If you’re in the process of getting married, chances are you have been searching for vendors within all the categories of the wedding industry, from venues to photographers and cake bakers alike.

Today, I want to help you understand there are differences in choosing a good wedding vendor versus one that is bad and how to avoid making mistakes that often times couples make when wedding planning.

What is a Bad Wedding Vendor?

A bad vendor is basically someone that doesn’t perform well within their niche and many times has poor results and reviews.

The truth is that bad vendors are out there and unless you know what to look for, you might be falling for someone that seems great at the start, but as you start to create that business relationship with them, you realize they are not what they seem.

Late Showing up to the wedding (within reason)
Not showing up to the wedding
Performing poorly or having poor results
Not having enough experience
Not having the right equipment to do the task
Poor communication with the couple
Poor or constant mixed reviews
Poorly designed contracts or deposits more than 50%

In fact, according to the Wedding Report, roughly 1.7% of the wedding industry has vendors that are less than professional, most hidden within the budget end of the business.

People within the industry often know of them, lack of professionalism, they popup over night and pretend to be the go-to source and have pricing so cheap, it’s often times too good to be true.

Late to the Wedding or Not Showing Up at All

It’s one thing to be 15-20 minutes late because of a traffic jam, but it’s another to be hours late to the wedding or worse, just not showing up.

Sadly, these things happen from time to time and it truly puts a damper on the couples wedding day. I’ve seen it first hand over the last 22 years.

A good wedding vendor will show up early and have things in place and ready to go before they happen.

Performing Poorly or Having Poor Results

Sometimes a wedding vendor will perform poorly, maybe its the catering company not making that yummy treat you tasted earlier in the year, maybe its the DJ not transiting songs well or a wedding photographer using a cheap starter camera, where when printed they look pixelated.

It’s just a few examples of things that could happen to you if you’re not careful.

A “Professional” photographer using a $120 camera. NOT a sign of a good vendor.

What’s the Best Way to Protect Yourself Against Bad Wedding Vendors?

There are a few ways to protect yourself from people that are less than stellar within our industry, let me provide you a few that you can use.

Things like having a professional domain and website, a good contract, good communication with the vendor, reviews are just a handful to start.

Having a Good Contract

A good contract will do two things, protect you as well as the vendor should something arise.

You want to make sure the contract is detailed and is sounds.

Things that you want included in the contract is the following:

Date and Time of the wedding
Location of the wedding
When the vendor will arrive
What the vendor will do/perform
Total amount of money exchanged, including deposit or retainer, balance late fees, etc.
A reschedule or cancellation policy
What happens if the vendor cancels and what happens if you cancel

You also want to understand the difference in a deposit or retainer.

A retainer is a fee that is paid in advance in order to hold services (ie. a wedding or event date). While a deposit may also reserve a date, it is returned when the services have been completed. A retainer is by default non-refundable and is not returned.

Depending on the contract and what is states, you may not get the retainer back, it’s normal within several industries.

If they don’t have a contract, do not do business with them, even if it’s a freebie!

Reviews are a Good Indicator

Reviews from places like Google, Facebook, Wedding Wire and the Knot are great places to see patterns in wedding vendors. If they’re in the industry, they should have some people that reviewed them over time, some more and others less.

However, reviews can also be removed from select places and that’s something to be aware of.

There was a planner in the region that did a less than stellar job and a bride gave a somewhat bad review of the planner. Well, the planner was hired by another company and removed the review, thus covering it up.

My point is just because you see only great reviews, doesn’t mean there may be a less than stellar one hiding somewhere.

So, one of the things you can also do is just ask on Facebook groups.

“Has anyone worked with XYZ vendor over the years? Thinking about hiring them and wanted to know if they are reputable?”

Meet with Them if You Can

Another thing you should do is meet with them in person, via video chat like Zoom or at a very minimum, a phone call.

Connecting with a vendor allows you to see their personality, ask questions, get to know each other and see if they are a good fit for you and your soon-to-be.

It also allows you to see what type of person they are and using your judgement is a great indicator of trustworthiness.

If you don’t “feel” great about them, most likely you may want to pass on them as a vendor.

We HIGHLY recommend that you have personal communications beyond the emails or texts if you can.

Meet a wedding vendor in person, via Video chat, or at a very minimum, telephone..png

A Few Other Things to Consider with Vendors

We do have a few other recommendations when working with vendors.

First, NEVER pay in full, in fact, put down no more than 50% of the total according to the Knot, which is the national average.

Why you ask?

Because the truth is that you don’t really know each other, you just met.

In a good faith effort, putting down a deposit or retainer is normal, it secures the vendor and the wedding day, just for you.

Should a vendor suddenly close up shop for any reason, it’s better to be out the deposit/retainer than be out the full amount.

Second, if you have someone else paying for the service, say a family member, have them pay you, then pay the vendor. This helps you to recover any monies should you or the vendor cancel services.

If you parents helped pay for something and they want the money back, chances are there is little they can do since they didn’t sign the contract.

So, whomever signs it, should pay the vendor.

Also, make sure they have sample galleries of their work you can view.

Usually 3-5 is best and you want to make sure they are fairly recent too. What you are looking for is consistency.

Do they look similar in each of the galleries and have the ‘feel’ to them?

A wedding photographer without galleries could be a red flag (although you may simply have to ask to view some) that something is a miss, so do your homework.

Finally, make sure they contact you on a regular basis. Having regular contact ensures that things are good, even if it’s once a month just to say ‘hi’.

Being responsive (within 12-24 hours most times is acceptable depending on their schedule) helping you through the process is a good indicator they are great to work with.

So, make sure they stay connected with you throughout the wedding planning process. It will help calm yourself against any possible issues.