Is this vendor sketchy?

The slow response time may have something to do with the pandemic, or it might not - but it sounds like she always gives a response (even if it does take a few days), so that is a good sign! I personally prefer to meet with vendors either in person or through phone conference before hiring them, so if she refused, that would be a deal breaker for me. You could contact her again to let her know that you'd prefer to talk with her (either in person or over the phone) before committing to a contract. If she still refuses, I would start searching for someone else.

It is a little weird she doesn’t have another mode of contact actually

I wouldn’t feel comfortable with a response time of 3-4 days. I understand that we all have busy lives & Covid didn’t help but that just seems way too long. I definitely would want a face to face meeting before I would sign anything.

I wouldn't sign it. If someone wants your money then they should provide better customer service. She should have spoken to you via phone then followed up immediately after convo with email if she wanted a written record.

We hired all of our vendors and signed contracts through WW / email; never talked to any of them via phone or in-person as this was a destination wedding; however, the transportation vendor made us a little nervous because after we signed and sent them money, it took 4 days for them to respond! Looking back, I probably should have talked to them on the phone...but this was normal for us.
Best wishes!

I have actually signed a contract through WeddingWire without ever physically speaking to the person. Oftentimes, vendors want you to communicate via email, etc. so that there is a paper trail of what is agreed to. I am sure that is even more important in this current state of events while people are negotiating new details in their contracts- it is likely hard to keep track of, and would be good to have emails to look back on; it also protects both parties in the event there is a discrepancy about what was agreed upon. Also, 2-3 days is pretty standard for vendors to reply. Some of my vendors take even longer. Not trying to sway you either way, just pointing out some things you may not have thought about when you are deciding whether or not to book this vendor

I find this odd and would not sign the contract without speaking with her or meeting her. We met with all of our vendors in person, except our DJ. I did not want to hire anyone I couldn’t meet with in person, FaceTime, or talk to on the phone. All of our vendors provided us with emails addresses and phone numbers that they could be contact at, at anytime.

It really depends on the type of service this vendor offers. If she is a hair/makeup artist then she may only have her cell phone and not a “business phone” and may not want to give that number out to just any inquiry she receives. As for taking a few days to respond there may be a couple of things going on here. 1. She may be working a lot on weddings and may have limited down time. 2. With your wedding almost a year out she may focus on the recent weddings first before those further out.
I booked my hair and makeup artist through WW. Once we had everything decided she then asked for my email to send me the contract and she sent me her cell phone number as well. I’d say if you like this persons work, be honest with her and let her know your concerns of a lack of communication options. See what her response is then.

People are slower to contact due to the pandemic because they may not have their full staff working. What annoys me about what you mentioned is she only allows contact via message and ignores you on the phone. Find another vendor asap with much better communication skills.

I signed my DJ and photographer contract without talking to them on the phone. Between email and messages, that was enough for me!

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I agree with Lisa. 3-4 days is an annoyance, but it sounds like you are getting a response. I am really big on response time, and used it as one of the factors for who we hired, so I totally get it. If she refuses to talk on the phone, however, I'd say move on - that's very bizarre. I would not feel comfortable hiring someone without meeting them (however, COVID has def changed that option), so a phone call would be the minimum for me. Even if she only has her cell phone, she is a vendor and needs to communicate. Google voice also offers numbers for privacy concerns, so that shouldn't even be factor. Someone's vibe via email compared to their vibe in person/on the phone can vary quite a bit. We had an email and phone conversation with a photographer that went well, and then met him and it was a hard no. I did not vibe with him at all, and he seemed very pushy and continued to ask us how close we were to hiring him multiple times, despite saying we were still meeting with other vendors and would come to a decision after that.