It takes time and serious effort to find the right wedding vendors at the right prices.

I had this problem too. I’m not a confrontational person so I have a hard time standing up for myself but with the amount of $ we all pay, we have to push a bit. My photographer dropped out two months before the wedding and I kept getting No from any backups because the date is booked everywhere! We finally found someone, so relieved. Vendor stress is the worst.

I agree with you, Erica! I've interacted with some interesting potential vendors, to say the least

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Yes, I felt like I had to turn into a confrontational person during the process with the majority of vendors. One line I got really tired of hearing..."don't worry, everything will be okay, we will figure out the details later". :-( It was not fun, but in the end, all the pushing and confrontations were worth it. I got what I wanted for prices that I felt comfortable with. You are spending a lot of money and the vendors are being paid and providing a service for you. I was always upfront with them about what I wanted and they were always very agreeable at the contract signing! Then, many times things had to get ugly which I hate. Similar to your photographer, my dressmaker told me (months after it had been ordered and two months before my wedding) that they did not have the material for the dress that they had promised and that they also couldn't do the waist as promised. I went to my second choice dress and asked if they could still order in time and they could. Ended up being great, but I dropped that first store like a hot potato even though they kept telling me that everything would be okay...I had lost trust in them. I also fired my wedding planner halfway through the process because she just wasn't working out. So glad I did that. I am glad that you found a back up photographer!!! Luckily that is one of the vendors that was awesome for us! All the best to you!

Yes! I wouldn’t call it confrontational, you just definitely have to speak up, know what you want & be clear about it, when communicating with vendors. I find that majority of vendors actually appreciate clear, concise & organized information. I keep hearing from all of them: “you are so organized, it is so helpful to know exactly what you want”. So as long as you treat everyone with respect (and skip emotional bridezilla meltdowns when things don’t go your way lol), there is absolutely nothing wrong with being clear on what you want 🙂
We negotiated & re-wrote almost every vendor contract, especially the ones that were very one sided. So I say to everyone - don’t be shy to ask & discuss what you want.