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Before we get into any more details and advice on planning your wedding day, I invite you to take a moment to just pause and reflect on how you got here. Remember when you first met, remember the moments that made you fall in love, remember the moment you knew they were ‘the one’. I want you to take just a few minutes remembering the reason why you are planning this party to celebrate finding the love of your life. The details can become overwhelming so come back to your why consistently. When you are sick of making decisions and in the thick of planning mode remember that at the end of the day, you will walk away as newlyweds and that makes all the details and preparing worth it.
With that being said, there are vendors for every single thing you could imagine when it comes to planning a wedding. Actually now that I think about it, there are a few vendors out there that help you select other vendors. My fiancé Joel and I have been in the middle of the planning process for about 5 months now, & if I am being honest, sometimes it feels like we are chopping our way through an overgrown jungle with a butter knife. There are so many decisions to make, and countless options in how each decision could be made.
At this point we have booked all of our “big ticket” vendors and are now deciding the smaller details associated with each of those vendors. However, I wanted to share with you a few tips I learned along the way when it came to finding and booking your vendors.
Before you start booking any vendors, I would highly recommend that you think through your entire day and decide what your biggest priority is. For us, we wanted to get married on the 21st day of the month and I really wanted Denise Apgar Photography** to capture our day. So if your priority is a particular date, a venue, a caterer, a photographer, etc. I would highly recommend deciding what your priorities are first and then booking the other vendors after.
Here are four quick tips for booking your Wedding Vendors:
1.) Read the Reviews
We live in a day and age where people are able to portray themselves however they would like to. All though we would hope that vendors are honest about what they offer and how experiences have been for individuals that have worked with them, they might not be. However, reviews typically don’t lie! Use resources that are available to you such as Wedding Wire or Yelp to name a few. My best friend actually booked her Hair and Makeup lady from Yelp and was so happy with her decision. It was a bold move to book someone she had never met before, and they didn’t even do a trial run but she was confident in her decision because of the reviews on Yelp. She looked stunning and was so happy with her choice. Reviews don’t lie. Always see what previous clients have said.
2.) Responsiveness and Communication
How quickly are they getting back to you? Do you feel like another number on the assembly line? Do they actually care about you as a person or are they just interested in getting a check from you? Are their emails grammatically correct? Did they remember all the details you told them, or did they call you Katherine when you name is Katrina….? While this might not seem like a big deal, the way the vendor interacts with you during the initial stages and the booking process is a direct representation of what you can expect with them as your vendor. You want someone who will make you feel like a priority and not just a client.
3.) Style
Make sure you feel like the vendor hears what you are looking for, and that they are able to and happy to accommodate your hopes and dreams. If someone tells you they can’t make something happen then keep looking, it is your wedding day and I believe that there are plenty of vendors out there that would be happy to work alongside you!
You probably have a very specific vision for your wedding. If you want your wedding photos to be light and airy, then booking a photographer that typically edits with a dark and moody vibe is probably not the best fit. Hire vendors that have the same style as your vision.
4.) Price
Look through the contract and understand what it is you are paying for. There is nothing worse than a big surprise on your wedding day. Read the fine print and know exactly what is included in each contract you sign and don’t hesitate to negotiate a price sometimes.
5.) HAVE FUN
You are in the middle of planning the best party to celebrate finding the love of your life and your union together. Don’t forget to have fun and be intentional about having date nights that aren’t all about planning the wedding. I wish you all the best as you continue to plan out your big day. Remember at the end of it all, you get to marry your best friend and that really is all that matters.
XO,
Kat
**Also if you need a photographer check out Denise Apgar Photography. She is the absolute best when it comes to creating an experience and environment that you are happy with. I was actually a bridesmaid in a wedding she shot this last weekend and left incredibly grateful that we were able to book her for our wedding as well.
