Negotiation Tips to help you cut your Wedding Budget

Here's some tips on how to save some money on your wedding budget and get the best deal for your money

On the run up to your wedding day it's easy to get carried away and lose control of your budget. At each stage of your wedding day preparations you will have suppliers to find and deal with and, of course, they want to get as big a slice of your budget as they can.

You don't have to go along with this, it's your wedding and your money - drive a hard bargain and negotiate!

Whether your dealing with the venue, caterers, decoration suppliers, photographer, DJ, wedding car provider, or whoever, the following tips all apply:

Never accept the first price you are given

Even if it doesn't lead to a better offer you will have at least tried and won't be wondering what-if I had asked for this or that?

Furthermore, your supplier will likely be an experienced negotiator - a price accepted without question undermines their confidence in the deal. If their first price was accepted so easily, what could they have got? 'A deal somebody works for is a deal they are happier with'

There's No such thing as a Fixed-Price

The reason that clothes in a shop have a price label on is that the retailer knows that you are unlikely to question it. If they are wrong - what do they do? They have a Sale and put another price ticket on it. They'll do this until they have to virtually give it away.

They are negotiating the price, but on their terms not yours. This applies to every business - if you don't ask for a better price then you aren't going to get a better price!

Don't just Complain - Negotiate a Solution

Somewhere, along the way to organising your perfect wedding day, someone will let you down - it's human nature - it happens. You can't prevent it but you can control the outcome.

If you make a complaint and wait for the other party to offer a solution you are likely to be disappointed! Have a remedy already prepared. This way you will have the initiative by choosing a solution that suits your interests - not theirs. The ensuing discussion will be about your remedy and not an argument about who did what?

By proposing a solution to the problem the other party doesn't have to try and guess what has to be conceded to keep you as a customer and will often be so relieved that they accept your suggestion without further argument.

Generosity is Not Contagious

By displacing the source of our demands onto others it is easier to bring them into the negotiation 'Everything Is Negotiable'

Be careful when making a compromise, just because you do it doesn't mean your supplier will return the favour. Your attempt to be nice and win them over will often be seen as a weakness and may encourage them to expect further concessions from you.

All that Glitters is not Gold

Don't be intimidated by appearances. The events manager at your venue may well meet you for coffee in the plush bar, but her office won't be so grand. Your photographer might drive a Range Rover - but he needs you to put petrol in it!

The one thing that all your wedding suppliers have in common is that you are the customer and they need your money. If they don't then what are they doing there?

How to Make Them Cut Their Prices

An old trick that seasoned negotiators use is the 'Mother Hubbard' (the cupboard is bare!). Here you can say that you really love the chair covers, balloons, or whatever and you really want to buy but, because your budget only allows you to spend such and such an amount, you will have to forego and look elsewhere.

This is telling the supplier that he is wasting his time haggling as you just can't pay what he wants. The pressure is now upon him to get within your budget. Be careful he doesn't turn this into a pay a bit now and more later deal - be firm.

The Mandate Tactic

If you are nervous of negotiating then one way to gain confidence is to pretend that you don't have the authority to make the deal. If you haven't got a principal - invent one!

Maybe you have to call your other half or your parents for permission to go ahead or spend over a certain amount? You can even arrange before hand to call them and play act it out (if this sounds ridiculous - go and buy a new car or a conservatory and see how the pro's do it?).

'By displacing the source of our demands onto others it is easier to bring them into the negotiation'

In summary, organising your wedding day will be one of the most expensive and demanding things that you ever have to do, and normally, you don't get a second chance to get it right. The number of 'wedding suppliers and professionals' grows by the day and they all want their share of your wedding day budget.

They do this every day and you don't. This doesn't mean you are at a disadvantage, it just means you have to stand back and think about what you are doing. The most important thing is to take your time and relax, you are in the driving seat - not them. Don't be pushed into agreeing to things on the spot and always get a second opinion.

It's your wedding day and your money, after all!

Some of the tips above and quotes are taken from 'Everything Is Negotiable' by Gavin Kennedy.

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