How To Get Your Dream Wedding Venue For Less!

You have your heart set on a gorgeous venue, where you can have the most stunning and romantic wedding... heck! You've even dreamt of having your wedding there... but there's just one problem... it's a bit out of your budget! Yes, a venue can come up to nearly 50 percent of your wedding budget, so it is important that you take this decision with a lot of care. But if you do have your heart set on one particular venue, then here are some tips on working towards it.

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P.S. Here are some super important questions to ask your venue peeps BEFORE you finalise it!

So how do you go about fixing that problem? Here are some tips!

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Try the WMG Genie Service to save big

Yup, our Genie is a brilliant, genius idea that can make your wedding planning so much easier! Just sign up, and it gives you the best rates possible! Guaranteed to give you un unbeatable price.

Try a lunch event instead of dinner

The same venues would happily give you a much lower rate for a day event rather than a night time event. Sometimes you can save up to 40 percent just by switching around the timings for your events. Plus, who doesn't love a day wedding?

Have your wedding during off season

This is a time when you can not just get the venue for lesser, but even trim down your entire cost if you're looking for a budget wedding. In India, generally March to May and July to September is considered as off season, mostly because of the weather and also because not many 'auspicious' dates are pulled out during this time as well.

Consider having a weekday wedding

Weekends are generally more in demand and priced higher.

Book the place as early as possible

Start maybe right from the time the date gets fixed. That way you have enough time on your hands to research venues and services and shop around. You even have a buffer period for negotiations as well.

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Ask if the venue allows outside Alcohol

You can save big on your alcohol if the venue allows for you to arrange it from outside. This should definitely be the first question on everyone's list when they visit a property

Go easy on the main course, Stock up on live stations

They are not only more fun but turn out cheaper than going for a huge variety in your buffet

Negotiate!

While the prices might be dropped for the off season, not every wedding venue will be able to offer a discount during season, but there are some which will be all too happy to negotiate as they'd rather have a booking than an empty wedding venue. A lot of people do not even mention a discount out of pride, embarrassment or just plain fear. If you do want to ask for a discount, or rather the best price they can offer you, here are some things to keep in mind...

• Look confident when you bring it up.. there's nothing to be ashamed of.
• You might LOVVVVEEE the venue, and might do anything and everything to get it, but this is something only you and your family members should know! Be careful of how much of the emotion you show to the staff at the venue. If they realise you have your heart set on it, then they might not budge at all.
• Be realistic in your demand. Asking for a 10 to 20 percent discount is pretty reasonable, and some places might be willing to go even higher during off season.
• Keep some room for negotiation... you don't want to start so low that you end up realising you could have got a bigger discount, or start so high that they stop taking you seriously.
• If it is a mid-week wedding, then they still might be able to budge as compared to a weekend affair.
• Speak to friends or people you know who have booked the venue previously and find out whether they managed to get a discount.
• Visit some more venues, especially their competitors and find out the price and discount that they are willing to offer. That way, you can quote their price when you negotiate with the place which you wanna book as your wedding venue.

Image via Anumita and Samuel

Tweak and trim

Look where you can tweak and trim the budget.

• Whether it means cutting down on the number of events or guests, the choice is totally in your hands if you love the venue so much. Here are some helpful tips to trim down your guest list.
• Pick your priorities. Decide where you want to splurge and where you want to save. Here are some super practical tips by leading wedding planners.
• Also, find out where this venue makes most of its money from, and find alternatives to services which you can outsource to save money. Like if a venue isn't too fussy about a décor guy, but have their own caterer, then make sure to outsource the décor to a much cheaper alternative. If they're OK with you outsourcing all the major services, then that can save you a lot of money!

Look out for Red Flags

Yep, not just with boyfriends, they're valid for wedding venues too- here are  Red Flags to look out for when scouting a venue.

Important thing to remember

Once you have agreed over the price and the services verbally, make sure to get that in written as well, including the taxes. Only pay up the deposit up front. A good tip is to get wedding insurance.

For more ideas on how to save money on weddings, click here. For simple upgrades to make your budget wedding look luxe, here are some tips!