It’s no secret that weddings are a huge investment. Even if you opt for a small wedding, it can still cost you thousands of pounds. You might be thinking of ways to cut costs and wonder if you can haggle with your wedding suppliers… Keep reading to find out why you might want to reconsider!
Support small businesses in the wedding industry
Most wedding suppliers are sole traders and small businesses. Some are parents who have chosen a career that is flexible to fit around family life. Every sale, every customer, every couple matters and your wedding supplier will be genuinely so excited that you have chosen to book with them!
Not every business is in a position to offer a discount, and if they do it comes directly out of the owner’s pocket. Often, after you take away the investment for stock, marketing, training, designing etc… you aren’t left with much! Asking your supplier for discount genuinely takes from their bottom line and means they have less.
Wedding business owners spend years perfecting their skills
Each wedding supplier has spent a great deal of time working out how much they should charge to be able to provide you with the highest quality product or service.
The amount of training that the supplier has done to be able to provide the service you desire is a huge investment. A cake maker doesn’t just have to pay for the ingredients, it’s also the years of practice, training courses, marketing costs, and electricity costs, not to mention their time.
Paying full price shows you respect your wedding supplier and their product or service
Haggling with your supplier indicates that you don’t respect them as a professional. You wouldn’t wait until the supermarket checkout has rung up all your food shopping, and then say that you can’t afford that amount and request a 10% discount. So why should it be any different for your wedding supplier? Respect the quality of the product and service you are being offered.
So what can you do?
So… what if you’ve found your dream supplier, but they genuinely are a little over your budget, what can you do?
Be upfront and honest. Let the supplier know that you would love to have them for your wedding and tell them your budget. Don’t ask for a discount on their existing service, ask if they can provide a bespoke service to you, for your budget. They might say no, and that’s ok. However, they might be able to tailor a package for you based on your budget. For example, a photographer might be able to photograph for less hours, or your wedding planner might be able to do partial planning rather than a full plan. Your makeup artist might be able to sell you their online course so you can learn to do your own makeup in their style.
It's always worth asking, but please respect your suppliers’ wealth of knowledge, and allow them to charge their worth.
If you'd like to learn more about how to find your dream wedding suppliers, pop me a message and we can have a chat!
Photography by Suzy Elizabeth photography. Wedding stationery by Lucca Studios.