Ten Amazing Tips for Managing Your Wedding Vendors

As the bride and the groom, you and your partner are the focus of your big wedding day. But there are plenty of other people in the background who turn that dream wedding you've always had into a reality. We're talking, of course, about your wedding vendors. From the wedding planner to the photographer and everybody in between, their job is to communicate your vision and let them execute it.

Setting a budget is the first place to begin when it comes to planning out your wedding vendors, but you need to know how to manage them. Given that the average couple uses around 14 wedding vendors on their big day, the management of this many groups of people can be difficult. You're going to know which vendors matter the most to you, so let's take a look at some of the things that you need to know to manage your wedding vendors for your big day.

1. Take a look at their recent reviews. The very first step for every vendor, whether you're looking at the florist or the caterer, is that you need to check out their social media accounts. Professional wedding vendors should have their own website, such as https://www.saintgermaincatering.com/catering/dc-caterers. Getting a good look at their website can give you a feel for what they are like as a business and whether or not they are professional, but their recent reviews and references from previous couples will inform whether or not you choose that vendor in the first place. If everything seems in order, then you need to move on to the next step.

2. Look at third-party sites and social media. Once you've scoped out their reviews on their website, it's time to move away from their business sites and onto social media and 3rd party website review places. It's easy for a business to always post the positive reviews and feedback that they get, but you need to sometimes hear the real story and not what the business wants to put out there. Pay attention to the negative reviews, but mostly to see how many negative ones they've got and why they are negative. It also is important to look more at how the vendor responded than the negative review itself.

3. Make a note of how the vendors communicate with you. It's important to keep an eye on how your vendor is going to respond to your initial inquiry. Do they ignore you or did they answer you promptly? Did they address all of your questions or did you just get sent a form brochure? All the signs of early communication is how they're going to communicate with you on the day itself, and you need this to go well so that the day doesn't feel stressful.

4. Connect with their past clients. A good quality vendor will love to show off their work and that means that they may have a list of recent clients who have agreed to be contacted for a short phone call to get some feedback. Ask your vendor if they have such a list and then start making those calls.

5. Make a list of questions and ask them all. It's important that you celebrate your wedding day in the way that you see it. In your head, that means you may have a list of questions as long as you're armed to ask a vendor, and there's nothing wrong with that. Communication is a two-way street, so make sure that you are asking those urgent questions as early as possible so that you can inform yourself as to which vendors you veto and which ones you keep on the list. You might ask questions about vendor insurance and how long they've been in business. You might also ask them about their turnaround times for communication and for delivery on the big day. It's also a good idea to ask them about any contingency plans should there be traffic or should something go wrong.

6. Trust your gut feeling. If you meet with a vendor and something feels off, don't second guess that feeling. It's going to be a competitive market as it is, so you are easily able to move on knowing that you've done your part and they're not for you.

7. Compare their services. Even if you fall in love with the first vendor that you meet with for your wedding day, you should always take a look at at least three different vendors for the same category. You want to vet at least 3 florists, 3 caterers, 3 photographers, and 3 videographers if necessary.

8. Never assume what's included. If you are concerned about what may or may not be included in the package, ask. If something feels like it should be included but it's not listed, then you need to never make assumptions about this for your caterer. For example, you should never assume that dinnerware tablecloths or even seat covers are included. You also may need to consider whether or not you're going to have to hire more servers for the day.

9. See if you can see them in action. For DJs, musicians, florists or even transportation companies, there may be an option for you to see them in action before you have your wedding day. See whether or not the musicians or DJs that you've been looking at have any gigs at local venues where you can see them perform without them being in a wedding venue.

10. Give them space. The last tip that you need is to make sure that once you've vetted and hired your dream team, you need to make sure that you're giving them space to deliver for you. Take a step back and don't micromanage the team. You want them to be creative and you want them to come to you with all of their ideas once your questions are answered, so trust the process.

Vendors are going to make or break your day. Have you chosen yours? 

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