Picking out a team of professionals to make your wedding day perfect is one of the most difficult tasks of wedding planning. If you ask no other questions during your first meeting with a potential wedding vendor, be sure to ask this:
How many weddings have you done?
This question will get to the core of a vendor’s experience. This is one of the most significant days of your life. Experience matters. If a vendor is new to the industry, you deserve to know up front.
The reality of technology today is that just about any person can have a gorgeous website that makes them look like a seasoned pro. There are many people out there that have a nice camera that suddenly decide it would be fun to be a wedding photographer. Likewise, there are many people who loved planning their own wedding so much that they start calling themselves a wedding planner. These vendors create a website and – BANG! They are now a wedding professional. They may or may not admit their experience. That means the burden is on you to ask the right questions.
To be clear, I am not saying do not book new vendors. Everyone has to start somewhere! However, if they are new to the industry, their pricing should reflect their experience. If they seem new, ask a few simple follow up questions. For example, ask them what makes them qualified to photograph/plan/officiate/decorate your wedding. You can also ask them why you should trust them with your wedding day. Once you are armed with this information, you can make a decision that is right for you.
This is your wedding day. You should have a team of vendors that you can count on. If something feels off with the vendor, or you just don’t jive, move on. Thank them for the time, let them know you will be pursuing other options. You deserve the very best for your special day. Don’t let a good deal or a great salesperson stop you from having your dream (and stress free) wedding.
PS – My gratitude to Ashley from Devoted Designs, Melody from Events by Melody and Shawna from Away We Go Weddings for their thoughtful input on this blog!
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Photo Credit: Derek Montgomery Photography
Thanks for the advice to ask a wedding planners experience since if you hire a new one their prices should reflect that. This is helpful since my sister just got engaged, so I’m helping her with the wedding arrangements. We’ll have to find a planner that we can afford but that has some experience since she has a good idea of what she wants for her reception.