At this weekend’s wedding seminar in South Florida, I spent a bit of time discussing contract negotiations and working with vendors who will help you maintain your budget. I truly believe that a good and ethical wedding professional will look beyond pure profitability in order to make recommendations for ways get services you want without overspending. Sometimes, the vendor’s recommendation may be to suggest another vendor who can accommodate your budget, others will work with you to shave costs of their own packages in order to work with you. In either case, knowing what you can spend is critical.
As we were discussing this, a bride name Megan offered up her story. She has found her location and hired a number of vendors. Almost everything of hers has been contracted. While she was reviewing what she was spending, she realized that she was spending a bit too much. She needed to find a way to cut costs. This is no easy task once a contract is signed.
Megan was very lucky. She went to her reception site and told her representative her plight. He suggested to her that she change the time of her reception in order to save money. That is exactly what she did. She moved from an evening wedding to an afternoon wedding and saved 10 percent on her bottom line. Just enough to help maintain her budget.
I want to emphasize that this is a very risky maneuver. It is much better to plan your budget in advance and stick to it. Going back to renegotiate a signed contract is very difficult.
Do you have a story about saving money at your wedding? Send it to me and I might just publish it on the blog or our Facebook Fan Page.
If you have questions on this or any other wedding related topic, please post for me here or send me an email to susan.southerland@pwg.com. Also become a fan on Facebook by clicking here and follow me on Twitter by clicking here.
Your partner in perfect planning,
Susan
