What you can and cant haggle on

I did get a reduction on my florist price. I got a quote and they were over my budget so we worked on changing a few bits and pieces to bring it much nearer my original budget. Other than that I eloped so didn't have many suppliers. I think it's always politely asking. They can only say no.

Not sure I've much experience to help with, but the 'substantial' meal thing sounds like the venue trying to make up for you not spending so much with the afternoon tea. We're having an afternoon ceremony, and initially went for tea and cake afterwards, with a buffet in the evening. People will have had lunch before they arrive. The venue can suggest things, but to make you feel you might not be feeding your guests enough isn't professional, in my opinion.

As for haggling, was lucky to get a free extra from the tog as he's a friend's husband, and the hotel offered us a discount on 10 rooms. Hoping she might be nicer still now we've decided to change plans and eat there too ?. Currently trying to negotiate a bit off the dj as the price he's quoted us is the same as a suggestion on his website, only we don't need him as long.

Personally, I'd say haggle as much as you can. They can only say no. I think most places on DTTB are happy to gte the publicity from being on camera and having last minute bookings - something is better than nothing

To be honest, I don't think there is a great deal of haggling to be done with wedding suppliers. They know the market and it doesn't make too much difference for larger suppliers whether you accept their off or not - unless it's off season or last minute then chances are they'll find someone else who will pay.

I think your supplier is being quite cheeky regarding the food - I have always been absolutely stuffed after an afternoon tea! If you want it then don't let them dictate to you, they just want more money!

I wouldn't say there is haggling in the traditional sense, but I think you can negotiate packages. As someone mentioned above, you can change expensive flowers to cheaper flowers to get closer to your budget. And I've had a lot of photographers tell me we charge X for this specific package, but if you don't want every item in the package they can reduce the price accordingly. However, keep in mind that for many vendors they only have a set number of weekend days in a year where they can book weddings so if they are speaking to one client that will pay full price for the set package, and another client who wants a reduced rate for the same day, they will probably book the client that is willing to spend more. But you may have more luck since, as you said, your wedding isn't on a peak date.

I would not let the venue force you into serving a heavy evening meal if you don't think it's necessary. Unless there is a food and beverage minimum in your contract you have the freedom to serve as much or as little food as you want. What are you serving for afternoon tea, and what is your timetable for the day? This may give you some insight into whether the venue is just try to upsell you or if there is a legitimate reason for their concerns. It may appear to you that you are serving a lot of food because of the cost, but if you have a ceremony time that would cause guests to miss their lunch and then are only serving them finger sandwiches and cakes they may be very hungry. I used to work in film and they always told us the most important thing is to feed everyone because hungry people will be miserable. If guests are hungry it won't matter if you have a stunning venue or a fantastic DJ because all they will remember is that they were starving.

Have you already paid a deposit to the venue? Ideally you would have worked out the food costs before committing. If not, can you look elsewhere to find a venue with more affordable catering?

Hi thanks for the replies.

In regards to the venue and food situation, we havent paid deposit yet as I want to finalise a price first which is proving difficult. The afternoon tea option was going to include canapes during the reception, and I even suggested paying the more expensive fee per person which usually includes champagne with the food (sparkling afternoon tea) but using the extra allowance towards extra food rather than the bubbly, but again the wedding coordinator seemed to think our guests would be starved! Ive never still been hungry after ive eaten afternoon tea, and obviously i did take the advice on board as i would never want my guests to go hungry, but surely (to me anyway) having canapes and extra food would more than surfice, but seemingly not. We did want a bbq originally though so not too hung up on it. Our ceremony will be at 1.30 so hopefully everyone will have had breakfast beforehand, but will still keep negotiating with the coordinator and see what we come up with.

Thanks for everyones input, will give the haggling a go as like you say they can only say no

Hi,

I definitely think that you can haggle with some things. We got our DJ for free with our venue as well as the bridal cottage, a free round of reception drinks and free chair pads (but I think that's because we booked two years in advance for a Saturday summer wedding and with 100 day guests and 40 extra evening guests, it is costing us a fortune!)

We managed to get a reduced engagement shoot with our photographer but another photographer flat out refused to bring his price down as, like another poster said, he told me he would get another booking!

We managed to get £100 off our string trio, £100 off our photo booth and £100 off our videographer. I think if you book early or you are out of season then you can definitely negotiate on prices. X

We are having a weekday wedding and almost all of our suppliers have given us a 10-15% discount for this. Other than that they don't seem willing to budge on price. As the other posters have said though, most suppliers are willing to find ways to bring down the packages to suit your budget, like less photography hours or cheaper by similar type of flowers so it's worth asking.

To be honest I would expect them to at least offer you something.

We booked a Friday afternoon and even though it's August we have used this to get a discount or extra bits with pretty much all our suppliers.

It's not really for them to tell you what food your guests should have, I think it's a bit cheeky of them actually. Afternoon tea sounds lovely and if that's what you want, it's your wedding!

I guess it depends on how much you want to get married at this place? If they didn't budge would you still want this venue?

If it were me I would be telling them you don't want a full meal, you want afternoon tea, and where can they add extra value to the package for you in light of the fact you aren't having a 3 course dinner? Is a bridal suite included, can they upgrade your drinks package etc.

If there's one thing I've learned when wedding shopping it's that if you don't ask you don't get lol.

It's got more to do with the supplier and how you ask for a discount. Many suppliers don't have a business background and can take it quite personally if you ask - as though you're putting down their work. But the same people will go haggle at the car showroom!

Be polite and not pushy. Also, ask for discounts for genuine reasons - it's not fair to ask a good photographer to match the package of one that's not very good. People who do that just lose all credibility in the eyes of the supplier.

Bear in mind that all aspects of a package are the variables that could be negotiated. So don't fixate on price alone - it is only one of the variables.

I wrote an article about saving money on your wedding, you might find a few helpful ideas here http://ww2.ollievision.co.uk/wp/index.php/save-money-on-your-wedding/

Before we even had a meeting with our reception venue, I told her exactly what my budget was per person for a sit down meal and told he to do her best with that- we've ended up with a 2 course meal for the price I asked for, and we are going to have our cask as a dessert.

The only thing she mentioned was that we had to pay for a minimum of 45 people, even if there was less than that.

One place we visited for the same reason knew our budget before we arrived, and then pretty much laughed in our faces when we actually visited and said it was impossible to get their prices any cheaper.

We also got a cheeky £50 discount from our TOG for telling them we found them through Hitched- something we weren't even aware of.