How to get an inexpensive Wedding Reception
Learn to negotiate your best pricing for a wedding reception.
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Things You'll Need
- A List of reception sites that you like.
- Rough estimates the number of attendees and your budget.
Instructions
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Whether you are going to have a large, fancy reception or a small, informal one, to get the best deal, don't have your heart set on just one date or just one location. Call several sites and talk with their wedding reception coordinators. Some sites will want you to come in to view their facilities. Go and see what they have to offer.
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Ask each coordinator, "On what dates do you give the biggest discounts?" There may be a specific time--like Sunday evenings that are a "need" time for the site. Or there may be a specific month. Or there may be holidays that are "need" times--times that are hard for them to sell. Ask the coordinator how much of a cost savings they will give you if you select one of their need dates.
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Ask each coordinator "Do you bump contracted weddings if better business wants the space later on?" Some hotels that will contract for a wedding a year or more in advance will "bump" the wedding to another site if a better piece of business later wants the meeting space. Ask the coordinator if they will include a "no bump" clause in their contract. This will guarantee you that unless an act of God (fire, war, etc) occurs, your reception will be at their location.
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Ask each coordinator "How far in advance will you sign a contract?" Some sites will sign one year or more in advance. Some sites will sign 9 or 6 months in advance. If you are choosing a need date, the site should allow you to contract for the space farther in advance than they would if you were looking at a very popular time (since that is a time they rarely sell).
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Ask each coordinator "What are your wedding packages, what do they include and how much are they?" Make a chart with one row for each site and note the packages and their inclusions in the columns. This will make it easier for you to compare offerings. In almost every case, you will save money, if you keep your packages as simple as possible with as few inclusions as necessary. Add ons add to the package cost and then the total charge receives a 20% to 30% service charge added to it. Negotiating add ons separately with each vendor (linens, flowers, cake, etc) separately may take a little more time, but should save you money in the end and you'll only pay for add ons that you want.
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Narrow your list down to 2 or 3 finalists. Call each coordinator and tell them what the others are offering. Ask if they can beat that offer. You may have to do this a couple of times until you get all 3 sites to go as low as they can.
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Reception sites will usually give you 2 different charges. One will be the charge or cost of the room itself. They will tell you this is the minimum you will be billed. The other charge is a per person charge for food, service, add ons, etc. You want both charges as low as possible and relatively equal. If you multiply the per person charge by the number of attendees you are planning for, the total should not exceed the cost of the room. As an example, if you are planning on 150 people attending and you have been quoted a $30 per person price, the minimum cost of the room shouldn't be more than $4500. If it is, you will be responsible for adding extra items to your reception to make your total bill meet the room charge.
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Tips & Warnings
Don't be afraid to ask questions.
If you aren't comfortable with negotiating, take someone with you who is.
It is OK to ask questions.
Don't be afraid to walk away and think about the sales person's offer.
Read the entire contract before you sign it.
If there is something you don't like, ask the coordinator to change it.
