Here comes some unsolicited vendor advice tips for couples looking to book any vendor type for their upcoming wedding. Being a newly wed and someone in the wedding industry for over a year now I feel like I have good ground to stand on for some advice in this department.
My number one vendor advice tip is to meet face to face with your selected vendor. It doesn’t matter if its the cake, DJ or photographer. I think meeting someone in person says a lot about them. Is a meet and greet offered by your vendor? How did that vendor present themselves? Were they professionally dressed and organized? Did they answer the questions you asked with knowledge and confidence? Did they follow through on what they said they would during the meeting? Did they follow up your meeting with an email or text thanking you for your time? Theses are all super important questions to be thinking to yourself while you are at your meeting. I recommend that you bring someone with you- that could be your spouse or a bridal party member….. bring someone who is honest with you and will tell you what they liked and didn’t like about the vendor without worrying about hurting your feelings. Sometimes as a bride I found myself just wide eyed and bushy tailed about something for my wedding and it look a family member or my best friend to pull me back into the real world.
Another very important tip is to have communication with your potential vendor in multiple ways. Reach out via email or text or call at a weird time when you think they might not take a call. See how they respond back to you. Do they respond in a timely manor? Do they contact you back the same way you contacted them? You are picking a vendor for your wedding day but sometimes your services are not complete at the end of that day and there is follow up that will need to be done after. Knowing how they respond before you commit to booking them will help ease a lot of stress after your big day. (please trust me on this one…. I have first hand experience on this)
Thirdly, your contract! I can not stress this enough. Get everything in writing and if anything changes make sure to also get that change in writing. Don’t hesitate to ask for an updated contract if something changes. As a bride or groom you are paying someone to do you a service. If they don’t provide the services that are promised you need to have documentation to go back and say, listen I didn’t get this or I’m missing this. Every vendor should give a contract, if they don’t offer one ask- if they wont give you one I might think twice about using that such vendor.
And lastly, if at all possible do not pay your vendor in full until you receive your services in full. This one is hard and I know that. If you go with a company as apposed to an independent person the companies normally require payment in full. However, if you book you DJ with a bigger company they most likely have something set in place that if your DJ is sick or doesn’t show up on time that another DJ will come and fill in, not ideal but at least there is a back up. With smaller vendors or private vendors see if making your last payment on the wedding day or after full services are provided is possible. For example you hire a independent photographer. You already have your signed contract with all the details- Make your payment to hold your date and then see if you can make your final payment after you receive your wedding photos. Maybe your contract says 6-8 weeks to get your edited photos — make your final payment when you receive your services as stated in the contract. The worst thing that can happen is the vendor says no and then you make a personal decision on how you want to handle that answer. Nothing is worse that paying for services like photos and waiting 4 plus months to receive your services and you had to fight like hell to get the services you pre-paid for and in the end still don’t have all of your promised items.
Tucker Farms Events personally works with each and every couple to insure they are listened to and respected. We take pride in the personalization we offer at no extra cost as well as the direct and open line of communication we have with all our clients. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions you may have. Email- Voice or text.
Email: info@tuckerfarmsevent.org
Phone: 603-418-4018