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I’m not the best at haggling/negotiating to get a lower price. I get a little nervous–I don’t want to seem too pushy or presumptuous.
However, I found a subtle way of getting a lower price. I used to always appreciate when vendors posted their prices on their website since I didn’t have to get off my ass and call or email (which, granted, I could still do sitting on my ass but I would have to exert more movement in my fingers and arms). In general I still appreciate website prices, but I found a benefit to unlisted prices during my search for a photographer.
I contacted a photographer who had not listed her prices. She sent me her price list, which was too expensive for my budget. When she didn’t hear from me, she sent me a follow-up email. I told her honestly that I couldn’t afford her but that her work was beautiful. She quickly wrote me back to say that she wanted to recommend one of her assistant photographers, for a lower price. Score!
This happened a few more times with other photographers offering an assistant or a discounted package. It didn’t hurt that our wedding was small and that it was in March, which is not a busy month for weddings.
Of course, there was this one photographer who had been on my mind since almost the beginning of my wedding planning. I loved her website. I loved her photos. Heck, I loved the music that she played on her website. As expected, her prices were sky high. When I told her that unfortunately I couldn’t afford her but perhaps she could recommend someone she knew more in my price range, she wrote back something to the effect of:
“You won’t find a photographer for that price, not in this area. I suggest that instead of having photos taken at your wedding, that you arrange a photo shoot sometime after.”
Which in my head, sounded a lot like:
“You suck, and only rich people can have pictures taken at their wedding. Good luck, lameass! Bwahahaha!”
See, so it *usually* doesn’t hurt to be honest, to thank them for the time, and to leave a hint or question that your budget is smaller than they charge.
Anyone else have some polite techniques/questions one can use to see if there is a less expensive option?
Uh… was she kidding? It doesn’t hurt people who won’t work for what you can pay to be polite, too. 
Yikes, as a photographer, I’m embarrassed! What a rude response!
I’m using a second photographer from a friend’s wedding. Not only does he have all of the same equipment the pros have but the rate he is giving us is Ah-mazing. I usually tell people that we’re both out of college and have a small budget and I’ll say “Although I love your products, the quote does not fit in our budget- is there any way we can get creative and make this work?” most vendors will help you out with industry secrets on cutting corners without sacrificing quality!
That’s so rude! I’d tell everyone to never do business with her.
Wow, it’s sad that you fell in love with her work and she ended up being totally rude to you. It would be kind of like meeting an actor you really loved and finding out that he or she is a total jerk in real life. bummer.
For my cake, I said “we were really hoping to keep the price around X because our venue charges a cutting fee - is there something we could do get us in that range?” and we switched out a tier and added another sheet cake, plus I had just received a 10% off coupon in the mail. I got my tasty cake at a reasonable price and still have a small tiered cake to cut into at the reception.
That sucks that she was so rude in her email to you…but at least you found out before (potentially) booking her!
“Is this the best you can do?”
I learned this little phrase on Good Morning America two years ago and we have used it on everything from our TV and washer to wedding vendors. We may not get money off but we recieved additional services for free.
Oh my goodness, that’s so terrible! I had several vendors offer lower prices once I told them that their prices weren’t in my budget. I didn’t even have to ask, but I guess by putting it out there, I was hoping they might say that they were willing to negotiate.
That’s bad business–to just shoot you down like that. You’d think she’d want to keep things professional, in case you were to recommend her services to a friend or something. We had one photographer whom I emailed who was way out of our budget. It was kind of embarrassing to follow up with her and tell her “hey, great stuff, but we can’t afford you”, but luckily she was nice about it.
sometimes it isn’t even worth getting an expensive vendor just for that reason! they think too much of themselves!! me and my FI have just been telling them “this is how much we went to pay for your services and if there is ANYTHING you can do to help us since we would love for you to be a part of our special day!! lol a lil kiss butt but who cares. IT’S WORTH A SHOT! lol also i LOVE your translation of her response to you! i would have translated the exact same way!!
Aww, boo to her! Sounds like she’s just trying to justify her sky-high prices. You can definitely find someone just as good within your budget!
fantasy revenge scenario: after you’ve booked your photographer, send this rude over-priced photographer an email to prove that yes, you can book a great photographer in the price range she deemed so outrageously below her. conclude the email with “good luck, lameass. bwahahaha!”
realize that won’t happen, but it’s fun to dream.
Uh! To channel Stephanie Tanner from Full House, how rude! I had a DJ pretty much tell me the same thing about his services when I told him our budget. I think that being upfront about it, like you are doing, is the best way. My friend found a lot of photographers who were very willing to work within her budget when she told them what it was from the beginning. Good luck!
I’ve been able to get 5 - 10% off the same service by saying something like: “How much do you charge? Oh wow, I only have x dollars budgeted (where x dollars is 5% under whatever they charge). Is there anyway you could do it for that so I can stick to my budget?”
Definitely an uncool response from the photog. 
Haggling scares me, so I’m just going to bring my mom along, she’s a haggle-queen. lol.
Wow what a terrible response. I did see that in the Weddingbee classifieds someone was recently offering free wedding photography for NYC. And they said they were a regular poster here on weddingbee and are a professional portrait photographer. You should check them out if all else fails.
How about — “Your prices constitute the national debt for a small country. How’s about I go UN on your ass and you give me a deal?”
I emailed my photog with a prioritized list of what i wanted and my max budget and he picked what he could provide me at that price. So i got everything I wanted and most importantly, the photographer i wanted, without paying hundreds of dollars for 4 coffee table books that I could make myself at shutterfly.com!
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Mrs. Pug, New York City/Half Moon Bay, CA Age and Occupation: 33, Lawyer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, ditto Engagement Date: July 2008 Wedding Date: March 2010 Venue: Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay About Me: The Mr. and I are two 30-somethings who enjoy tasty sweets of all kinds, our neighborhood wine store, and cuddling with our pug. NYC is where we live and the city we love, but we’re doing the deed out in Northern California. We are trying to keep the affair small, intimate, and manageable. Our motto is: the less people, the better! (I’m kidding.)
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