Open Letter to Wedding Vendors

I found this post recently on one of my dear friends blogs, and it is verbatim what I have been thinking lately, so I thought stealing borrowing, plagiarising, quoting her, would be the best way to say what I mean.

Photography by: Footstone Photography

This post has been brewing in me for a little while now. It is NOT
directed to any one person or situation in particular. But a
accumulation of occurrences.




As wedding engineers (er, planners), we get a plethora of wedding vendors
that contact us requesting to be on our referred vendor list.
Facebook messages, emails, cards, phone calls, and more. We have a process when
we recommend a vendor (and yes, we will occasionally recommend vendors that we
have not worked with before… as long as they have some stellar testimonials that
we check out).




We are also offered many things, one of which a little
“kick-back”. “Refer me and I’ll give you $50.” says wedding a
vendor.




Honestly that’s not our motivation when referring vendors. For the record, we
do not accept kick-backs of any kind. What we prefer is that
you (the wedding vendor) extend that $50 towards our client’s service package.
You look good, we look good. Win/Win.




However here’s the real needle in the haystack that I want to address in this
blog post.




What we really would love, (we = wedding planners) are for wedding
vendors that we recommend to do the following:

• Bring your A game and a little more. Seriously. Treat the
  clients that we bring to you with such great care that they want to be your
  Bestie as well.


• Want to work with US. That’s right. We bring you into the
  team-fold to spend all day with you on a Saturday (away from our family), we
  want you to work with us. If you have ever experienced working with the {wedding planning} team, you KNOW that we
  don’t ask you to do anything that we wouldn’t do ourselves. In fact, there is no
  such language as, “That’s not our job” at an event. We pitch in and work hard
  right along side of you.


• Watch each other’s backs. It takes a full vendor team to
  execute a fabulous wedding. Everyone doing their part and a little more. We all
  make mistakes (yes, us too). We’re human. Help us and we’ll help you.


• Be a little more flexible. You know that your job is going
  to be a little easier with us on site. Timelines and production schedules are
  complete. All vendors are contacted prior to the wedding. So don’t lump us with
  all your other DIY clients. We are professional. Time is money and we know what
  we are doing. A little flexibility goes a long way to repeat referrals.


• Have fun on the wedding day. We pull 17 hours sometimes.
  Often, we’re the first ones there for setup … to the ceremony … the reception
  and breaking out. We love what we do, but I won’t lie. Sometimes it can be a
  long hard work day. Bring a smile and a great attitude. The day will go by
  faster and easier.


• Communicate with us. Sometimes client’s don’t tell us
  everything. A rogue Father of the Bride goes off and plans special events during
  the reception as a surprise and we don’t know anything about it. Let us know
  ….


• Refer US. You read that correctly. Throw our name out there
  to YOUR clients. Ask them, “WHO is your wedding planner?” and
  tell them about us. Tell them why you like to work with us. You should know, we
  SELL YOU before our clients call you to meet. This is a tight wedding vendor
  circle and throwing back some love to us is just as important as us always
  referring you. One sided relationships almost never work. Think about
  it.

This blog post was from the heart and for educational purposes.

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Hiring Professionals for your Wedding

Beautiful Cake Courtesy of The Knot

When searching for the perfect baker for your wedding cake, always bring inspriation with you. In this instance, the bride brought this picture to her baker and said:



"I love this cake, can you make this happen for me?"



The baker replied:



"I have never done anything like that, but I'll give it a try"



The bride said:



"Are you sure? This is my wedding and I want it perfect"



The baker replied:



"I'm new at this, but it looks easy enough..."



And, this is what she got.

Not the same as above

Beware!!! Please hire professionals, look at their images, get referrals from professionals in your area, don't let your wedding be their test. You are looking to be disappointed.



There are so many amazing cake bakers in Gainesville, here are just a few:



KB Kakes

Ms. Debbie

Dream Day Cakes

Share Your Cupcakes



Thank you Cake Wrecks for spreading the PSA's to all of us, to hire Professionals! Go Pro or Go Home!

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Professional Referrals

Photo via SF Weekly

It's our job to make sure you get paired up with vendors that will work best with your personality and budget.



As a bride, you don't want to open up the yellow pages of the inter-webs and not know the reputation of a wedding professional, their price-points, or their personality. But we do. We know our cake bakers, photographers, floral designers, caterers, venues... go ahead quiz us!



When you come to visit our office, we'll sit down with you, really listen to your needs, wants, wishes, dreams and then give you 2 or 3 or more profesionals that we know and trust you'll love. Then it's up to you to study, do homework, check out their work and see what you think.



It's your wedding after all. And remember, some of those people will be in your face your whole wedding day, you and I want to make sure that you love them! All of them!



We'd be happy to make those decisions for you, but usually our clients want to know their vendors, feel comfortable sharing a cup of coffee with them.



I mean, it's your wedding. You should love every aspect of it!

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Planning a Wedding Can Make you Crazy

Just a Friday Funny, to get you laughing. You've gotta have a sense of humor about your wedding plans!



Don't go crazy, hire a planner!

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Hire Professionals - Cake Baker

Most of you have probably been introduced to Cake Wrecks, and that site has been endless enjoyment for our office!



It's part of the inspiration for this post. Imagine you go to your baker, and tell this you want a cake that is similar to this:

And then they tell you that's no problem, it should be a breeeeeeeeeeeeeze. And when your cake is delivered, set and ready to cut, you see this:

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!



How do you avoid this?



Hire a professional baker, that is used to the area you live, humidity and heat can make big differences to cakes. Some areas can tolerate buttercream in the summer (we can't), some cakes shouldn't be outside period.



Some bakeries do other things, like sell groceries, check their prices and WHO is going to baking your cake. That can make a big difference. And honestly, the prices aren't all that different. In fact, you think you are saving money, and most of the time. You aren't.



Thanks Cake Wrecks for the use of the pictures on your site!

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References

Don't be afraid to ask for references. Please.



No matter who you are meeting with, if you feel comfortable calling other vendors, do it. Or ask your vendors when you are meeting with them. Ask for references.



Ask for both past brides and/or clients as well as vendor references.



Really it's okay.



Photo Source

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Professional Photographer

Yesterday, we talked about professional photography and what a difference it can make in your wedding. If you think about it this way, your wedding is a production. An elaborate play-like production, if you will.



If your budget cannot tolerate a $15,000+ photographer, consider hiring that photographer, but hire them for their lesser package. You will have amazing images. Just less of them, or less time with that photographer.



You may want to check a photographers credentials. Check references. Ask other vendors about that photographer, they may post great work on their website or blog, but what if they haven't called their clients back in 9 months, or never produced an album for a client they promised they would. These are concerns that can be handled with a phone call!



Photography by: Rae Leytham Photography (notice this photograph was taken in a dark room at night, if the photographer was to take this picture with an on camera flash, there would be no picture, the photographer had to light the entire room from behind in order to still get the "the shot" = professional)

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Hire Professionals

I feel like I've been on a tangent lately about hiring professionals. This is your wedding, you want it to be amazing. You want it to be perfect! And I know you wouldn't hire a dentist to cut a mole off of your back and tell you if it was cancerous or not.



So why would you hire a photographer off of let's say C.raig's List, the one person who will document, your most amazing day, the person who will provide you with the one thing you'll have after your wedding to remember all of the details, to recall your friends and most precious family members that celebrated your wedding day with you.



And sadly, in some instances the last family event that your elder family members may attend!



Okay, stepping off of my soap box now... but read this, the point of the post to begin with.



Photo by: Rae Leytham Photography (check out the bright background, and how you can can still see the bride and groom's faces and the color of her dress and the detail of her gown, the blue of the sky, the feather embelsihment in her hair....professional.)

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Things to ask Your Wedding Planner

There are so many things to consider when hiring your vendors, but let's talk about what to look for in your wedding planner. There gazillions of questionnaires online for you to review, download and bring with you to your initial consultations when you interview your potential wedding planner.



But how about some things that may not be on the questionnaires?



What are you going to wear on my wedding day?

•      We wear formal attire, not black tie (unless you request it) but formal, cocktail attire. We don't wear name tags. We want to blend in at your wedding, not stand out like a sore thumb.

How many weddings will you have on my wedding day?

• I will personally only have one. And I'll have a team with me, so we can be in 3 places at the same time.

Will you drink at my wedding?

• Um, no! No professional. You won't see us eat at your wedding (although we will, in shifts), we are there for you and to make sure you are getting what you paid for from all of your vendors and means we are on the clock the whole night.  (not to say, when you get back from your honeymoon we shouldn't all go to Dragonfly and grab a cocktail)

And when you are meeting with your vendors be upfront with them, ask the hard questions, expect answers.

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What to Look for in Your Wedding Planner

I honestly mean this, I don't care who you hire, but hire a wedding wedding planner.



If it's me - that's awesometastic!!! If it's not me, and it's that competition that I adore, that's great too!



I do sincerely mean that.



But remember you can't go back and re-do your wedding day. So if you are considering hiring someone to help you make your wedding day dreams come true, make sure they are professional.



Look around, interview a couple of planners, my personality is different than the next guy (although I do have to say, that my personality is pretty darned perfect...ahem!)



Don't be scared to look around. It's okay.

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Hire Professionals

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about business and how some people are just cruddy business-people. Amazingly talented in their own right, but honestly have no business, being in business. And, as this isn't a business blog, I am not going to get on a soap box about how to run a business, but rather what to look for in a wedding planner and some mistakes that I made along the way and how I learned from them. So that you can learn from them too.



I am not perfect. I never claimed to be. (that's my disclaimer)



When I started my business I thought "ye with thy lowest prices wins" and honestly.... that may be the case in some instances. And I know everyone has to start somewhere. And I fully appreciate that. I did. I started my business 15 years ago with some pretty low prices...but you can't do that for long. And being in business to purposefully undercut, isn't right.



Just because your collection, package or per hour fee is the lowest, says nothing about who you are. You are in business, just like the other guy, you have over head and bills to pay just like your client.



Just like my client.



People get that.



If you offer a service or a product, like wedding planning, photography there are costs involved, your time, actual and real costs. If your product and/or service is worth it, you will be respected for it.



So, brides, don't hire the cheapest wedding vendor just cuz they are the cheapest.... cheapest won't always save you money. This is a once in a life time event, your wedding. Don't skimp.



You are hiring professionals for a reason.

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