We completely understand couples have to research
prior to officially planning their special day.
I know we personally encourage researching 10 venues, get information
from at least 5 and tour at least 3 venues.
However, with all other vendors we suggest researching 5, get
information from at least 3 and meet with two before narrowing it down to “the
one” vendor to complete that service.
Now with some categories you may have to research more which means there
may be more that you no longer need their information. Today’s blog is all about letting vendors
know you no longer need their services and that you have made your decision to
go a different direction.
It’s late at night, you’re checking all the
wedding websites to learn about local vendors and venues. You’re cruising from one site to another,
requesting information to learn more…by the end of the night you can have a ton
of inquiries out there waiting on responses the next morning. But what do you expect to do with all of that
information once it comes in? Some you
will immediately know it’s not for you, some you’ll hold on just to wait and
see what else is out there and then some you may be ready to book or meet with
that day. From a vendor’s view point, we
love getting those inquiries, but what we really love are responses that you
received the information.
Are you planning on attending a wedding show? That’s great because you will get to
meet
LOTS of vendors/venues in one day in person.
The downsize is you will get to meet LOTS of vendors/venues in one day
in person and that can be very overwhelming.
That amount of information overload can make you want to throw that
entire bag of information in the trash and start over from scratch because
unless you go to wedding show with a plan/goal you are most likely filling out
every form and collecting information from every vendor. When attending a wedding show have a
checklist (create forms) to ask certain vendors questions to compare one
another to each other. Create labels to
use to fill out vendor inquiries (name, wedding email address, phone number and
date). Have stickers to put on
brochures/cards of vendors you really want to talk to that week to follow up
with. Have two bags: 1) just collecting
information (did/did not fill out their inquiry) and 2) vendors that really
sparked your interest and that you may need their services.
So after you’ve done your researched and attended
multiple wedding shows and/or open houses, met your potential vendors, and booked
all of those services you know you are going to be going with. Please take the time to respond to those that
you’ve reached out to and let them know you decided you’ve gone a different
direction so those vendors will not continue to call and bug you. Most vendors will add you to a newsletter or
email blast. Now if you love the
information you receive, stay on that newsletter but if you do not want to
receive their information most will have an unsubscribe link on those emails to
stop receiving them. Last but not least
if that vendor calls to check in, take the call and let them know you
appreciate their follow up, but you have chosen a different direction.
This blog is never an easy one to talk about, but
as a planner I have several vendors request for me to use my platform to
educate couples about letting vendors know they have chosen a vendor in that
service. Trust me they will appreciate
your honesty more and will respect you even more by respecting their time too.
They don’t want to waste your time with a phone call, voicemail or another
email if you no longer need their services.
After the wedding, make sure to keep your wedding
email address active for 2-6 months before deleting the account. Most of your vendors will be requesting for
vendor reviews, following up, reaching out to say thanks and if you need to
receive product afterwards (albums/videos).
You want to make sure to check that email address at least once every
other week following your big day. Plus
it really keeps everything on place at a time.
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