Common Mistakes When Choosing Wedding Vendors
Planning a wedding of any size requires organization and attention to detail. You'll make numerous important decisions during the planning process, especially when it comes to your vendors.
Wedding vendors are the puzzle pieces that complete the big picture of your wedding day. They offer professionalism to your event and often relieve stress as they handle all the work for the element they cover. Wedding vendors are a necessity, and it's important to plan diligently, so you can have the best experience with them.
Tackle wedding planning the right way and avoid some of the biggest mistakes brides and grooms can make when booking vendors for your wedding day.
10 Common Mistakes Couples Make With Wedding Vendors
Planning your wedding can be an amazing experience if you look into your vendors carefully and outline exactly what you want for your day. Your wedding planning process can be smooth if you avoid these 10 common mistakes with your wedding vendors:
1. Spending Too Much on One Vendor
Your budget is the most important aspect of your wedding. While this isn't the most fun topic regarding wedding planning, it's essential when you begin looking into vendors and booking them. A common oversight couples make while finding the best vendors for their wedding is spending too much money on one or more vendors.
The first step to accomplish at the beginning of wedding planning is establishing your budget. Have a conversation with your partner and any family member who is financially contributing about a budget everyone is comfortable with. Talk about how much of your wedding budget will go toward specific vendors. Major wedding vendors typically include:
Wedding planners
Catering
A DJ or band
A florist
A bakery or restaurant for a wedding cake
A photographer
Make sure you consider all your major wedding vendors when you compare prices for their services. Overspending on one wedding vendor may impact your selection for other vendors because you'll have a lower remaining budget to allocate. Sticking to your budget for each vendor will help you avoid spending too much on one area and making a wedding budget mistake.
2. Going With the Cheapest Option
It's no secret weddings can become pretty pricey when you start booking vendors, shopping for decorations and buying attire. Just because you're sticking to a budget doesn't mean you have to choose the cheapest option for all your vendors. Choosing vendors solely on price isn't the best way to decide which will be best for your wedding day.
While budget is important to keep in mind, you want to select a vendor that also provides quality service. High-quality, reputable vendors are a reliable option for any type of event. You want to work with a company that provides the service you need, has excellent customer service and does the right thing. You may find the cheapest version doesn't deliver this same level of professionalism.
If your budget is tight but you want to ensure you have quality vendors, prioritize which vendor is the most important for your big day. If having a large buffet with your favorite foods and hor d'oeuvres is the most important to you, allocate more of your budget to your catering and lower the budget in areas that aren't as essential.
3. Waiting Too Long to Book a Venue or Vendor
For numerous aspects of wedding planning, timing is key. Especially if your wedding is during peak seasons, wedding vendors will book up fast. Peak wedding season depends on your location, but it's typically around late spring and early summer. Regardless of your wedding date, it's beneficial to start looking into wedding vendors and booking as soon as possible.
It's common for couples to wait too long to book their vendors. If you're looking to book one of the most popular photographers, hair and makeup professionals, DJs or any other type of vendor, give yourself more than six months out to schedule them. You also don't want to book the wrong wedding venue because you started planning too late.
Another important vendor to book right away is your professional wedding planner. Couples typically find their wedding planner before they book any other wedding vendors. Wedding planners can help with finding vendors and give you advice on which companies to work with for your wedding day.
While it's important to book vendors early, it is possible to book too early. If you don't have a wedding date sealed yet or your wedding is a few years away, it's better to wait and book wedding vendors when there is a solid plan or date on the calendar.
4. Not Communicating What You Want
The second most important thing in wedding planning, behind budget, is communication. Communication is a vital part of making sure all the planning details are perfect and exactly what you and your partner are looking for. This is your day, and everything should be just as you and your partner imagine. Communicate your expectations with your wedding planner, venue and every vendor you book for your wedding.
Note your vendors' communication styles when you meet them for the first time. Vendors' preferred method of communication can vary between companies. Some may prefer a phone call or email, while others want you to text to ask any questions.
Also, watch out for vendors who are poor communicators from the start. When you reach out for a meeting to discuss pricing or available dates, do they respond right away? Or do they not get back to you for over a week? This is an important indicator of how they'll communicate with you during your wedding planning process.
Communication is a two-way street between you and the vendor, and you'll want to hire a wedding vendor that has excellent communication skills. When you communicate what you want to a vendor that knows how to communicate effectively, you'll have a clear understanding of what you can expect from them on your wedding day.
5. Not Choosing Professionals: The DIY Trap
Couples may consider tackling some of the wedding services themselves to save money or because they think they can accomplish it themselves. While completing some of the wedding decorations or services yourself is OK, some wedding vendors can't be replaced by DIY projects.
Even for the most crafty couples, certain services are difficult to accomplish if you're not in the industry. You may not be able to give some elements all your effort because you're already busy planning your wedding. When you're considering if you should hire a professional vendor for a certain wedding service, avoid these DIY wedding mistakes:
DIY wedding cake: A staple dessert of all weddings is the elegant wedding cake. While you may have some baking experience, constructing a wedding cake is more difficult than you may think. These multitiered cakes take a lot of time to create, and baked goods can easily go wrong if baking is not your specialty. Your wedding cake will be on display for all your guests to see, so leave it to a professional baker.
DIY food: Making your own food for a smaller wedding — perhaps under 40 people — might be possible. But handling the catering for big events is a large task for any couple. The logistics and preparation of a large catering order can be complicated to accomplish on your own. Hiring a catering company or restaurant to handle your wedding food will save you stress and time.
DIY floral arrangements: If you're planning to incorporate plenty of blooms on your wedding day, hiring a vendor will be your best option to ensure they are fresh and beautiful. A professional florist will save you time spent trimming and arranging your flowers the morning of your wedding.
DIY photography: Even if you have a friend or family member who has a fancy camera, spend the money to hire a professional photographer. Professionals have experience getting the perfect shots that you'll value for years to come. They also have experience posing couples and creating photos that look amazing.
DIY entertainment: While it might seem easy to hook up your phone and play a wedding playlist during your reception, you'll miss out on the lively interactions a DJ or band brings to the party. A DJ or band can host your reception and help with the order of events for the night.
6. Not Having a Contingency Plan
While you can plan for a perfect wedding day, sometimes the unexpected happens. Whether the unexpected is weather-related or another situation that's out of your control, it's important to discuss contingency plans with all your wedding vendors.
A contingency plan is a vendor-specific backup arrangement in case something doesn't go as planned. A smart way to create a contingency plan is to discuss all the possible situations that could impact your current wedding plan and come up with a solution. If a big storm is forecasted for your wedding day, talk to your vendors about a plan for where they will set up equipment and bring food, and how they will notify people of schedule changes. This will ensure you and all your wedding vendors are on the same page in case something happens on your wedding day.
7. Not Understanding the Process
Many people don't have extensive experience planning a wedding. Finding vendors and organizing a large event is likely all new to you, and learning a new process takes time. If you and your partner don't research and understand the process of hiring wedding vendors and the types of services they provide, it may take you a long time to schedule everything for your big day.
Couples can make the wedding planning process smooth and efficient by hiring a wedding planner to help. A wedding planner communicates with vendors constantly. They are the person who understands the vendor hiring process better than anyone. They'll take significant planning work away from you and handle all communication, booking and organization with wedding vendors to ensure your day has everything you want.
If you want to understand the planning process more in-depth, ask a friend or family member who has had a wedding recently about their experience. Hearing about someone's experience, especially if they had a wedding in the same location you are, gives you helpful information to understand the process of hiring vendors in your area.
8. Not Reading Your Contract
Are you ready to fly through your wedding planning checklist and get everything ready? As exciting as the process is and as eager as you may be, it's important to read through all the contracts your wedding vendors present. Before you sign any contracts your vendors send, read through the entire document. Skimming the fine print and other important information can cause you to miss additional costs or clauses that you may not want to be included.
Write down all your questions and concerns after you read the contract and meet with the vendor again to go over your questions. Your goal is to fully understand their pricing, services, deposit and refund policies, so there are no surprises.
9. Skipping the Food Tasting
A mistake couples make during wedding planning is not trying their food options before booking a catering company or restaurant. The food at your wedding is an essential element for you and your guests. A company can have excellent reviews and be known for delicious food, but that doesn't mean it will be your favorite. Scheduling food tastings for different catering companies will help you make a decision on the type of meal you want at your wedding.
Also, food tasting is a fun part of the wedding planning process. You and your partner won't want to miss out on this part of planning!
10. Not Having Fun
While there are times wedding planning isn't as fun, it's important not to let it stress you out. Remember that planning a wedding doesn't happen every day, and this is a special time for you and your partner. Take in every moment and have fun while you and your partner plan one of the most memorable days of your lives. Celebrate every time you book a new wedding vendor and document fun moments like dress shopping, cake tasting and other experiences.
Get the Full Wedding Planning Guide From Baywood Weddings
Wedding vendor mistakes can happen, and the best thing you and your partner can do is follow these tips, do your research and remember to have fun while planning your wedding. Whether you need advice on hiring the perfect vendors or choosing a wedding venue, Baywood Weddings can help with every detail. Get started on planning your dream wedding today with help from our wedding planning guide, or contact us to learn more about Baywood Weddings.