Plan Your Wedding the Right Way!

Planning a wedding takes time, patience, and enough understanding of what goes on at a wedding to make the right decisions.  There are many wedding planning sites available on the internet and they can be a good starting point.  But deciding on the vendors that will help you on your wedding day is a complicated venture.  Hopefully this article will provide some insights into how to choose the best wedding vendors for this very important day.

Over the past 25 years at Dubnoff Wedding Photography, I have had the opportunity to speak with well over a thousand engaged couples.  I am always surprised by some of the criteria many of them use to choose their wedding vendors. Here are 6 suggestions I often make to brides and grooms searching for wedding vendors for their big day:

1.  RESEARCH WEDDING VENDOR REFERRALS.  Be careful here because many wedding vendors trade referrals with other wedding professionals with no real knowledge of the other's work. They make deals with partner vendors to give out business cards to brides and grooms that they meet. Many times it's an honest referral based upon working a few weddings with one another.  But how much can a DJ, for example, really know about the quality of a wedding photographer's work?  Often times this type of referral is just based on the fact that the DJ has worked with the photographer at a number of events and liked him or her. Did the DJ ever see the final result? Did they see the wedding album? Probably not. Be sure when receiving this type of referral you ask the vendor why they are making the referral and the criteria they are using. Then check their story out with the vendor they referred.  Obviously, you should try to obtain other referrals, especially from married couples who have experience with the referred vendor.

2. DON'T CHOOSE A WEDDING PROFESIONAL BASED SOLELY ON A "GREATEST HITS" PORTFOLIO OF THEIR WORK. This rule particularly applies to choosing your photographer, videographer, florist or caterer. As a wedding photographer myself I can assure you that there is nothing more misleading regarding a photographer's talent than looking at a sample wedding album that is a compilation of their best shots at a 100 different weddings. Ask to be shown an album of one entire wedding from start to finish. Virtually anybody with a decent camera can get one great shot per wedding!  The same goes for florists.  Make sure that they show you examples of the flowers they provided for one entire wedding. Any caterer can give you some yummy appetizers to sample, but how many different dishes do they offer?  Can they show you photos of one entire food service at a wedding?  Again, the challenge for a vendor at a wedding is doing EVERYTHING right, not just 1 or 2 things.

3. CAREFULLY ASSESS THE PERSONALITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL WHO WILL BE HANDLING YOUR WEDDING. This is a very important point that is often overlooked. You will be spending most of your day with your photographer, DJ, wedding coordinator or videographer.  It's not enough that they are good at what they do.  Make sure you can get along with this person and find them pleasant to be around.  Rude and bossy photographers can cause problems with your guests and make your day miserable.  A DJ will be interacting with many people at your wedding including you.  Make sure he or she is friendly and easy to get along with. 

4. USING FRIENDS OR RELATIVES TO SERVICE YOUR WEDDING. Only if they are professional!  This is one of the biggest mistakes made by brides and grooms. Perhaps they have a cousin who is great with music or an uncle who always takes all the photos at family events.  Trust me, providing these types of services at a wedding is entirely different due to the stress, volume and time constraints involved. Some experience with weddings is absolutely necessary. The fact that "Uncle Bob" is good with his new digital camera does not mean he can handle a wedding. Your sister does wonderful work with flowers?  That's great but has she ever decorated a huge church?  Has she produced 7 bouquets the night before an event?  I can't tell you how often I have seen well meaning friends or relatives completely ruin their particular part of the wedding. Be very careful here.

5. LOOK FOR SIMPLE PRICING. One of the most common stories I hear from brides and grooms is how they spent so much more on a particular wedding service than they were led to believe. If you can't understand the pricing or packages, keep looking.  You should make it clear to the vendor that you expect COMPLETE SERVICE from them. This means that on the day of the wedding, the florist should not be telling you that there is no pedestal available for the flower arrangement in the church, so now you will be charged for one to be brought in.  Make it clear that you won't stand for that. Ala carte pricing can confuse and be misleading.  Look for a vendor who offers complete package pricing, but offers the flexibility to alter the package to suit your needs.

6. IS THE VENDOR WORKING FOR YOU?  When you interview a vendor pay close attention to how they handle the presentation. Do they ask questions?  Are they concerned with what is important to you at your wedding?  If a vendor presentation is just one long speech about how wonderful they are, this may not be the right person for you.  Look for vendors who ask YOU what you want for your wedding.  As a wedding photographer, one of the first things I ask a couple during my presentation is what THEY are looking for in a photographer.  Right away, this establishes whether a good match exists between vendor and the bride and groom.  But more importantly, it tells you something about the person.  If they ask you lots of questions, chances are they really do care about providing a service that truly fits your needs.      

This list was intended to assist you in making the very difficult decisions involved when planning a wedding. It is not a complete list, but it should help you understand what's important. There is no substitute for good, solid referrals from other brides and grooms with recent experience.