Assuming you’ve found your prospective event locations, you’ll need to coordinate appointments with the management and/or owners.  Come prepared with questions!  Make sure you take notes the entire time so they know you are serious about this event.  When your interview trial is done, compare and contrast all your venue notes to see what best fits.  Let’s go over the main key points of negotiation that you should keep in mind before beginning the planning process.

Consider this when negotiating vendor fees

• Is the establishment private?  If so, is there a private room?

• Is there a room rental fee?  The room fee is usually determined by how much money you will be spending at the venue.  They may give you a minimum amount you must spend on food and beverage; but because of this, they’ll usually waive the room rental fee.  Make sure this is discussed in advance! You don’t want to hear, “Oh, by the way…” at the end of the party and find out there’s a large room rental fee on your bill.

• “Minimums”, there are several factors that will determine if there will be a minimum amount of food and beverage you must purchase in order to secure your location.  The most overwhelming factor is usually how busy the establishment is.  For instance, if it is during peak holiday season where they are always booked or on a Saturday (when everyone gets married) the minimum may be less negotiable.  Whereas a Thursday there may be more flexibility in price.

• Is a preset menu possible if you’re having a brunch, lunch, or dinner for ten guests or more?

• If you are bringing a cake, find out if the restaurant charges a plating fee.  This is another fee you want to scratch out all together.  Restaurants are notorious for charging a lot of money for cakes.

• Another small item that is often overlooked is the fee for coffee, soda, and tea.  This can add up to a small fortune.  See if they can include this into your overall price.

• One way to ruin a good party is poor service.  Typically speaking, there should be about one server for every six people.  Any more than six and you run the risk of the wait staff being overwhelmed.  Often times, this results in slow and poor service.  Ask if you can hire additional wait staff if what they provide is inadequate.

• Are the valet, hostess and security included in your deal?  How about a coat check service?  Checking your “diva” guest’s designer coat will score you big points. 

• If the venue does not have a deejay, will they allow you to hire your own?  More importantly, is the venue’s power supply adequate to handle the deejay and lighting equipment?  Their equipment tends to pull a lot of voltage.  Are the outlets in reachable distance to the deejay and lighting setup?

• Alcoholic drinks are one of the highest costs when throwing a party.  It is very important to keep in mind how you are being charged for this.  The most common options for alcohol expenses are “by the hour, per person” or “by consumption”.  If you are planning on having a lot of drinkers, “by the hour, per person” is the way to go.  If your guests can really put them away, paying “by consumption” can end up costing a lot.

• Your venue may have enough ambiences all on its own without having to add a ton of décor.  If character is lacking and you need decor, find out if you are restricted to using their “preferred vendors” such as a florist or lighting technician.  

• When it comes to vendors, this is where your due diligence comes into play.  Saving money can go either way.  The vendors that your establishment uses may be your best bet if they offer discounted fees to its customers.  Then again, the venue may get a kickback fee for your business and you may pay a great deal more than bringing in your outside people.  Make careful note of this, then compare and contrast.

• If you are hosting a sit down dinner, having custom menus for your party adds a nice touch of character.  Food is personal to people, so giving them a variety to choose from will go a long way.  If the venue does not provide custom menus design them yourself.  Purchase some quality stationary at the local arts and crafts store and print them on your computer.  Make sure you have the special menus sitting on the guests chair or in front of them before they arrive.

• Most restaurants and clubs charge a cork fee for bringing in your own wine. See if they will waive this cost entirely. They make a substantial profit on wine since the cost to you is inflated.  I’m sure you’ve bought a bottle at dinner before at your favorite restaurant and discovered it was twenty five dollars cheaper at the grocery store.  Make the manager or owner aware that your crowd is not all wine drinkers.  Tell them your guests will be ordering a lot of mixed drinks as well. Again this all comes down to how much profit the venue will make.

• The number one mistake of all time is forgetting about Uncle Sam.  Find out if tax is included in your final price, you could find yourself way over budget by not taking this into consideration.

 

By: Michael Bassolino