With so many moving parts, wedding planning can be stressful. You’ll be trying on dresses, communicating with guests, and making decisions you won’t see put together until your big day. The one thing you want to run smoothly above all else is your relationship with your vendors.
Once you have contracts with all of your vendors, you’ll want to figure out the best way to manage them all. Following these tips will make sure you have as much fun as possible planning your wedding so you can have amazing memories to reflect on while you’re having fun after your wedding.
One Point of Contact
Before you begin any wedding planning, you should decide which email address will be your main point of contact for all of your vendors. Having a single email inbox for wedding planning will help manage all of the communication you get from everyone that is part of planning your big day. It might even be a good idea to create a new email address to direct all wedding related messages. This means even less shuffling through other emails.
In addition to sending vendor emails to one place, you can register for bridal giveaways and wedding websites with this email address. Also, if you need to forward anything between vendors, you won’t need to worry about searching through multiple accounts. If you ever need to message multiple vendors the same information, you can easily blind copy all of them. Talk about efficiency!
Leave an e-Paper Trail
Now that you know where you’ll be directing all of your wedding correspondence, it’s essential to get everything in writing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a physical document or via email. You should follow up with any phone or in-person conversation you have through email.
This gives you the opportunity to make sure you’re both on the same page regarding your expectations and receive a confirmation of any agreement that’s discussed. Also, you should scan copies of your contracts with each vendor and upload them to the cloud so you can easily access them if you have any questions during the planning process.
Stick to Your Budget
Money can be a huge stress point when planning a wedding, so it’s crucial that you communicate your budget to your vendors. Before you begin interviewing vendors, create a budget that you can are committed to so you don’t end up spending more than you can afford.
When you know how much you can spend in each area, you’ll be able to manage expectations after you chose a vendor. If you have some wiggle room after signing a contract, that doesn’t mean that money should go elsewhere on your budget sheet. You never know if there will be additional fees that come up later. For example, if you have more guests at your wedding than you expected would RSVP with a yes, you’ll want to have that extra money to afford additional food or an extra member of the waitstaff.
Set Up a Timeline
There are two types of timelines you want to create with your vendors. First, you’ll want to create a communication timeline. This will be for you to know when to follow up on certain items and finalize your plans with each vendor.
Second, you’ll create a timeline for your big day. This timeline is more literal because you’ll want to know what time each vendor is showing up, where they’ll arrive, how long they’ll be staying, and when they will leave. This will help you know when and where you’ll need point people to direct vendors.
Share Pictures and Videos for Reference
As you discuss your wedding day vision, it’s best to have photos to show your chosen vendors. You can provide pictures of different decorative styles for the ceremony, wedding cake decorations, centerpieces, and more. Photos make it easier for them to understand your vision better than if you verbally describe what’s in your head.
Your DJ or band won't be responsible for a visual aspect of your wedding, but you'll want to help them build the atmosphere you desire. You can search for videos of reception games to show your DJ for reference, and in case they haven't hosted that game before. Also, you want to be specific with some music choices, like what you'll walk down the aisle too. Your DJ won't know how long or what part of a given song to start playing at if you don't tell them.
Hire a Wedding Planner
The easiest way to manage all of your wedding vendors is to hire one more vendor. That person is a wedding planner. Their job is to handle all of the communication with your vendors on your behalf. This gives you one person to communicate with about all aspects of your wedding.
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