Wedding information

trinity_enigma

Just need a bit of a rant really. Sorry!

I've have received two e-mails in the last couple of days from venues who I have request wedding info from- both of them hotels. They have both come back saying they do not do wedding packages and so do not have information packs and if I want to make an appointment they will happily show me around and explain what they do.

Now, neither of these places have much on their website about their weddings other than they do them basically. I have no idea how much the venue costs, what sort of prices they charge for meals etc and I don't really see why I should have to travel to them and take time out of my precious weekends to see somewhere I don't know anything about let alone whether it is in my budget!

Honestly you don't think it would be that hard for them to arrange some words on paper for potential £thousands!!

Or maybe I'm being unreasonable, but I did have a good mind to email them back telling them this.

White_Sapphire

I agree that they should at least give you some kind of ballpark figure for hire costs and guest capacity.

The fact that they don't do packages and are reluctant to confirm too much in writing straight away may suggest that they are quite flexible and don't want to say 'this is how we do things here'. That might make them easier to work with to a budget than the venues which throw set named packages at you which they often refuse to deviate from. That's just me giving them the benefit of the doubt though, I could be wrong and they might just be being unhelpful!!

Maybe give them a call and say that you want more information about basic costs and capacity before taking time to visit?

Idiophreak

Yeah, I'd speak to them about it over the phone first. Then you can visit if you're interested.

Poor effort though, tbh - not very professional.

LEJC

The fact that the venues dont do a particular wedding package to me seems good..it probably means thats theres a lot more room for movement in the price they charge and as its not bulk standard ie 2 drinks,meal then this and that added you will probably find that you can really personalise the wedding exactly how you want it.

It may be that its an area that the venues would like to expand but havent done so for various reasons...I see it more as an oppurtunity to get the wedding package you want rather than the lack of a brochure being unprofessional on the part of the venue..

I would phone and explain requirements to them and judge by the responses you get whether its worth making a visit to the venue to see it in the flesh so to speak...afterall you will need to see it at some point...

ellay864

I don't mean this to sound as stupid as it probably does, but when my friend was looking for venues she contacted several places she'd seen advertising for weddings. In several cases it wasn't clear that they only actually did receptions, they weren't licenced for the ceremonies. And if that's the case it may explain why they don't do packages

purple.sarah

I wouldn't waste my time with a venue that wasn't clear and transparent about prices. We've enquired about venue prices before and been given a quote that was out of our budget, why waste our time and theirs to travel there and look round just to find that out? They're probably just trying to give you the hard sell, thinking it will be harder for you to say no in person and when you've seen the place. Our reception venue is flexible, you can have the ceremony there or just the reception, you can hire a room or the whole place, have their decorations or not, their catering or not etc so their prices vary but they have a sample quote on their website showing what they offer and a breakdown of the prices involved like room hire by the hour. Knowing what a vendor is offering and for how much should be the starting point of negotiations, otherwise it puts you at a disadvantage.

YoungBaker

The first key of sales: Never give your price away!

Think about it - if you owned a lovely venue would you rather just blurt the price out per person on the phone and a prospective customer can immediately discount the venue as it is a bit pricey - or would you rather invite them down to see your lovely venue, tell them all the wonderful features and everything you would include and reel them in - then give them the price?

I know as a customer it can be annoying when you just want the price right there and then, but you need to remember these venues are salesmen at the end of the day and will want to draw you down to get you attached to the venue before hitting you with the price!

trinity_enigma

Thanks for all the responses guys. I see what you guys mean about them possibly being flexible and stuff but it just really irritates me!

Although it doesn't irritate me as much as those places that say they do weddings to suit all budgets and then find out their extortionate lol.

Scotsbride

White_Sapphire wrote: »

I agree that they should at least give you some kind of ballpark figure for hire costs and guest capacity.

The fact that they don't do packages and are reluctant to confirm too much in writing straight away may suggest that they are quite flexible and don't want to say 'this is how we do things here'. That might make them easier to work with to a budget than the venues which throw set named packages at you which they often refuse to deviate from. That's just me giving them the benefit of the doubt though, I could be wrong and they might just be being unhelpful!!

Maybe give them a call and say that you want more information about basic costs and capacity before taking time to visit?

I found e-mailing them or phoning them and giving a rough estimate on guest numbers and find out if they offer separate prices for just the ceremony, ceronomy and drinks etc.

Idiophreak wrote: »

Yeah, I'd speak to them about it over the phone first. Then you can visit if you're interested.

Poor effort though, tbh - not very professional.

true but on the other side

Allan_r_123 wrote: »

The first key of sales: Never give your price away!

Think about it - if you owned a lovely venue would you rather just blurt the price out per person on the phone and a prospective customer can immediately discount the venue as it is a bit pricey - or would you rather invite them down to see your lovely venue, tell them all the wonderful features and everything you would include and reel them in - then give them the price?

I know as a customer it can be annoying when you just want the price right there and then, but you need to remember these venues are salesmen at the end of the day and will want to draw you down to get you attached to the venue before hitting you with the price!

Also be up frount about your budget from the start then they might be able to do something.

Tip: it worth thinking about acess and whether they have other weddings/function on the same day

Lavendyr

Allan_r_123 wrote: »

The first key of sales: Never give your price away!

Think about it - if you owned a lovely venue would you rather just blurt the price out per person on the phone and a prospective customer can immediately discount the venue as it is a bit pricey - or would you rather invite them down to see your lovely venue, tell them all the wonderful features and everything you would include and reel them in - then give them the price?

I get what you're saying, but surely if you don't give your price - or at least a ballpark - you risk wasting your time & efforts giving the 'big sell' to people who ultimately simply can't afford what you're asking. Especially with wedding venues which can vary in price from a couple of grand to tens of thousands.

Scotsbride

Some places charge per head some offer discount for week day last minute wedding dates. I would just tell them your budget have rough nubers in an e-mail and go from there. it pays to be flexible