i have started to book things but should i be haggling?

binkyboo_2

Just had to post as i'm so excited and got no one to share it with!
I made a provisional booking with the registrar which i had to pay £25 to do :eek:
we have to give notice within the next two months at a cost of £30 each
then 2 months before the big day we have to pay £270 for the civil ceremony at our venue. I guess these are average prices but i was still suprised it was so much. luckily i budgeted £350 for this so have only gone £5 plus whatever we have to pay for the marriage certificate.
I have also provisionally booked our venue and have just over a week left to pay the deposit and confirm our booking. the deposit is a standard of £500 which is probably going to be about a quarter of our final bill so I am trying to save £200 a month between now and december to pay for all of this.
However i haven't haggled at all with the venue yet on their prices or really got anything thrown in apart from a room for the night! does anyone have any advice on how to get prices down or get extras thrown in or do venues have a their price or nothing attitude?

superfran_uk

£270 is nothing - our registrar fees are about £400 and then obviously £30 each for the marriage cert.

neneromanova

when I get married it'll be £250 for the room and then a further £370 for the registrar. I don't think you can haggle the registrar fees as they'll just say, you can't get married, tough. annoying i know

floss2

Ours is £30 each plus £515 for Registrar & room, plus £3.50 for 1 certificate......and that's on a Friday.

Is it a chain hotel? What sort of "deal" have you got? We get a suite for the night of the wedding & champagne breakfast the next day thrown in.

What do you get for your price - are there any extras included? Do you wantchair covers & sashes - we are lucky as the venue is in the process of renewing the upholstery on all it's venue chairs so we aren't bothering with chair covers.

Are there any things included that you DON'T need? We are having a band so have had £200 deducted from the quote because we don't need the DJ provided as part of the deal.

binkyboo_2

i wasn't thinking i could haggle the registrar fees, although i am annoyed they don't deduct the provisional booking fee from the final balance! I was thinking more about venue prices but from having seen your prices for registrars i am now feeling that if i tell you my quotes for other things you may say i am getting a bargain, which would make me feel bad about wanting to get the price down even more!
For example the venue would charge £5.50 a head for chair covers whereas i have found an outside company that will do it for 2.50 a head so is it worth me trying to haggle the venues price down or do i just use the cheaper company?

neneromanova

Very much worth asking the venue about the chair covers. Take the quote with you as proof too. See my venue charge £1 per chair cover

binkyboo_2

wow £1 is good i guess everything is different for everyone some things you save on and others break the bank!

binkyboo_2

floss2 wrote: »

Ours is £30 each plus £515 for Registrar & room, plus £3.50 for 1 certificate......and that's on a Friday.

Is it a chain hotel? What sort of "deal" have you got? We get a suite for the night of the wedding & champagne breakfast the next day thrown in.

What do you get for your price - are there any extras included? Do you wantchair covers & sashes - we are lucky as the venue is in the process of renewing the upholstery on all it's venue chairs so we aren't bothering with chair covers.

Are there any things included that you DON'T need? We are having a band so have had £200 deducted from the quote because we don't need the DJ provided as part of the deal.

they have given me a bespoke quote so its difficult it is a privately owned hotel not a chain. we have got the bridal suite for the night included but not sure about a champagne breakfast and this is something i would really like so will have to check this. They are providing us is the room free of charge for the ceremony, then when we have drinks they will move the room around for a meal which is £20 a head for a soup starter served to the table, a carvery main course which is a buffet and desert served to the table. canapes are 3.50 a head for 6 each i think. an evening supper of sausage and bacon sandwiches is 5.50 a head. we are providing our own wine and they charge 7.50 for wine and 9.50 for champagne. My parents are buying the wine and we are paying the corkage so for 40 adults and 15 children with 3 glasses of wine and 1 glass of champagne and soft drinks for kids it comes to just over £2100. We will then have to provide our own dj decor etc.
Not sure if this is a good deal or not because everywhere else we looked was about 3 times the price and it was compulsory to have a lot more people or food!

floss2

Hmmm...we've got a room for the reception (could have wedding in there too as included in deal) with adjoining room/private bar to move into while they remove tables after the meal before evening do, and for the oldies to hide away from the band!!

40 for hot silver service wedding breakfast, 75 for cold buffet evening do. Candleabra on tables, adding table confetti to sparkle so no other table dressings, newly finished chairs so no need for chair covers (would be £3.50 ea + sashes), suite & champagne breakfast for wedding night and we get a DJ & photographer too, all for £2500, that's in a Barcelo hotel.

Forgot to add, that includes bucks fizz on arrival, 1/2 bottle wine per head, prosecco for toasts.

binkyboo_2

floss2 wrote: »

Hmmm...we've got a room for the reception (could have wedding in there too as included in deal) with adjoining room/private bar to move into while they remove tables after the meal before evening do, and for the oldies to hide away from the band!!

40 for hot silver service wedding breakfast, 75 for cold buffet evening do. Candleabra on tables, adding table confetti to sparkle so no other table dressings, newly finished chairs so no need for chair covers (would be £3.50 ea + sashes), suite & champagne breakfast for wedding night and we get a DJ & photographer too, all for £2500, that's in a Barcelo hotel.

Forgot to add, that includes bucks fizz on arrival, 1/2 bottle wine per head, prosecco for toasts.

i guess large chains can offer more competitive prices, there is a barcelo hotel near me so perhaps i could get a quote from them and use it for haggling. i think the only things missing from my quote so far is the chmpagne breakfast and the dj though i'd be happy to supply other things myself

floss2

It's the "All Wrapped Up" package - maybe called "Wedding In A Box" at other Barcelo hotels