Hi brides to be, I trust that you are well with the wedding planning that you have underway! Today, I wanted to talk about one mistake that your using when your reaching out to vendors through places such as social media to find a vendor that works for you.

That word is “affordable” (sometimes “reasonable”) and today on the blog, I’m going to explain why you shouldn’t use it and what you SHOULD do instead.

It can literally help you narrow down your search in record time as well as put you in touch with vendors that match your search, so with that, let’s begin.

Affordable is a Generic Term

Hey, I completely get it you’re trying to find the best deal on someone within the wedding industry and many people on various Facebook pages can help you out with referring someone to you, I see this all the time.

The problem however is that using the word affordable doesn’t always mean the same thing to the people you’re asking.

“ISO an affordable wedding [vendor of your choice] in the XXXXXXX area…”

It could be a cheap vendor for $350 or it could be a cheap vendor for $1,250 or $3,000. It could also be for April, November or a date in 2023, no one knows and what will happen is that you’ll be bombarded with tons of leads and you don’t know if they can accommodate your wedding date, let alone if it’s within your budget.

And that’s the problem.

See, what’s affordable to you might not be affordable to the next person.

There is no definition of what your budget is other than you don’t have a lot of money to spend on that type of vendor.

So the results that you get are going to vary, the only thing you’re doing is casting a wide net to people out there looking at your request and then you have to go through each post to figure out if they meet or match your criteria.

Do This Instead

If you are going to look for a select wedding vendor, be specific. But just don’t say that you have a $1,000 budget for X type of vendor, put a range out there, like this.

“ISO a wedding [vendor type] for my wedding on November 23rd, 2023 in the XYZ area. My budget is from $750-$1,250.”

Wedding Vendor Range

Putting a range inside your request does a couple of things.

First, it hides how much you’re really looking to spend, maybe its $800, maybe $1,000, maybe its $1,250.

But by narrowing down your budget with a range shows people what sort of vendor your seeking.

It also allows you to take the top 3 or 4 vendors from that range and see if they can meet you on your price, perhaps you might want to spend that little bit extra because they offer some value that you didn’t know about and spending an extra couple hundred bucks it worth the cost.

Either way, as a wedding filmmaker, I love it when people posting requests out there ask for a range rather than saying they’re looking for someone like myself that’s affordable.

It just sounds cheap and it doesn’t really define what you are looking for out in the wedding industry.

Bonus: Weeding Out Professionals vs Amateurs in the Wedding Business

No one wants to hire a wedding vendor that isn’t a professional, after all, YOU are spending a lot of money on your wedding day, isn’t it worth the peace-of-mind that the job will be done right in the first place?

Just yesterday, I was reading about a bride how wanted to buy the peacock style cake from a wedding vendor and they paid the person $300 to make the cake.

Well, the person made it alright and it looks more like a 6-year-old drawing that fell over than a wedding cake. Just look at the side by side photo, ouch!

So, how can you wedding out those people that want to take your money but not return what was contracted?

Well, it’s a couple of things but first let me tell you that we all started in the wedding business somewhere and not everyone in the wedding industry is bad.

If you want to find the right professionals to take care of your wedding, you need to do three things.

First, research the crap out of them. Find reviews, see samples, ask others online, visit their website, talk to other couples that have used them before if possible.

Second, connect with the person.

Use email, phone calls, in person meetings if possible, Skype, whatever the case may be, connect with the vendor and ask LOT’s of questions, even if you know the answer to them.

If they’re more interested in locking you in for a cheap rate than talk to you about their passion, working in the wedding industry, that’s a tell-tell sign they’re in it for the money and not for the love of the job.

Third, if you do hire them, make sure you have a signed contract that offers provisions for both parties. I’m talking about clauses and things that protect you as a client and us as a vendor.

Things like rescheduling should your wedding date move, cancelling offering a warranty or providing details of everything that will happen and the expectations should be written into the contract.

Finally, go with your gut. If you’re talking to someone that offer three different things for a third of the average cost of others, I’d most likely skip them.

But if they offered the one thing that you’re looking for and they have some valued added services and they have a very reasonable rate, then yes, I’d consider them. Experience also goes a long way too, the longer someone’s been in the business, the more likely you’ll get someone that ill not make a mistake.

Well, there you go friends, I hope this helps the next time you’re looking for someone that’s “affordable” for your wedding day.

Please share this with others and for more great tips, tricks and money saving ideas about the wedding industry, just check out other articles on the blog.

Cheers~