How to email vendors: my three-part template

Good advice! As a vendor I rarely get much of the info I need from the initial contact.

And of course - how would YOU know what I need? Its not like you've done this before, lol!

This should save everyone a lot of back-and-forth if followed.

Did you get a lot of complete responses to this?

As a vendor (who used to be a caterer?) I wouldn't answer this. I know you're trying to make things easier, but most of this information could be answered in a short phone call (if not on the venue /vendor website) and it makes it very, very obvious that you're contacting a lot of pros in every category. It is pretty time consuming for us to give you meaningful answers when we know you're fishing. And you can't get an accurate estimate without an actual conversation.

Sorry to be blunt, but that's how it struck me.

Oh Lordy, that's too many questions for an initial email.

This actually reads as really high maintenance to me to ask all of these questions right off the bat, without even knowing whether the vendor has your date available. And makes it really obvious that you haven't researched them at all.

A generic version of my first email to vendors:

"Hi my name is ______ and I'm getting married on Sunday 4/30/17 at _____ in ______. I came across your business on _____ and was immediately drawn to your ______. I would love to learn more about your ____ services. Thanks so much for your time, I look forward to speaking with you soon!"

@Celia Milton - yes, most vendors got back to me with answers to all of my questions! There were two exceptions (both caterers, actually!) that called me instead - but still, those two had the email in front of them and answered each question on my list by phone.

I can see how it might be tedious on the vendor's side - but the the client side, we REALLY appreciated having all the info right there in writing, in a single email.

I'm surprised by the negative feedback for this, I personally think it's helpful for planning? Buuut I'm also the hyper-planner type, so if a vendor doesn't like that, then we probably wouldn't work out well.

@celia why is it wrong to contact multiple vendors at once and shop around? They should know if I'm looking around to see what best suits my needs. It's also very time consuming for us to make time for phone calls to answer the same list of questions.

The last 2 vendors I communicated with actually asked wanted the info of when, where, how many that I hadn't thought to give in the initial email, and would have saved us some back and forth. And the other one didn't have much info on her site, and after a very long phone call(she was a talker) it came down to price, it was out of my price range.

@Nerd, I don't think Celia is saying that you shouldn't "shop around," but sending an email like this is kinda like sending a generic cover letter for a bunch of random job openings. It's just really obvious that it wasn't written with the specific recipient in mind.

And as a vendor, I think I would be less excited to work with a person who sent this type of email, than I otherwise would be had you taken the time to talk to me like a person, rather than treating me like Google, especially if all of that information is on my website.

I always ask about the specific date and location.

For photography, I am a bit more detailed just to see if they will do what I am looking for since most won't build a reasonable package.

Otherwise, too much information and request makes it sound like you are doing market research.

Also in the google doc, i mention the importance of reviewing the vendor's website - the email ends up being very specific to each vendor, not a giant blast to every vendor on your list. it's not a one-size-fits-all by any means, but the general three-part formula worked for me every time.

it does take to review the websites and such - but the upfront research saved us a TON of time down the line when it came time to compare and make our top picks.

@em that is also helpful, I hadn't seen a set up for this yet. But as far as a cover letter for jobs, I used the same info/inquiry for all my jobs and it's worked out well for me. But sure I guess OPs post might be better for the second email after the important info is shared.

I sent super short emails and I got a response from all of them!

But I only reached out after I creeped on them on all the wedding websites, their own website, Facebook, Google Reviews, Yelp, etc.

So I actually didn't contact a lot of vendors. Most were one and done (booked)

@kirstin how is it wasting their time? They can simply reply that date is not available. The end.. It's more time consuming going back and forth to finally find out they can't do something. Provided this info ISNT on their website.

@O&S beat me to it.

Yikes! the vendors on here seem to really hate this. it's weird, b/c all the vendors i spoke to appreciated all the info i gave, and said i was asking all the right questions.

you can send a short email to ask availability and pricing - but if they're available, they'll ask a bunch of questions to prepare an estimate. so then you have to email everything in part 2 of the template. and when you get THAT information, you'll probably follow up with the questions in part 3 of the template! so that's three "short and sweet" emails ... when you could just send a single thorough email to begin with...

@kristin who cares if vendors know that you're shopping around for vendors anyway? it's no secret that brides have plenty of options. that's capitalism.

i guess it does come down to personal preference - my personal preference is to save precious time and reduce the number of back n forth emails, and this template helped me do that

I have to agree with Celia, it's too much and makes it obvious you're using vendors for information with no commitment from you whatsoever....and contacting a slew of them. I'd have to request a phone call or face to face consultation to make sure you're even interested in my services particularly.

I do appreciate engaging conversation and thorough information provided by the client, but getting all the info you need from us isn't always a one step process. Or us from you as well.

Following

I also think it's a little much but I don't see what the problem is with reaching out to multiple vendors, After researching many avenues, I contacted a "slew" of vendors, from the venue, photographer and DOC... I probably emailed 10 or more in each category.

"Hi, I'm FME, my wedding date is 3/3/2018, are you available that date? I am starting to look for a photographer and really liked your portfolio and would like some more information on pricing and packages! Thanks" Most emailed me back but a few called me.

Yeah I think this is wayyyyy too much for an initial email. The only thing I needed to know in my first email was if they were available on my date lol then we moved on from there!

I agree with PPs. This is WAY too much for an initial email.

Bravo!!!