There’s a good chance you may have hired some kind of small business owner in your life before. Maybe it was an independent mechanic, an accountant, or a contractor. Heck, if you have ever had your hair done, likely, that person was not an employee of where it was done but an owner of their business. You probably did some internet research, asked family and friends for referrals, or even looked to social media groups for advice. The same can be said for wedding vendors.
Finding and hiring good vendors for your wedding will happen pretty much the same way, except the emotions and the stakes will feel a lot higher. This is a one-time event that will cost a good chunk of money, and people want to go as perfectly as possible. No pressure, right?
As a Wedding Planner, I have been a part of finding and hiring good wedding vendors for our clients, but also had to work with ones that our clients found on their own that have not been so good, and this can include family and friends of the couple. We wanted to drop some advice for those of you who are going it alone in your wedding vendor search to help you avoid disasters.
- Get a contract. If you are talking with a vendor that does not have a contract for you to sign, then you have no recourse if they do not show up to your wedding, even if you have given them money. If nothing else, find some language and put together something yourself that you both need to sign. We can’t speak to how legal it is, but paired with electronic communication, it could be better than nothing if there’s an issue.
- Are they legitimate? Anyone, at no cost to them, can throw up an Instagram and/or Facebook page and call themselves a business. Having a website and a verified Google account shows that the wedding vendor has put at least a little time, money, and effort into their business. It’s also a good sign if their email account is something like “info@businessname.com” as opposed to “businessname@gmail.com”.
- Read reviews. See above. Finding and hiring good wedding vendors is a lot easier if you can read their reviews. There are no options to leave reviews on Instagram, and the owner of a business page on Facebook can choose for reviews to be turned off. If a wedding vendor does not have a website, past clients cannot leave reviews on Google. Are they on The Knot, Wedding Wire, Zola, or any other online listing where past clients can leave reviews? If not, move on. Good wedding vendors will want past clients to shout how much they enjoyed their services from the rooftops and give them lots of places to post them.
- Family- or Friend-ors may save you money, but not always stress. No matter which role you are asking a family or friend to fill, you always run a risk, particularly if they are not an actual wedding professional. Three main points I always like to remind clients of if they are considering going down this route is that they could drink, get involved in conversations, and miss what they should be doing, and if they mess up, you can’t leave that person a bad review and easily remove them from your life like you can a wedding vendor. Plus I always find that those people who are willing to do you a favor for your wedding are not always willing to see it through to the end, like helping with cleanup.
I am in a lot of wedding Facebook groups and I cannot tell you how many posts I see from people saying, “My X vendor canceled on me and now I need someone for my wedding next Saturday!” A good wedding vendor with a contract would either find you a replacement or refund you money if they are the ones canceling. If it’s someone you just randomly Venmo’d $250 to hold your date with no contract, then that person has no obligation to provide services for your wedding other than you just hoping they are good on their word.
You are dropping a good chunk of money on a wedding, even if you have a small budget. Yes, it is possible to find some diamonds in the rough, but are you willing to risk it? Here’s what you can do to start to make sure you aren’t left in the cold:
- Lean on the preferred vendor lists of those you hire early on, like your planner, venue and photographer. Good wedding vendors would never have anyone shady on their list.
- Reach out to your trusted network of people to see who has gotten married in the last couple of years and find out who they used. But keep in mind that just because they worked well for that person’s budget and circumstances does not mean they are a good fit for yours.
- Stalk the social media accounts of your vendors to see who they have worked with and ask them about their experience with them. Good wedding vendors want to be very helpful to their clients!
Of course, I absolutely need to say that if you can, hire a wedding planner to help you find not only good wedding vendors but the right ones for your budget and circumstances.
Interested in hearing more? You can book a consultation to find out about our services, or a paid consultation to ask us about any vendors you might still need, or whatever else is on your mind!
