Top tip for engaged couples hiring their wedding vendors:
Dear engaged couple,
This article is going to help streamline your wedding vendor search and setup you up for success!
Searching for DJ & wedding vendor help on Facebook discussion boards:
Many newly engaged couples turn to Facebook groups, Reddit pages or wedding forums or discussion boards for advice on how to hire their DJ or wedding vendor. Ideally, a couple has hired a professional wedding planner for full planning services, but many couples hire a day/month of planner and consequently start their vendor research on their own.
Examples of good wedding planning resource pages for newly engaged couples:
While these resources can be a good start, we see many of you making vague statements about what you expect your vendor to cost but do not disclose any information about your actual budget for said vendor.
When you post phrases like “I need a photographer that won’t cost an arm and a leg” or “I’m on a tight budget” or “I need a reasonable-priced DJ,” you are not communicating effectively with the vendor community and may risk offending your potential wedding vendor with such language.
The tone suggests that many vendors drastically overprice their services, and you resent the industry standard rates and want it to be cheaper.
Please understand that most of us vendors work for many years, working hard to position ourselves as experts in our fields. Yet, as self-employed or solopreneurs, we often struggle with knowing our value and finding the sweet spot of pricing that reflects our talent/experience while falling within the marketplace industry average.
That said, I’m going to share some general tips to consider BEFORE you post on wedding forums and boards that will help minimize resistance and streamline your vendor search process below.
Wedding Planning Budget:
Before searching, make sure you have a detailed picture of what your total wedding budget is, along with what you are prepared to invest in each vendor category. While they can be a general guide, I would recommend you do NOT strictly follow the standard chart guides by industry magazines exactly. Why? Because the have no idea what is mot important to YOU! Only you know that, so be honest and realistic about what is most important to you and your guests on the wedding day and budget accordingly.
Share your wedding planning budget:
Disclosing your budget will create efficiency in Vendor Selection:
Sharing your budget upfront streamlines the vendor selection process. Wedding DJs, photographers, florists, and caterers have different pricing structures and offerings. By disclosing your budget, you allow vendors to assess whether their service pricing is in alignment and save valuable time by focusing on options within your budgetary constraints.
When you post without any budget as a reference point, you open yourself up to dozens and dozens of replies and direct messages that will flood your inbox and create unnecessary additional work to wade through all the replies. Trust me, it gets overwhelming quickly.
It’s also very frustrating for the vendors because they could be wasting precious time responding with a detailed and thoughtful email only to find out they are way beyond your budget.
Sharing your budget will help narrow your options much faster and streamline the process for everyone.
As an engaged couple, your time is valuable, and you are undoubtedly swamped with multiple planning tasks. Hopefully, you’ve already hired a professional wedding planner to help carry out some of the planning weight. Either way, you want to start with 6-10 potential matches in each category, narrow them down to your top 3-5, and then schedule interviews as efficiently as possible.
Transparency with your wedding planning budget:
Open Communication fosters trust between you and your wedding vendors. Sharing your budget allows for honest discussions about what is achievable and within your financial means. Vendors that are in the ballpark of your budget will usually work collaboratively to try and meet your needs, resulting in a smoother wedding planning experience.
Negotiating and Maximizing Value from your wedding vendor:
Transparency provides room for negotiation and value optimization. Vendors may offer flexible payment plans, discounts, or additional services within your budget to secure your business. This negotiation process becomes more constructive when both parties have a clear understanding of financial boundaries, ultimately benefiting you by maximizing the value of your investment.
Avoiding Overspending or Disappointment:
Unless they have a clear understanding of what you are willing to spend, vendors may present options that exceed what you are comfortable with which can lead to stress or disappointment of feeling certain services are beyond your reach. With full transparency from the outset, you empower vendors to suggest alternatives within your price range.
We hope these tips help streamline your wedding vendor search process.
Thanks for reading and have an amazing wedding day!
More Wedding Planning tips for engaged couples here:
