Nobody wants to extend themselves for someone who is an overbearing demanding person. That’s just a fact of life, and applies during the wedding negotiations as well. When you are a pleasant person, it will imply that you’ll also be a pleasant customer for the wedding vendor.
Most vendors have the experience to know that an unreasonable customer will just end up costing them time by having to handle the complaints they’ll get and making those last minute changes. If you think about this from the wedding vendors perspective, just how likely will it be that a unruly client would provide useful word of mouth advertising for their place of business? Most wedding vendors who have been around for awhile know the value of time and goodwill, and this translates into savings for you when you finally enter into your own wedding negotiations.
Think about how you heard of this wedding vendor. Was it from a neighbor? Perhaps it was a recommendation by a close friend. Did you see a product they offer, or a service they provided at another event that you attended previously and were truly impressed by it? Do they make available original designs? Or have unique custom wedding creations? A reputable and caring wedding vendor will take great pride in thier work, and talking to them in reference to it will help with your own wedding negotiations. If you like something they have, give them an honest compliment about it. By expressing your interest in working with this specific vendor, it will definitely be to your benefit. Flattery goes a long way in negotiating with a wedding vendor.
The ‘I’ in the word ‘wedding‘ should be capitalized. This day is really all about you. When you are in the planning stages of wedding preparation, you should be focusing on the ‘we.’ Look at your wedding vendors as your teammates and coaches who will lead you to a very successful wedding day when you meet with him or her to start the wedding negotiations. These wedding vendors truly have the ability to set your fears aside and lead you to the solutions you are looking for. You should turn the ‘me, myself and I’ into ‘You and I’ and then finally ‘we and us.’ Realize both of you will be working towards the exact same set of goals: a beautiful wedding ceremony and a very joyful bride. By aligning yourself with good, experienced, and helpful wedding vendors, the wedding negotiations you setup will make everything extremely pleasant for both you and the wedding vendor!
Once you get engaged, you should disengage when you plan a wedding. This doesn’t mean you should develop multiple personalities, it simply means that the more you can separate your emotions from the process of the wedding negotiations, the better off you’ll be. Just think, W.W.M.W.P.D. This translates into What Would My Wedding Planner Do? First off, they would probably sit you down and talk to you. Then determine exactly what you want to do or have at your wedding. Finally, they go out and get it for you. Thats what wedding negotiations are all about. If it will help, nobody has to know that you are the bride in question, all they really need to know is that you are handling all the arrangements for the wedding.
When making your appointments with these wedding vendors to discuss the services they offer, do try to be on time. Should things come up and you will be late, give them a call and ask if they still have time for the meeting. If not, see when they will be able to reschedule the wedding negotiations. Be aware of the time during these meetings as well. Should it be close to closing time but you haven’t finished your discussion, see when would be a mutual convenient time to continue. Usually, they will just stay open until everything has been negotiated, however, you don’t want to take up too much time and run the risk of keeping them from going home since you don’t know what else they have going on in their lives. By being considerate of their time, plus acknowledging the fact that they have a life of their own, will make you a good client in their eyes worthy of getting a discount during your wedding negotiations with them.
Trying to negotiate the prices for a wedding service that takes place on any afternoon on a Saturday, during the height of the wedding season, is definitely a recipe for hearing the word No frequently. If you keep an open mind and be flexible about setting the time and date of your event, plus the design and delivery of some specific elements, even the style of wedding reception can reveal reasonable alternatives that you hadn’t considered if your wedding negotiations occur during the right setting.
Remember that not every detail needs to be negotiated, however, whenever you can save money on a wedding, you should try. Most wedding vendors already know the tricks of their trade. If you are flexible with them, this gives the wedding vendor room to implement their knowledge of the wedding industry to accommodate whatever your needs should be. This makes it beneficial when you meet with them for your own wedding negotiations.
