Forum Poll Hi ladies, well where do I start !

A friend of mine has been looking a potential party venues for her parents suprise anniversary dinner party. I recommend our wedding venue as it does whatever you want, and is in a very quiet village so shouldn't get any gategrashers. Anyway, my friend phoned me last night as she was really shocked at the quote she got from them. For the EXACT same menu as we are having for our wedding, disco, marquee, staff, and same drinks package and a very similar amount of guests they are charging......wait for it...... £2000 LESS than they have quoted us !!!!!!!!

My friend has decided not to book yet, she is going to do some further investigating for me, but what do you guys think about us possibly saying something to them ? We were really pleased with our original quote and I know that things will cost more in 2013, but they said we could keep this years price and we now feel totally cheated.

Should we say something, or just forget about it ?

Ta !

xxx

I deffo think you should say something it annoys me how they do that its not uncommon though for people to charge more for a wedding than any other occasion.

xx

It depends on the time of year and prices will increase a lot. But I'd maybe speak to them about it, another thing to remember is the W word, they always make it a lot more just because of that x

depends on when it is? your wedding is a while off and that could be why the price has increased xx

I would say something to them ... but it's true, anytime the word wedding is involved it seems to make things three times more!

What I would do is get your mate to call up and ask how much it would be for EXACTLY what you are having and ask the venue to send her it on paper as she is looking around. THEN approach them.

If there is no structural difference to the room that you will be celebrating in, there is the same menu and amount of guests then they will need the EXACT same amount of staff to hire, same prices for food for them to buy from suppliers then I would ask them what is actually included in the £2000 price difference. If they cannot give you a reason tell them you want it for the price they quoted a friend.

make sure that table cloths and napkins are in both packages too.

If its decorations/wedding co-ordinator ect tell them you do not require that service so would like the cheaper package.

Go to a wholesalers and buy the decorations, balloons, helium ect will be around £50.
Have a propper sit down with the best man and ushers before the wedding and give them the "rota" and what times things need to be done. Leave them in charge!

They can't insist that you pay £2000 for a few extra bits and if they do just say "Ok, well me and my fiance will have to sit down and discuss this together and let you know what we come up with once we have had some advice from trading standards."


I'm sure they will lower it then ;)

Me personally, I would deffo mention it to them hun xxx

I think it's already been said but sit down with your friend and find out the exact details like number of guests what's included etc. Is your friends celebration short notice to the venue? it may be that as they've had to weddings or other celebrations planned then they may give them a discount (like some venues do for out of season weddings)

If there's no justification you can see for the extra money then I'd go and have a chat with them. Like everyone has said, mention the word wedding and suppliers seem to make up a silly price and double it. (A friend of mine actually booked a venue saying they were having a celebration meal and booked it as so without mentioning the word wedding. On the actual day when they arrived the manager gave them an extra bill because it was a wedding! The venue backed down in the end as they could offer no explanation as to what the extra money was covering. Makes you think how much we're all being ripped off).

My friend is coming round tonight to talk it through properly with me, she's my maid of honour so knows how much the wedding is costing. We are literally having the recpetion there, that's it, we havn't booked any rooms, or extras. We have all the decorations, table crystals, glass candelabras, etc, I am even setting the tables myself with family as I don't trust anyone else lol. The table wine will be self serve, and welcome drinks will be ready and waiting so noone is needed to serve them, we are having a 3 course meal, but the main is selve serve (hog roast with salad etc), so they told me when we booked that there would only be 3 staff and and extra 3 bar staff.
All we are having is
Marquee, linen, cutlery, napkins, tablecloths
Disco
Starter - King Prawn Cocktail or Melon Fan
Main - Hog Roast with pasta salad, coleslaw, potato salad, mixed leaf, bread rolls, apple sauce
Dessert - Strawberries and Cream
Evening Buffet
6 Staff

The only difference is the evening buffet (which is 5 quid per head so only totals £500) which we are having but my friend didn't get quoted for.
That's a really good idea, get it in writing from them and then approach them. I MUST remember to stay calm lol

xxx

i would say something, but yes as soon as the word wedding is mentioned they double the price, i had an online quote for a dj from 5pm until midnight and they wanted £725 i then typed in the same place times ect for a birthday party and they quoted £355 !! needless to say i didnt go with those lol

Unfortantly that is the way businesses handle weddings, hear the word wedding and knock a couple of k on top of normal prices!

You could say something babe but in all honesty i really dont think it will make much of a difference.
They may give you something for free instead but i doubt they will knock the difference off lol

BUT like they say if you dont ask you dont get, so give it shot.................GOOD LUCK!

I would most definately speak to them to see what exactly you are getting for the extra money...just stay calm and polite and explain that a friend of yours had the cheaper quote for the same party...

one of our venues we were considering practically laughed at us when we noticed their menu for the wedding breakfast was identical to their special offer 3 courses for £10 menu. except the wedding breakfast was £25 a head. I told them to sort it or we were leaving. they said we wouldn't find anywhere cheaper. we did :) and their rotten attitude has cost them a whole lot more than anything they might have earned doing our wedding.

I don't think you've got much to lose by confronting them. Go for it :) xxx

Say Something! i guess we have to accept that weddings will be more than other parties but £2k is a lot! Maybe ask them if they can do 'recommend a friend' for discounts and see if they will knock £500 if there's a guarenteed booking which is with your name mentioned? Or haggle with the prices, i.e. get each price per head down by £1.50 or something, then mention recommend a friend too?

Let us know how you move forward with this, want to see if I can pull the same tricks when i go booking!

yes just email/ring them and ask no harm in askin lass x

Wow - thats brilliant news!!!!!!

great news hun well done xxxx

i would definetly say something weddings do up prices but £2000 i dont think so!!!!!! its absolutley disgusting :@ x and i dont blame u i wouldnt tell david either hed go crazy if i told him that x

Oh wow that is amazing. Enjoy your holiday.....

Wow thats fab news! now you can enjoy a nice break from the stress! And make sure you get your friend a nice prezzie as if it wasnt for her you might not have such a saving :-)

x

that's fantastic news and you get a holiday too well done and that's really is a great saving

Thanks guys ! We had already decided not to go away this year and save it for the honeymoon, but he got sooooo excited and I wasn't gonna argue lol !!

xxx

Awesome sauce! Totally chuffed for you that it worked out so well!

Wow that is fantastic news and to be fair to the venue extremely generous

Brilliant news! x