Working with your Wedding Suppliers
Creating your dream team!
When it comes to your wedding day there’s one piece of advice I would give and that’s to make sure your wedding suppliers work together. So that’s your florist, your catering, your venue, photographer, DJ, MUA, hairdresser, etc. Encourage them to exchange numbers and email addresses between them so you know you have a strong team working to make your wedding day the best it can be.
Your day will run so much more smoothly if your photographer knows your venue and catering time table, if the florist knows what time bouquets need to arrive for the bridal preparation photos, if your DJ knows when to set up and not have their strobe lights on when the videographer is recording your first dance. Your timeline is extremely important and your suppliers need to be on board with it and understand where you will be, where your partner will be, and where they need to be.
Your venue will have worked out timetables that they usually run with as they do this almost every weekend, so let them help you input. If you’ve got a wedding planner they will also understand timings are essential but also timing will be put off throughout the day. Things will run a little longer than expected but it’s your team’s job to get you back on track with the day’s schedule.
Of course this all happens without you or your partner needing to know. It all works behind the scenes so you can both have an amazing day without needing to chase or worry. The day runs like clockwork because you’ve got an amazing team behind you.
As your photographer I like to connect as early as possible with your suppliers and find out from them how I can help and what they need from me. Often we discuss mainly timings but it’s also nice for the suppliers to also get some beautiful photography of their products and services from me for their portfolio. So I like to know if there are any particular elements they would like capturing too.
It’s a small world!
The wedding industry in the area will be pretty small. We often have already worked with many vendors and we try to build working relationships with them over the years. Having many vendors here to try to anticipate your needs and create the best experience is what we do. You’re best to let us give you as much advice from our years of experience before you start to make specific requests, and if we suggest that something might not work how you expect, listen. At the end of the day, you are our client and we will do as you ask, but please remember when you have been advised against it, try not to complain after that it wasn’t how you had imagined.
Treat your suppliers as colleagues, we’re all one team, with one goal – to make your wedding day as magical as we can. So try not to become a mean boss or let bridezilla take hold. Remember that kindness and friendly communication will get the best out of us and often we will want to go that extra mile for you. That being said we do talk, if we have a client that is unreasonable or rude, we will discuss it between us. Wedding suppliers have great support networks, so you don’t want to end up as ‘That nightmare couple’.
And remember, like every other business we do have office hours, please don’t expect us to reply or respond to calls and emails out of those hours, even if we read them. It might not be convenient for us to engage in work. Similar to working hours, we may not respond immediately to communications, we may be working with another client at that moment you ping across a message.
Read your contract
Each of your wedding suppliers will have a contract you will sign and this will set out what you can expect from them. Please read it carefully. You will have agreed certain things with them and this is what makes your day run smoothly. Trying to add additional requirements days before your wedding, or even on the wedding day can cause some major issues for your vendors, even if you think it’s a small request. This is why it is important to keep your suppliers up to date and not to miss meetings that they request.
You may have signed your contract months or even years before your wedding day, so it’s a good idea to reread the details. Knowing how many hours you have booked, what’s included and what’s not included will mean you are both on the same page. Equally important, is to make sure you are hitting key payment dates for your vendors. We often turn other engaged couples away for your date, if you miss a payment and your contract states a clause that means your vendor can cancel immediately if payment is not received on that day. You may be left without a supplier?!
Review us!
Our main advertising is word of mouth, so your reviews are vital to our business. Nobody just picks a vendor at random without reading a review somewhere. So even if it’s short and sweet, review us. This could be on Google, on Trustpilot or on their social media account.
I know it can be a little tedious to write a review for all your vendors, so I would suggest writing a review for the overall day, then you can cut and paste and add a little extra to personalise it to that supplier.
It’s the holy grail of 5 stars we’re all looking for, so don’t worry over the amount you write. We’re always just so grateful for a review of our services.
The Golden Rule
When your big day comes, try not to stress and just enjoy your wedding day! If there are any hiccups, your dream team of suppliers will be on hand to work their magic to smooth out any issues. Just remember the golden rule of ‘treating others as you want to be treated’. It goes a long way to show kindness, warmth and respect to your team, and in return they will create the most magical wedding day for you, and often go that extra mile, just because they have loved working with you!
