Your wedding vendors are key players in turning your wedding dreams into a reality, so it’s super-important to know the best methods and proper etiquette when it comes to communicating with them. Trust us—it makes things so much easier!
Crystal Gardens has been in the wedding and banquet industry for over 40 years, so we know how vital it is for brides and grooms to have great relationships with their vendors. We strive to have the best relationship and communication with all of our clients, which means we can help guide you through communication with your wedding vendors. Here are a few of our best tips:
Keep everything organized
You’re probably already learning this through every part of your wedding planning—organization is essential. It makes the process much easier and will give you peace of mind. While working with vendors, you’ll want to keep all your important documents, like contracts, in one place. File them neatly in a binder or an expandable file folder. You don’t want to lose any of these documents because you’ll likely have to refer to them multiple times throughout the wedding planning process.
Stay digitally organized, too. If wedding-related emails get mixed up with personal emails, it’s likely to become confusing and disorganized. Create a designated folder for all vendor communications and move those emails to the folder as you receive them. Check your inbox (and spam folder) frequently and move all the important notes and vendor communications to a designated “wedding” folder.
Set communication expectations from the get-go
Between social media and texting, we’re used to instant feedback. Remember—your vendors are often small businesses who have other clients, families, and much more going on. If you send a vendor an email at 2 a.m., don’t expect them to get back to you right away. Ask your vendors about their preferred methods of communication, the best and worst times to reach them, and their typical response time. This sets reasonable expectations from the beginning. Your response time is important, too, so try to answer your vendors within one to two business days if possible.
Be prepared for your vendor meetings
Make sure you have everything you need when you have meetings with your vendors—especially initial consultations. Prepare a list of questions you have, and If you don’t have any clue about what to expect for the meeting or what you need to bring, ask beforehand. It’s always good to bring contracts and any other important documents. We always suggest bringing photos or swatches so vendors like florists, hair stylists, and cake bakers can better visualize your wedding look.
Be open and honest with your vendors
Always be honest and upfront with your wedding vendors, whether it relates to your expectations or your budget. If you don’t have anything specific that you want, tell them so they can offer ideas and suggestions. And if you do have something in particular in mind, be clear and concise about your vision. If something seems a little off or you don’t understand a charge, it’s perfectly fine to ask for an explanation. Just be mindful of your approach and language—keep things light and friendly to avoid sounding accusatory.
Introduce your vendors to key people
Some vendors (coordinators, planners, photographers, videographers, DJs, etc.) may be working with family members and the bridal party on the day of your wedding. These vendors won’t know their names unless you tell them. Give them specific names for your bridal party and any key family members involved.
Assign a point of contact for each vendor
When you’re working with many different vendors, it can get overwhelming figuring out who to contact, who will contact them, when, and…wait, what was it for again? Things will get confusing and chaotic if you, your mom, your future spouse, and your maid of honor are all contacting a single vendor at different times. To make things easier for both yourself and your vendors, assign a single point of contact for each wedding vendor.
Don’t be afraid to ask your vendors for referrals to other vendors
If you’re in search of more vendors, ask the ones you’ve already hired for recommendations. Chances are good that they’ll be able to recommend awesome vendors that they like working with. We have a great relationship with many preferred local vendors, and we always connect brides and grooms when they are in the search of photographers, DJs, great florists, etc.
At the end of the day, your wedding vendors are the pros—they’ve gone through this process many times. Effectively communicating and maintaining great relationships means they can be there to help you create the wedding of your dreams and make the process easier for you.
Let us help you find the best vendors—get in touch with us today, by email or phone at 877-545-1002.