Haggling Help!

indiegirl_2

Now I know you all love a spot of haggling, as do I, but I'm just wondering how you word your requests.

I have a quote from my preferred venue for 40 people for a sit down meal, and 100 evening attendees (food for 75), in reality we're hoping for nearer 120 evening invitees.

Anyway, I've been quoted the standard book price and it's coming in at just shy of £3500. I tried working out whether I could ask for 50p off per person on the head prices, but that would only save me £60.

Ideally I don't really want to spend above £3k. We're hoping to have the entire day at the venue (originally we were having a ceremony at another place and then moving on), but the original ceremony venue priced themselves out of the running, so the bar will be utilised a little more (thus lining the establishment's pockets further!).

The quote is for a 4 course meal for 40, followed by an evening buffet of 8 items for 75... it sounds a lot when it's put like that! There's no entertainment included in that (I am hoping for a disco and was considering a casino night - the hotel organiser advertises that they can source such things).

What tips can you give me for trying to knock the prices down to get to my ideal £3k mark?? Or, should I try and negotiate the disco and/or casino in as part of the charges?

Phyzelda

After I had received my quote, I just went back to them and said that I ideally didn't want to go over the £5k mark. And with a few minor changes I saved nearly £600 on my costs.
Just be honest & upfront

frannyann

I got the quote and it came in at 2.7K we didn't want to go above 2K, and agreed on 2.1K , so haggling is normal! It worked out as the two room hires (day and evening are in different rooms) being given for 'free' but brought us on to budget.

Mme.Hibou

I've not even thought about haggling on anything.

Quote

Really? Didn't you get a discount on your rings?

frannyann

[QUOTE=indiegirl;26078733

What tips can you give me for trying to knock the prices down to get to my ideal £3k mark?? Or, should I try and negotiate the disco and/or casino in as part of the charges?[/QUOTE]

Sorry I realised I didn't actually answer the question

In the quote, was there room hire included, that would be the first thing to haggle on, a simple 'as we are having so many guests, could the room hire be complimentry?' The disco usually comes in at around £200-£300 so if they stick to the £3.5K I would want the disco and the Casino included at that price. You can start the whole process, with a simple, 'We've been reviewing our budget and at the moment we are going over, can we discuss.......'
HTH

indiegirl_2

There's no room hire charges as we're having an evening buffet at the venue; so room hire is absorbed as part of that (or 'free' as it likes to boast...) anyway, they can arrange a disco but don't mention a casino (I was expecting to have to source that myself).

The organiser is very down to earth and I wouldn't feel awkward haggling (you know at some places you just feel that it's the wrong thing to do...? This isn't like that). I'll just be upfront, honest and ask - if I don't ask, I'll never know!!

indiegirl_2

Just an update on this... I was honest and upfront, and it appears to have worked...!

Initial quote came in at £3.5k, and I commented to the events manager that whilst I was pleased with the quote, I was working to a tight budget because OH's parents were paying for the venue. Without directly stating the figure I gave a very large hint that it was a more rounded figure, and I would be much more comfortable should we be able to hit that target.

Result: £5 off per head and a little more number tweaking... and were were just over £3k.

So, thank you to Frannyann and Phyzelda... I have more to play with for a casino now ;-)

mollymunchkin

Well done on the discount Indiegirl. I have just got my quote in and was wondering how to get it down a bit. There is £400 of room hire charges in there which I was hoping to get rid of, total quote of £4.3k, argh!

I hate haggling and I'm rubbish at it!

indiegirl_2

molly are you having your entire day at the place? Is there a bar? I would be honest with them first and foremost; state that you would prefer the quote to be rounded down to a more even figure. Ask if there is anything that they would be able to help with given that the quote has exceeded your budget - is there any room for negotiation on the room hire charges, for example?

I certainly advocate asking... you'll never know otherwise!

McKneff

Lydia82 wrote: »

I've not even thought about haggling on anything.

:eek:You dont know what your missing, its not just the discount, its the buzz you get when you get your discount.

The bigger the bargain, the bigger the buzz:j