Deciding on Your Wedding Service Providers

If you are not familiar with working with businesses and establishing relationships with vendors, deciding on who to choose to help you make your wedding day as immaculate as possible can be overwhelming and downright stressful. Here are a few things to look for when you are choosing and deciding on the people that will be responsible for developing your wedding day from beginning to end.

Experience and Training
There is no magic number of years they need to be in the business in order to serve you well.  But if they have worked a large number of weddings that is a benefit to them.  You can also keep in mind that newcomers to the industry are trying to establish a credible reputation and may give you even better service than those who have been at it for a while.  You will probably even get a better price.  This is somewhat risky, but know they are trying to establish an immaculate business, as much as you are trying to create a seamless day.

Competence and Reputation
Ask them to show you examples of their work.  Creative vendors such as gown designers and florists should have pictures of past projects and know what the current trends are.  Ask for real live examples as well so you can get an idea of finishing touches or embellishments you may want.  Don’t both with reference letters as they will only show you the “good ones”.  Ask for a list of numbers you can call to talk to past customers.  This will give you a solid idea of what kind of business they run.  This is even more important if you are going with someone just breaking into the industry.

Communication
A responsible pro will inform you of their practices, timelines, limitations, and any possible or potential problems.  They should be patient when answering your questions and addressing your concerns.  Pay close attention to each piece of information or document they give to you, and abide by their guidelines as much as you expect them to abide by yours.

Personality
Everyone has their own personality and way of doing business.  Look for someone with whom you feel comfortable with and with whom you can work effectively.  You need to trust your vendors and their capabilities of handling any potential snags which may occur. If you are not comfortable, if the snags do occur, you are only going to be more stressed than you need to be.
Among these issues, you need to have a good gut feeling for your vendor.  You will not be able to get out of a contract once it is in place, so be sure you feel good about them before you sign anything.   You are trusting this day to them, and you need to feel like your needs are their top priority.