Should We Get Venue Prices On Our Own Or Wait For Wc To Do It?

[TAkathy]

Respectfully, when you hire a WC you are contracting that individual for the services they provide.  You need to know what those services are and be fine with them providing them.  It's a package deal.  Once they begin working for you they will do what you have paid them to do.

 

You may well be invoiced for a package - the total you are being charged.  It may well not be broken down into its component parts.  So you may not know what price you actually paid for each part of the service they provided.  But you agreed to a fee upfront so, as long as:

1) what you end up paying is what you agreed to pay

2) you got what you expected to get

there should not be an issue.

 

My concern with the initial posting was the apparent assumption going into it that a service provider will plan to take advantage of the client and the situation ("it would be harder for the WC to put a percentage for themselves on top of that price.   In other words, us not getting a price from the venue ourselves gives the WC more power to charge us whatever they think they can get away with")  

 

Professionals do not take advantage of their clients and there is a significant value-add when engaging with someone who is very good at what they do - it is a win-win for ALL.  This is where the trust comes in - it has to be there or there is no working relationship.

[Shipwrecked2015]

Thanks for all of the insight everybody!

 

@@acw271011 is right, I am indeed a groom.  My future bride is less interested in these kinds of details.  Her forte is making the guests happy and making everything look great!

 

It sounds like there isn't a good reason to not get prices on our own, besides the idea that it may indicate a lack of trust on our part towards the potential WC.  

 

I definitely agree that trust is very important. 

 

To be perfectly honest, the first planner that asked us not to contact places on our own was somebody that we do not trust very much.  It was in an area that doesn't do many weddings and she didn't have a ton of experience, so we were wary of her from the start.  But we were still considering her because a coordinator with boots on the ground may be better than no coordinator at all, even if we had to keep close tabs on her.

 

As for the other wedding planner who said this to us, we actually like her a lot.  In fact, we like her so much that she's the reason we put the RM area back on our list after initially dismissing it.  So we do trust her, but I think we still need to make sure we're safe.  There's too much money on the line to just cross our fingers and hope we've placed our trust in the right person.

 

The question mostly came up because we have a site visit planned very soon but don't have a contract finalized with a WC yet.  We are trying to figure out on our own if we can either rule any places out or put them at the top of our site visit list based on price alone.  

 

So the main goal has been getting information as soon as possible, even if the WC may be able to get lower numbers in future negotiations.  Second to that is, yes, a desire to know if we are going to end up paying less on our own than with a WC because the venue will pay the WC a commission or something like that...  

 

To @@TAkathy's point, if we get a price directly from one boutique hotel or beach club and the WC comes back with a price for the same venue that's 10% less or includes more for the same price, that will certainly build our trust in the WC!  If the price for the venue comes back higher from the WC, then I'll be wondering why we aren't going to the venue directly.  

 

Also, in our case our agreement is set up so that we'll be making payments directly to the venue and vendors, so we will see the individual contract and pricing for each. 

 

Thanks again, all!

 

 

 

 

[acw271011]

I'm curious what venues you're looking at?? The RM is gorgeous. There are so many places that present themselves as options for a beautiful wedding! I'm hooked on Grand Coral Beach Club. I love that it's just a little more private. Plus we're a very, very small group - a max of 10 including the 2 of us and I just found the resorts with a group that small tend to shut you out and force you into dinner options that I just didn't like.

 

Make the most of your site visit for sure! That's something I know more brides to be wish they were able to do. It will provide you with so much more info in a concrete way. Why not interview the WCs too? See how you feel with them. If they give you a good vibe and if you feel they're knowledgeable in what you're looking for.

 

I'm working with a WC and so far I think she's been very helpful with suggestions and ideas. We're on hold for a few weeks until some other issues are out of the way but I'm hoping by November we can get going on everything for next year.

 

Good luck. Be sure to provide your site visit feedback when you return. It's alwasy welcome informaiton to everyone here!