So you’ve found the perfect partner and the most gorgeous venue – now you need to choose your vendor team – the people that will make sure your wedding day goes smoothly and effortlessly! Without question, your vendor team will be will be one of the most important decisions you make. But where do you begin? How do you know where and how to find vendors that will see your vision and execute it? Ones who will listen to your ideas and take them to the next level?
Of course, you’ve been to a few weddings where you thought “that DJ kept everyone on the dance floor,” or “those flowers were gorgeous,” or “their wedding video makes me tear up every time I watch it.” You want your friends and family to say the exact same things about your wedding.
BRIK Venue is an open vendor venue, which means you are able to choose which vendors you work with, to make your wedding day a success. Once you book, our venue concierge will send over our preferred vendor list, which has been carefully curated with vendors that we LOVE and that have been in the venue often and do an excellent job. You can even schedule a meeting with her to chat about vendors But just because we give you a preferred vendor list doesn’t mean you shouldn’t research those vendors yourself and see who would be a good fit. Absolutely do your research!
Here’s what to consider when choosing vendors
Do they have your date available, and will you be a priority on your wedding day?
Will you be their only wedding that day, or will you be one of many weddings that they are juggling on your wedding day? If you don’t feel like you will be a priority, you might consider going with a different vendor.
Are they within your budget?
You’ve set a reasonable budget for your vendor team, so as you are reaching out to multiple businesses in each vendor category, be sure to discuss pricing up front. This can help you prioritize which vendors align with your budget and vision, and which don’t. Do they align with your style?
Does the vendor align with your vision?
Do you have visions of a colorful, modern wedding, or a simple greenery and white flowers wedding? An intimate wedding, or a chic, large celebration? Knowing the style and atmosphere of the wedding of your dreams will help you find the perfect vendors that align with your vision. If they don’t, then move on to the next. Don’t compromise your style to settle for a vendor.
Reviews, reviews, reviews!
Do they have reviews that you can read, good or bad? Or are there none to be found? Consider it a RED FLAG when you cannot find a review anywhere, yet the vendor has told you they’ve been in business 3+ years. Something shouldn’t sit right with you when you cannot see what other people have said about that vendor. Your friends and family might give you good personal reviews, but you should definitely see what other clients have had to say. Check out Google reviews, The Knot reviews, Wedding Wire reviews, and Zola reviews.
Is their website and social media up to date?
You’ve found a vendor you love, and you go to check out their website and notice it doesn’t have a pricing or packages section, or updated events section, or any new information since before the pandemic in 2020. Not a good sign. So you go to their Instagram to see if they’ve got more information there, and notice that they haven’t posted any updated photos in their feed that THEY have created in over 2 years, and only reshare in their stories what OTHERS have tagged them in. RED FLAG, for sure. If a vendor is serious about their work, and serious about wanting to work with YOU, they will also be serious about keeping their website and social media updated with their latest work.
Are they easy to communicate with? Do they respond in a timely fashion?
Find vendors that are easy to communicate with, where the conversation flows, and the respect is mutual. Be respectful of wedding vendors and their response times, especially over the weekends or during busy season, because those are their busy days. Most will respond Tuesdays and Wednesdays following a wedding weekend. But if you’ve reached out to a vendor for some information and a quote, and they haven’t responded within 72 hours during the week, move on. Trust me when I say, at BRIK Venue, we respond QUICK. I mean – QUICK.
There are so many more things to take into consideration when hiring your wedding vendor team, so chat with our venue concierge and she can help point you in the right direction. We want to make sure you are taken care of on your wedding day!