negotiating skillz - i have 'em

Asking for $1000 cut to catering proposal?  No problem.

 

I have a tradition of wimpiness when it comes to asking people to do things for me or negotiating price.  Thankfully I have Lt. Col. Madre for a role model.  Also, I'd like to thank 5 years of roller derby for turning me into less of a wuss.  Madre took the reigns with the venue - she knew what she wanted and was much more intimidating than me.  Thankfully, things appear simpler with the catering situation and all I had to do was be straight forward about our budget.

 

Could we afford $48/head in catering?  Yeah, probably.  Considering how much traditional wedding fluff we are not going to have elsewhere and also considering the discount on liquor that my mother managed from the venue.  But Madre wants cheaper and if I can save her money then I will.  So when we met with the sales rep for our leading caterer contender today I told her straight up that my main concern was the budget and her proaposal was too high.  She didn't even flinch and was happy to make a new proposal for us that I believe will save us about $1000 from the original quote.  Woot!

 

Like I said, in the past I have been afraid to ask about things like that.  Just pay what people ask or don't and then move on.  But this was relatively painless and H was there to be moral support.  And I think Madre will be happier with the numbers.

 

Maybe now we can convince her to spend a little more on cake...