Wedding venue hire fee

stinkle

Hi,

just making a few tentative enquiries about a venue at the moment. I've been quoted about €1000 for one hotel we like, and was told that was at a reduced rate. It seems a bit high, is this something that can be negotiated? The other rates for food etc are good and are essentially the same as a non-hotel venue that we are also interested in...but the hire charge there is only about €250 and they already have a late licence anyway so we'd be saving/not spending a serious amount if we went down that route instead.

Am a bit nervous about haggling etc with the hotel as apparently we have competition for the date we want too so I don't want to feel pressured into anything...

Sleepy

I wouldn't pay a venue-hire fee tbh. They're making money off you on the meal, the drink and any rooms they can let to your guests. That should be plenty for them.

Ms Tootsie

As someone who works in event management I can tell you that fee is very high. In the current market most hotels have dropped or completely abandonded their room hire fee.

Depending on your numbers I would say you have a lot of room for negotiation here. Remember they are going to make money from the bar. Also if you are getting married mid week or on a Sunday there is significantly less demand for venue hire then.

Don't let them hold you to randsom. I just recently got engaged and put in calls to venues to enquire about hosting an event there, not one place had room hire included and the price per person was reasonable as well. When I called back and made enquiries the following day about hosting my wedding in their venue the room hire suddenly appeared and the price pp increased significantly. When we went to view our shortlisted venues I informed each events manager at the start of the viewing what I worked as, and our quotes were significantly reduced.

Remember it is YOU doing them the honour of having your wedding in their hotel and not the other way round.

Ms Tootsie

I should also say when you are booking start looking for extras:

Rooms free of charge for the bridal party and any parents of the bride and groom
Wine free of charge with the meal (usually a glass per person)
Upgrade to a champagne reception for the bridal party
Added numbers free of charge for the evening buffet
Free cake stand and knife
Free use of grounds of photos (if they have grounds)

These all costs the hotel virtually nothing but will improve your experience and your guests experiences.

stinkle

Thanks for the replies! They're a big help Yeah I hadn't noticed hire fee anywhere else other than the non-hotel Plan B place we have in mind. Would really prefer to go with a hotel though for logistics reasons. Thanks for letting me know that it's on the dear side, it'll give me a bit of confidence when haggling.

Basically meal prices are identical in both places. I've only got wine price from hotel but its grand, actually cheaper than what I'd imagined, but this hire fee plus the "apparent" date clash is after freaking me out a little. the hire fee would pay for a lot of the rooms or the late licence. We're looking at an extra 1600 or so already, and the restaurant venue has cheaper canapes and afters food too, so I' say we'd be looking at the guts of 2.2-2.5K.

Haven't been in the Plan B venue to tlak to anyone yet, I'm so tempted to call in today! Not sure if they do civil ceremonies though, and i dont know am I that keen on a non-hotel after party

Sleepy

I also wouldn't pay for a late licence btw. 99% of hotels will give you this for free.

What venues are you looking at? Perhaps someone on the forum has experience in dealing with each of them and can let you know how they got on?

stinkle

Thanks for the advice For the moment I'd rather not say which venues they are, both are in Dublin 2 and neither is any of the super posh venues! I've had a few deep breaths and spreadsheet-bashing and have decided to call in to the second place later and see how it goes. We can always try and get a deal with a hotel for a few rooms, and we are both local so I seriously doubt many people would be fussed about staying in a hotel anyway. And while it'd be fab if the humanist ceremonies were legal by then, we cant predict that so even if this other venue isnt approved for weddings, it might not even be an issue in the long run.

It doesn't look like the date we want is free in the hotel anyway. It's a date that suits both of us and our families, plus one of my relatives will be back in Ireland anyway that week and other friends are committed to weddings on different weekends that same month. Any earlier is a bit of a pain for his family, and any later is actually a really bad time for us with work. We already have our humanist celebrant booked and have organised a quiet civil do shortly before that. I'm very reluctant to change those important bits!

stinkle

UPDATE: room hire only applies if we have the meal in the restaurant rather than the normal reception. It's still awful dear but now we have more options. Back to the spreadsheet...