we're going with someone else (nicer suits and £150 cheaper) but we have to travel an hour and a half for the men to be measured up

Absolutely. I completely agree. The other thing is they're always booking everything really late - so if it's a question for the venues of not having anyone there at all or charging a reduced rate and getting some free advertising, it's an easy choice!

I think he did extremely well to get the discounts that he did , but i did wonder how much of that was down to the time span and that some money for the businesses would be better than no money, also the publicity that they would be getting from the show!!!

We have managed to secure a fair few bargains on our wedding which we are happy with x

I think I'd be too embarrassed to try it lol especially the way he was doing it!!

Saying that though, my friend's a travel agent who works from home and she's basically going to different company's and bouncing them off one another to get us a cheaper deal xx

Totally agree, I said this to my OH.

I definitely recommend asking for the best price (I won't say bartering, as that sounds really aggressive). I saved £hundreds by doing it (although as the OH grumpily points out, I'm still spending £thousands so it's not a huge dent, bah humbug). Everyone knows how expensive weddings are and most suppliers expect it - so don't feel cheeky or worried about it!

That said, I am a wimp and only tend to negotiate on the phone or by email because I hate doing things like that face-to-face.

I loved this episode and it also sparked some interest with my other half and he ended up watching it with me. I agree a lot of it had todo with the short time span and the TV advertising. I got my dress and bridesmaids dresses very cheap so cant complain. And our venue is extremely good value for money but also extremely popular so wouldnt dare to ask there!

I too howled with laughter when he asked for a better deal in Debenhams! Its a high street store so you wouldnt expect it - and he still ended up paying the full price. My OH said why are you laughing we could do with some better deals? I said i am pretty much doing everything myself DIY there is no room for any better deals!!

Would like to see more episodes like this it was rat to watch x