Great 'What I wish I’d known before my wedding' Hunt

GC1987 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm getting married next May and have a good few things booked but I'm currently shopping around for caterers and musicians for the ceremony. I've seen a few people saying the haggled to get the first quoted prices well down and I just wondered..how?!! I've no idea where to begin. Any tips or advice on how to haggle would be greatly appreciated :j

With regards to musicians I'd be careful about haggling.


I work in a wedding/function band and our weddings are priced accurately for the service received. If someone started to try to haggle with us on price we'd just turn down the wedding as we'd probably fill the date very easily at the price being asked (currently have 30+ weddings in our books between now and the first quarter of next year).


Our prices are 900 for a 4 Piece band from 7:30pm to 12:00am (1 break around the evening buffet, usually around 9:30 to 10:45). Or £1,100 for a 5 piece band.


While we do offer a discount on those prices of £100 when booking us at Wedding fairs this has to be confirmed bookings within 7 days of the fair and this is where the majority of our dates will fill up.


Which makes the demand for the free dates higher therefore the price slightly more expensive.


Generally, quality bands should be looking around £150 - 200 per member for the night.


If they are willing to go down to the point of <£100 I'd be vary wary about the quality of musicians you are getting and I'd ensure you have seen a full set from them before in a true live setting (you may be lucky and it may be a decent group that haven't established themselves yet so they will be more willing to take a smaller fee to get exposure).


Cheap doesn't mean good and entertainment for your entire evening can ruin the day for all if it isn't good.