What Vendor should I hire first?
Nothing in life is perfect buuuut if you plan well, it can really help your wedding day sail by smoothly. Not to mention how it can help make your engagement season way more relaxed! Deciding who you want on your
One of the biggest choices (after budget/venue) is which vendor(s) to hire first. The way I see it, there are two primary ways to build out a wedding team. The first is to find all the vendors (2-3 for each role) and then puzzle piece them aaaaall together to find what can work for your budget. That’s a loooot of talking (and hoping no one books with another couple while you’re gathering all the information) before you get to start making decisions – that can be discouraging and overwhelming. I like to encourage my clients to go with a different approach:
Hire your priority vendor first.
As mentioned in our earlier post with the big picture checklist (Where-to-Start Checklist), one of the first things you need to work out is what your priorities are. Then be willing to spend the money on your priorities and go more budget on the more lower priority vendors. For instance:
Do you want people to leave talking about your food or do you have really specific dietary requirements? Find your catering team first!
Are you committed to a swoon worthy pinterest floral? Start getting those floral quotes asap.
Are you ready to have the party of your life? Lock in that DJ stat!
Are you hoping to be able to freeze that moment to look back on with your grandkids? Start with finding out what photographers are still open on your wedding day and lock that in asap!
If you lock in the vendors you love / absolutely must have then you can choose more budget friendly or even DIY options for the other roles.
Focus on one or two roles at a time.
Don’t try to talk to Hair/Makeup, Photo, Catering, DJ, Cake, Bar, Transportation, Hotel Blocks, Video, Photo booth, Floral, Rentals, etc all at the same time. Your inbox will explode! Instead, once you’ve worked out which role to focus on first, find 2-4 vendors that seem to fit what you’re looking for. Reach out and ask questions. If you like what your see/read/hear, ask for a meeting. It usually becomes clear pretty quickly who is the best fit for you.
Happy vendor hiring! And don’t forget to lock in your Planner (the Coddiwomple Events team is here for you!) asap – we can streamline this whole process and help make it so much more enjoyable for you!
All the Best,
Stacy
