Wedding venue package deal, what do you think? Tips for haggling please!

miss_pixie_2

does anyone have any tips for haggling? ive found a hotel which offers this package

the package we are looking at is £1750
master of ceremonies
red carpet on arrival
DJ until 12am
3course wedding breakfast for 40 guests & night buffet for 70 guests
cake stand & knife
bucks fizz reception for 40 guests
compliemntry bedroom for bride and groom and reduced room rates for any guests wanting to stay over at the hotel

Its a really good package, but for an extra £1000 you get an extra 20 guests in day and extra 60 at night and dj until 1am....i am not sure if i want to pay 1000 for the upgrade package as i really only want an extra 10 guests in day and maybe 10-15 at night time

things like chair covers, ballooons, centrepieces and well wisher book are extra, maybe i could ask for these to be thrown in if i go for the £2750 package? im rubbish at haggling lol

sammy_wheeler

for me i thnk this is really expensive- i am paying £1000 for my venue- and that includes a buffet for 60 ppl, master of cermoneys, red carpet, cake stand and knife, free room for bride and groom, reduced rates for the guests, red carpet
then i am paying £225 for dj for 6 hours. , £200 chair covers, guest book £15, balloons you can get from ebay for very very very cheap. centrepieces- my florist is doing them and all the flowers

so its £1440 for everything i get that you do is that £2750 (and i can have as many guests as i want)
and i got to choose my dj where you have to have theirs

alyssa_liss

you should ask if you can pay for individual people ontop , i know weve seen somewhere with 30 for meal 100 for buffet . think meal is an extra £15 pp and buffet and extra 8.50pp

LEJC

the package we are looking at is £1750
master of ceremonies
red carpet on arrival
DJ until 12am
3course wedding breakfast for 40 guests & night buffet for 70 guests
cake stand & knife
bucks fizz reception for 40 guests
compliemntry bedroom for bride and groom and reduced room rates for any guests wanting to stay over at the hotel


Here are my thoughts on the package..im really sorry if its a long post...but I hope it helps you to see it from a different view...

Master of ceremonies...nice but is it needed...he announces the entry of the bride and groom and the speeches...some people have them..we didnt and neither did we miss it.

Red carpet...if its your thing ...great

3 course wedding breakfast for 40...40 is the maximm to can invite unless you pay supplements which will add up...there is no wine mentioned...so is this extra or what is included?

buffet for 70 ...self explanatory and again go over that number and you have addititional cost although you need to remember that thats only an additional 30 people if you are wanting the 40 to stay on from the daytime. A lot of people assume that it is 70 extra guests but this is not the case..if you add the 40 who are already at the wedding then it gives you the opton to invite 30 people to total 70

Bucks fizz reception...thats a glass as your guests arrive at the venue...and seems to be the only drink included in the whole package

Resident dj....worthwhile

Cake stand..and knife...this is literally the stand for your cake and the knife to cut it...it does not include a cake..so thats still something to sort out

How much of a reduction for guests overnight...if its still expensive compared to the likes of travelodge they are unikely to benefit from the offer.Over night accomodation for you and your groom in a standard room ...its handy and nice for you to stay over as it rounds off the day but you can probably find accomodation and room rates cheaper at the same hotel nearer the time than their standard rack rates....just watch that overnight accomodation includes breakfast the following morning...otherwise that could cost you another £12 each.

There are lots of bits it doesn't include all small things but never the less things that can add up ...favours table plans name cards...centre piece decorations or flowers on the tables or in the room.
but more important you need to think about the drinks that dont seem to be included in the package...I assume this may be a HI package and as such I know their drinks can be a bit on the pricey side are you happy for your guests to pay those prices?...£5 for a glass of wine purchased at a HI bar is a conservative estimate...some of the london hotels charge £6.75 a glass....and its around £1.75 for a soft drink...I have found the online package for HI here
http://www.hiellesmereport.com/wedding-venue.html

and as far as I can see the drinks need to be bought seperatley or as part of a seperate link in package...the cheapest one being £13.95 per person giving each guest a glass of bucks fizz a glass of wine with their meal and a glass of sparkle for the toast ..they dont allow the option of BYO without attracting corkage so the way I read it is the only drink thats actually included in the price of £1750 is a bucks fizz welcome drink....
You need to think about this and work out if you are going to provde a toast with the speeches...as this will cost extra.The cheapest bottle of sparkling wine is £19.50 so assuming you get 6 glasses from a bottle you would need to buy 7 bottles for your 40 day guests..thats £136.50

If the package suits you then go for it but a lot of what you are paying for could be done cheaper I feel....just make sure you clarify the costs of things not included and how much extra it will cost you if you need to add extra guests...

I'm not completely sure on prices but your extra 10 day guests are likeky to cost around £20 each and your evening ones around £12 each..so you could be paying upto £400 for the extra number quoted


things like chair covers, ballooons, centrepieces and well wisher book are extra, maybe i could ask for these to be thrown in if i go for the £2750 package? im rubbish at haggling lol ...THATS A VERY BIG ASK IN TERMS OF HAGGLING....

chair covers to hire are about £1.50 per chair...and there is lots of debate as to if to have them or not...its probably nice if thats your thing and it does create a more plesent room and cover "boring " chairs but these chairs do end up with coats on the back of them ...so I'll leave it to you to decide if you want them....its a bit like the red carpet I didnt have one and couldn't even tell you what the carpet was like at our venue suffice to say there was one...its other things in the day that people remember before the carpet or chair covers!

A well wish book can be picked up reasonably cheaply on somewhere like ebay or you could make your own or choose a picture frame or something else.....its hardly going to prove a deal breaker in terms of haggling...

I really doubt you would get centrepiece decorations thrown in...some can be rather expensive..what are they quoting per centrepiece as an extra?....you will need to check what they allow ie candles or not...butit may be an area that you look at making your own...vast differences in cost occur here and it all depends on how you source them...ive seen beautiful table arrangements for just a few pounds and ive seen very elaborate ones that cost a lot more...im guessing that you could achieve a good one for each of your tables for around £10 each....but have a look for inspiration on other threads here as some of the ones other brides have done are stunning and all on a budget!

When you were quoted the price for the package...is that what they are charging for it now or is that the price it will be when your wedding comes round?...an area for haggling could be that you pay the price they are selling at now rather than the one they will be charging in the year you get married...ie securing the price at todays rate.

Do you have a figure in mind of what you would like to pay...you could perhaps go to them and say we have £x and know its not the full amount but what sort of package could you offer for that price...they may be flexible but dont be too unrealistic about what you ask for a 15% discount may be achievable...or goods/services to the value of...thats for you to negotiate.
Lots of people find the best discounts are out of season or not a saturday..but that may not be a option for you,but something to consider.

These types of all in package can be really good...but only if it really suits you...sit down and work out your guest lists etc and the costings on drinks...40 does seem on the face of it a lot for the daytime but once you start to compile a list it may soon spiral above the number...the immediate bridal party B G BM 2 Bridesmaids and 2 sets of parents soon adds you to 10 and thats before you start to think of exended family and friends. Also you need to factor in that its not just a case of opting for the more expensive package at £1000 more as with the extra guests comes the extra drinks cost as well ...its best to work out these things before you commit to a package as it will work out far more expensive to change it later and you are comitted once your deposit is paid...
Best of luck

jtr2803

Maybe it's because I live darn sarf but that actually seems REALLY cheap to me! Most of the venues here (that can host the ceremony, meal and evening do) charge at least £65 a head and thats just for the meal....no buffet, no DJ, no MoC or anything else!

arubababy

We're having a similar package deal, but we can add extra people to each part for a price per head. Maybe arrange a meeting with them and go through what you would like, and what you wouldn't and see what subsititutions you can add in and reductions, all the venues we looked at were very flexible in what they could offer and addtions that can be added.
Check with the venue whether you need to cater for each guest in the evening as most people will have eaten the wedding breakfast just before and won't eat much, also if you're having children see if you can add them as extras instead as adults as that will bring the cost right down.

silver2012

I actually think is REALLY cheap too, the one's i have been looking at are between £4 and 9000 pounds! you are very lucky to get all that at that price.

jennyiow

I think that looks a good price if the venue is one you love and the package includes things you want.
As someone else said, perhaps go back to them and say 'my budget could only stretch to an extra £500 for an upgrade, what could I get for that?' They may well offer you less guests.

miss_pixie_2

update - have managed to find an identical package to the one Holiday Inn were offering. For £1000! except theres no DJ and only get 60 guests at night (70 with HI) so even with DJ and extra guests, its still going to work out about £800 cheaper as holiday inn quoted £2200 (2013 price) with the extra guests

sammy_wheeler

thats fab. defo worth looking around. where is it?

miss_pixie_2

sammy_wheeler wrote: »

thats fab. defo worth looking around. where is it?

Its on the border for wales and cheshire, by Asda Deeside if you know where that it is?