- Source: My Wedding Favors
As a newly engaged bride, you’re bombarded with information from family, friends, co-workers, endless wedding magazines, wedding blogs, The Knot, Facebook, Twitter, the Slice Network and their wedding shows and much much more about all kinds of vendors: photographers, videographers, decorators, florists, bakers, DJ and entertainment, transportation, and venues. So how do you choose the right vendor for your wedding?
Here are some tips:
– Do your research! The world wide web will be your best friend for the duration of your planning! Read reviews (good and bad) on each vendor and make sure to check if they’re relevant (i.e., how long ago was the review? is it recent?); check their portfolio, get references and/or previous clients contacts, and make sure to follow up on those references or previous clients!
– Have a budget! Make sure to have a budget for each vendor so you’re not spending more than you want to. But keep in mind, you get what you pay for. If there is something about your wedding that is most important to you (e.g. photographs or food), make sure to choose the right vendor and spend a bit more.
– Set up a meeting! Set up a meeting with the vendor of your choice, it’s great to be exchanging phone calls and emails, but it’s also great to see what this company is offering you in person. Also, make sure everything is written in a contract – nothing should be agreed upon verbally. A contract is a must and be signed upon by you (the couple) and the vendor prior to any payments being made!
– Communication! Being in constant communication with your vendor is a must. Your wedding planner can do this on your behalf once all your vendors are booked. Such is the case, new management comes in and may be unaware of what agreements you had with the previous owner/manager. Because vendors have many clients during the wedding season, they may not be on top of everything all the time.
– Hire a wedding planner! You may think you have everything organized and have dotted your “i’s” and crossed your “t’s”, but do you really want to be chasing after your caterer during your wedding day if one of your relatives is allergic to something on the menu? Your wedding planner is your go-to person when you need to get something done, or you may have forgotten something (e.g. your speech), or you need to find your adorable chihuahua to get that perfect photo before heading to the church!
It is especially important for all of your vendors to be working together on your wedding day! They need to coordinate, be on the same page, and know what’s happening next. I definitely could not have done my first lead wedding without working closely with the photographers, DJ & MC, the caterers, the priest, and the limo driver. That’s how a wedding should be beautifully executed! Happy planning!
