By:
| Published:
February 5, 2023
Recently a bride-to-be took to a popular online wedding forum to give solid advice before booking your wedding venue. For the sake of her story, we’ll call her Jane. She explained she’d booked the venue in February 2022 for their wedding in September 2023.
There was fine print on the bottom of the menu stating the prices were only valid until the end of the year. So Jane inquired about the price changes for the 2023 menu. “I was given the run around for a bit: hard to say right now, and depends on market price.”
Finally, after some pushing, she got a clause in her contract stating prices wouldn’t increase more than 3%.” Jane shared, “It turns out to be the best possible thing we could have done!”
She elaborated that the price increase was an “astronomical amount.” For example, one dinner went from $120 to $180 per person from the 2022 to 2023 menu. However, due to her clause, she’ll only pay $124.
So Please Focus on the Fine Print and Put the Necessary Stipulations in Place
Jane continued to say, “I’m no legal guru and would not have even thought about this if I hadn’t seen the fine print. Whether the wedding venues you’re looking at have the fine print, be sure to inquire about price increases from year to year. Our overall cost would have increased by thousands if we had not put that clause in.”
After Jane shared her story, many others chimed in. For example, one added, “Not just caterers, but any goods-based vendor will have clauses like this. Florists, bakeries, etc.”
One Bride Had to Cancel Their 2023 Wedding Due to This
Another explained that they didn’t do this and had to cancel their wedding venue after they raised the menu prices from $70 per plate to $125 for 2023.
The bride-to-be further stated they couldn’t justify going from an on-budget wedding to an “extravagant affair” and are still seeking a new venue and wedding date.
Another Bride Lost Her Deposit
A newlywed bride admitted the fine print also screwed her over. She explained paying a $1,000 deposit and was told to “expect a few changes, maybe $500/$1000 at MOST.” These changes reflected taxes and administrative fees.
The bride continued that even though they locked their per-person price in, nothing else was. So the price jumped by $7000, causing her to cancel the venue and lose her $1000 deposit.
However, she noted it was a “blessing in disguise because we saved MORE than the expected increase with our new wedding venue and loved it even more.”
Fighting Tooth and Nail
Finally, another bride-to-be expressed that she was having the same issue actively with her vendor. “We are fighting tooth and nail with them.”
She elaborated that in addition to raising the price per head, the venue reduced what’s included for that price. “It’s been tense negotiation to find a middle ground. Have everything written down. If it’s not in the contract, it’ll bite you in the tush.”
Other Considerations Before Booking Your Wedding Venue
There are other things you should consider before booking your wedding venue. For example, some restrict catering companies, live music, and liquor.
We hope you enjoyed this Reddit discussion of things you should know before committing to your wedding venue.
This article was inspired by the internet and did not necessarily reflect the views of The Budget Savvy Bride.
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