Remember The Knot Article Yesterday? Look At It Now.
Business By AZCouture Updated 20 May 2012 , 9:31pm by costumeczar
It's been replaced with this:
http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/planning-a-wedding/articles/how-to-talk-money-with-wedding-vendors.aspx?MsdVisit=1
If you click the link from yesterday, you get the article above. 
Mission accomplished for The Knot, they managed to drive a ton of traffic to their site due to the "controversy" over the previous article, while at the same time appeasing vendors by rewriting it.
Was there a thread going over here? I've been in wedding hell so I've been missing a bunch 
here's the thread from earlier:
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=744028
not sure how long the cache version will stick around, but here is the article as it looked on 5/15:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:tex25uF6n_0J:wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/planning-a-wedding/articles/wedding-vendor-negotiatiing-101.aspx+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Wedding Budget: How to Negotiate With Wedding Vendors
While steep discounts are unrealistic, there's a good chance of getting a few extras thrown in. (Think an additional hour for your reception, or a champagne upgrade.) You just have to negotiate right. Here's how.
Even if you're working with the hottest vendor in town, there's always room to negotiate, especially if there's a good reason to reduce costs -- like having the wedding on a less-popular Friday night. Here are some more crucial pointers.
Know the market
Find out what other vendors offer for the same price point, and use this as leverage. Ask about every single thing that's included in your package. Then find out in advance what extras are going to cost -- and whether those costs can be waived.
Stick to your limit
A vendor may be willing to cut you a deal as long as you agree to something additional -- for example, he might consent to give you an extra hour of shooting, but only if you have him take your engagement photos. What you need to ask yourself is whether this will actually cost you more in the end.
Adopt a friendly but firm demeanor
There's no harm in politely asking for a deal. If vendors are excited to work with you, they may be more willing to come up with creative solutions.
Be indifferent
You need the vendor to believe that if he or she won't meet your offer you will walk away. Consider collaborating with your fiance to employ the old good-cop-bad-cop routine.
Practice makes perfect
Try your hand negotiating at a flea market to see what talking style works for you.
-- The Knot
I saw the article on FB - I even posted a comment. Just wondering if it made it over here. Hi-LARIOUS that they removed it.
It looks like they listened and tried to make amends. Any organization willing to pull a crappy article and replace it with something better deserves all the traffic the move generates (they've got to make their money somehow). Again both articles have their benefits for clients and vendors.
I assume they get their bread from said vendors' adverts, right?
You bet. It's so expensive to advertise on there, and before they had a magazine to help pay the bills that's all they had - us (well, vendors, that is). They have gotten into a really bad habit of trying to tell brides how to pay us less and expect more... I'm surprised there isnt an all-out boycot at this point. I've seriously considered advertising several times just so I can appear in their directory but then they pull crap like this. It's because of them every consultation I get brides that want "a couple of sheet cakes", even if they are only having 60 people at their wedding, or calls for fake cakes, or whatever.
How interesting they did such a turnabout from the original article. This attitude of DEMANDING discounts/ freebies is floating down to everything. Work in a bakery and we now have people asking if they can get a discount for a dozen cupcakes/doughnuts!!!! How do they think the gas bill/hydro is paid? A thousand cupcakes , yes that might get you a break but a dozen/ ha ha ha! no deal.
I thought the whole article was insulting to all those people who provide services such as catering, photography/cakes/florists. Do the clients not consider the overhead and bills these businesses have to pay as well as insurance/taxes. Hope those who pay money to advertise in the Knot start demanding a discount... after all shouldn't the Knot practice what they preach.
OMG!!!!! I can not believe the turn about!!! I am with SF and say boycott them. I want to see more realistic articles like this more often before I change my attitude about the Knot.
I know of at least 2 vendors of my acquaintance that cancelled their account with the Knot after the first article was posted to their FB.
Hope those who pay money to advertise in the Knot start demanding a discount... after all shouldn't the Knot practice what they preach.
Funny you mention that...a couple years ago a sales rep from The Knot contacted me to try to get me to advertise my bakery on their web site. I asked how much it would cost, and it was more than I wanted to spend so I told the rep that, so the rep offered me a discounted price. It was still too high so I passed, but the point is they do offer discounts.
They discount their advertising all the time if you ask. I don't advertise on there because the people who are on the boards for my area are all about "who's the cheapest" and nothing else.
I don't understand what the stink was about, though. Who cares if a bride tries to negotiate? If you don't discount tell them no. Some of the comments I saw about the original article were sort of ridiculous with vendors saying that if a bride asks for a discount it's a personal insult. No, it's just asking for a discount.
The Knot and every other wedding site prints such crappy articles about every wedding category all the time this one was nothing unusual.
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