Rhiannon’s “Talking About Weddings”

Last week I discussed booking a location and getting the word out in part one. This week I am talking about hiring your wedding day professionals last minute! You may not be planning your wedding last minute, but still have to book some vendors only months before your wedding. As a vendor and a former bride who did some last-minute negotiations, I will get right to the point and make it worth your time.

h3. How Should I Prioritize My Vendor Hiring Time?

Unfortunately, last-minute weddings come with a lot of extra stress and chances for miscommunication, over-looking of details and desperation. You’ll be surprised how many couples settle on vendors or products they don’t really like, just because they feel there isn’t enough time to be selective. This is your wedding, not a punishment! Hire a professional coordinator. Seriously! They can take a ton off of your to do list and with the discounts and connections they have with wedding professionals, they might pay for themselves in savings to you! A good coordinator will know who is available, and who you will like and very often can get you a discount.

If you choose not to get a coordinator, here is the order in which I would book vendors for my wedding:

* An officiant, if you need one

• Caterer, if you need one
• Baker, if not covered by catering
• Photographer
• DJ/Band
• Florist
• Limo, if you need one
• Extras, if needed

  I listed the above in priority of need. Obviously, you need someone to marry you and food for guests, but not having a limo wouldn’t ruin your day.

  h3. How to Find Vendors

  I highly recommend using the Internet. Try a Google search with the vendor type you are looking for and where you need them. (Atlanta Florist, or Chicago Wedding Photographer). Go several pages into the search results. A lot of things determine a site’s ranking and many qualified vendors will not appear on the first couple pages. And, if less people may have contacted them (being so far from the first page listings) you will have better chances of them being still available on your day.

  Ask friends and family for their suggestions, but be cautious of people who recommend anyone and people who recommend a vendor based on a wedding 5 years ago. Check up on the leads friends and family give, but do not hire a service solely based upon a recommendation. This is your wedding, you cannot do it over.

  Check with your reception site’s preferred vendors list. Again, follow up on the leads, but don’t be hasty in your decision to hire a vendor. Also, know that some places charge vendors to be on their “preferred vendors” list, so they aren’t recommending them based on skill and service.

  h3. Decision Time (How to choose & what I need to know):

  Most importantly you need to truly like and trust any vendor you will be working directly with and you need to love their skill (batter mixing to music mixing). Secondly you need to be able to afford them. Anyone can play music and call themselves a DJ and be a “good deal” but if they are terrible at your reception you won’t think you got a good deal.

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  This entry was posted on Friday, January 19th, 2007 at 11:36 am and is filed under General Information, Wedding Planning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.