Wedding Forum - How to haggle! Hints and tips....

There has been a lot of threads asking advice on haggling so I thought I would add a thread with my own tips and where everyone else can share their tips and experiences!

The main thing to remember about haggling is: If you don't ask you don't get.

Try to walk in knowing what your aim is. Do you need to stick to a definite budget therefore NEED to haggle? Would you just like 10% off for the sake of saving money? You need to walk in knowing how you want this to play out, if you go in expecting the other party to make you an offer you could be left disappointed.

A few things to bear in mind as to WHO you're haggling with are. Family run business owners have room to be MUCH more flexible, other businesses have "targets and figures" to hit and bosses to answer to. This doesn't mean you wont be successful in one of these businesses though!

Always try to coincide your haggling with a Sale if possible. This gives even more leeway on reductions as they are trying to clear out excess stock etc.

Likewise "quiet periods" can be very fruitful. EG a weekday wedding, or maybe they're the type of business that doesn't get much work in the winter? If you offer to fill a slot they'd otherwise most definitely have remain empty they're more likely to let you haggle them down... any price is better than no price.

Paying on the spot in cash either in full or a sizeable deposit is always a good bargaining tool. You're more likely to have success if you show you're serious about going ahead there and then.


NEVER EVER EVER, reveal what your actual figure you have in mind is... at least not right away. Let them make YOU the offer, then you get them down from that point. I never accept a first offer.

Things such as flowers, you can make real savings before haggling if you choose to have seasonal flowers.

Dont be afraid to ask for discounts by knocking off items that you dont need. EG your venue offers tea and coffee after your sit down meal, but you dont want that anyway, or you want to remove the dessert and have your cake as dessert, ask if they can take money off if you remove that option (Still ask for an overall discount but this gives you a head start).

Always introduce yourself (and try and throw in a handshake for good luck), it will make the transaction a bit more personal, and how can they turn down someone they know a bit better? lol


So to explain the ins and outs of how I would personally barter I thought I might give you an example.



I'm looking to buy my wedding dress... As luck would have it a little bridal boutique near me is has a sale coming up so I choose to book in to have a look on that day. After a little look through the rails I find my dream dress. RRP is £1000, but everything in the sale is 25% off!! This means the dress is down to £750. OK so it's a good figure but it's not what I had in mind. I only want to spend £500. While the dress is STILL ON ME, I'll tell the assisstant I am absolutely IN LOVE and it's THE one and only dress. But... well it's a bit more than I was expecting to pay. Is there any chance of any further discount on it? *queue assisstant going off to ask permission*
"why yes we could give an extra 10% off the price..."
(bringing the dress down to £675)
"hmmm... *sad face* I see..... Its still rather more than I intended to pay. Is it possible I could speak to the owner/manager myself?"
*slops off to get owner/manager*
when the manager returns I would be formal/polite by offering a hand shake and telling him/her my name...
"so I was looking at this dress, and I know it's on sale, and that I'm being offered an extra 10% on top of that but I just dont have that much leeway in my budget and I was wondering if we could work something out. If you could come down to £500 for me I can pay here and now in cash and walk away a very happy bride!

Hopefully that should get the job done!

Oh and don't be afraid to barter in other situations either! It will make good practice for when it comes to the big stuff. I've been known to get items (rrp around £30) reduced to £5 in Morrison's cause I spoke to a manager LOL. I'm not a tightwad but I do love a good bargain!

Good luck on your package then!

I'm sure in the recesses of my mind there are more tips lurking but at the moment my brain is not fully engaged LOL

Thank you VC!!!! We're going next Tuesday x

Can u haggle if u plan to pay finance or direct debit x

We saved £500 on our evening buffet....

They had a set price per head for each individual item, I original got a quote for the cheaper items, then emailed and asked to swap sausage rolls for chicken sate skewers, crisps for a selection of cured meats and mini pork pies for vegetable spring rolls and samosas - if it had been at the original cost for the more 'premium items' it would have been £500 more...I just made dropped hints that I was considering several suppliers and that they were dearer...and that I was stretching my budget as it was...seemed to work.

Most suppliers like to be able to offer a discount and have this factored into there prices already...

If they won't move on price, try to get some extras thrown in xx

Can you haggel if you have already paid a deposit for the date but have not specified any details, and its midweek andalready discounted!

Thanks!!im general terrible at things like this as have never had to budget coz Im a spoilt only child!

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I've haggled on five/six things... my dress ...got 10% off then rounded down £70... my uncle's colleague at the mason runs the dress shop!

Got the venue for free plus discounted rates at the bar (hence 5/6 things!) because its at a masonic lodge...my Uncle's again!

Got Co@st to give us a 10% discount on brand new stock bridesmaid dresses - BIG win!

Got 10% off wedding Photog from £1500 to £1350 with a personal email going in to all the details of the wedding!

Got an additional 10% off my wedding shoes that were in the sale at debs

If you don't ask you don't get... every little bit counts!

It's always worth asking, my OH is the king of haggling we never pay full price for anything. He always manages to get stuff thrown in too. Our venue has thrown in 6 extra bedrooms and agreed if any offers come up between now and our wedding we can take advantage of them. At the moment they're offering a free hog roast for 2014 weddings so hoping to get something like that! He also got them to agree to paying our deposit in instalments just so we get a little extra interest lol

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I got the honeymoon suite thrown in with my venue as it wasn't included in the package.

Some great advise thanks for the post x

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Thanks everyone, reading this has given me the confidence to haggle when we go to book our venue in a few weeks time.

Is it possible to haggle on big name hotels like M@cD0n@ld Hotels, We really like Craxton Wood Hotel, but they want £80 pp D: xoxo

I will have a go then :P no idea how to go about it though xoxo

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we are having a thursday wedding, have asked every company for a discount for a weekday wedding and weve saved thousands, hate to thing what our final figure would be if it was a saturday :O x

Mid week weddings arw definitely good for negotiating prices.

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