Online Bookings

I found 95% of my vendors through WeddingWire. I always tried to find their website/social media pages though before booking and also you should call/message/meet them and ask them a bunch of questions. That helped me weed out the ones I thought weren’t as professional as I wanted.
Also I liked when reviews had pictures it made it seem more trustworthy for me, especially for hair & makeup.
Honestly there’s always a risk when hiring someone you don’t know, like hiring anyone to do work on your house

I highly suggest doing extended research— Facebook, google, yelp, etc.


I hired a coordinator based on her great WW reviews and if I had done a bit more digging into her social media and her past work, I would have realized she wasn’t the right choice. She singlehandedly messed up my wedding. It was lovely, but let’s just say I’ll probably have to spend thousands just to redo pics that she ruined. Lol.

I found all my vendors online through wedding wire especially since I was planning across the country. They all turned out wonderful. Professional, high quality work, kind people. There were a some people I interviewed or contacted who didn’t respond to emails within a few days, or said things that didn’t seem right or had lower reviews so they weeded themselves out.

If you know people who have been previously married, I would ask them for suggestions. We got our photographer that way, and he was amazing. I also felt better knowing that the positive review came from a person I actually knew (and I could see a bunch of her photos online). I just posted on FB asking for recommendations, and a bunch of people gave me suggestions. I then did some research of the people they recommended and narrowed it down from there. Plus, weddings work in a weird way in that the vendor will usually give you a discount for being referred by a past client lol.

I agree with pp's suggestion that if you have people who can refer you to someone else, that helps! for me i was grateful that the dj/photobooth person was someone referred to me and he was wonderful. otherwise i would have been skeptical too cause he had craigslist ads and those are sometimes sketchy.

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You are differently correct. That is how exactly I got the few I got. I'm all about communication. I have an entire questionnaire for every vendor Thanks for your comment!

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What really sucks is that I do not have social media. This site is as close as it gets for me. lol. Trust with one vendor I've even contacted their insurance company to verify because they seemed sketchy. Like how don't you have photos of you actually DJ'n? It really looked like this guy posted pics from others' weddings. -- Thank you for your advice.

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Lol awesome. The COVID makes it seem like we are all across the country lol. It's so tough. I would go to Vegas if I wanted to gamble. I'm so afraid and its really because of things I cannot see. I've booked people before and that is why I'm like "ummmmm" let me keep digging lol. Thanks a lot for sharing.

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I know NONE. I've seen their pics from weddings I've been to and I do not even want to ask. lol

That's smart. I'm prior military so I always tend to throw that in somehow. Never hurts to ask! lol

Thank you Hannah

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Definitely! I think I need more friends because this would be easier. lol. Luckily I have a cousin that has a band and he is going to recommend bands he has played with. But sheesh whoever said it was this hard. lol - thank you

My vendors are a combo from the recommended list I got from my venue and what I found on weddingwire.
My FH and I both agreed that if the vendor didn’t have good communication when we were looking for pricing and options then we wouldn’t even consider them.
We have some awesome vendors and they all have hit the communication piece for us. Some of our vendors called us when we inquired instead of messaging back and forth. That in and of itself was a huge plus for me.

Girl YES!!! I found this photographer through WW that seemed amazing, looked so professional, had an active IG, really impressive site, we messaged back and forth, she seemed perfect. And then, our phone meeting came, and she sounded YOUNG! So I asked her how many weddings she has shot and IT WAS HER FIRST YEAR DOING PHOTOGRAPHY!! Like GIRLLLLL WHATTTTT, you are charging rates that make it seem like you have been doing this forever, and then I asked more questions and she clearlyyyyy is inexperienced, had no backup plans, didn't know anything about insurance, release wavors, basically anything standard. I told her honestly I think she needs to take some years working under and experienced professional before just starting her own business, and that sorry but no way I am spending $2,000 to be the guinea pig for someone who has shot maybe two wedding lmao (I was really nice and respectful to her but lord I was SHOOK)

Definitely do extra research through sites other than WW and the Knot. Also, I highly suggest meeting with vendors before booking them. I know that maybe a little difficult right now with Covid-19, but there is always FaceTime or Zoom meetings! Having a face to face meeting with someone, as apposed to a few emails or a phone call, makes a world of difference! We met with all but one of our vendors face to face before booking them and had great success.

View Quoted Comment Did she have reviews on WW?


I believe you on this one though! It’s crazy how some people can create such a strong social media presence and their work/service ends up being crap. My photographer rarely posts on IG or updates his blogs, but the full galleries he sent me spoke volumes of his experience.
Imagine if you didn’t ask questions or do your through research, and ended up hiring her. What if her files got corrupted and she didn’t have a backup?! Or a guest tripped over her equipment?! I have anxiety just thinking about it. Lol.

I have been using wedding wire to book most of my vendors. But I have also done extensive research on the vendor before I gave them any money. My wedding is also in 2021. My fiancé and I had the date planned before the pandemic. And I have been pretty relaxed on booking stuff because I had 2 years. But now I'm seeing that a lot of these vendors are booking up for that date even though my wedding is in August of 2021.

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Yes, exactly that's how I was able to book the photo/video. The vendors with the best communication are the ones I picked. "you get what you pay for" Then again some of the vendors that seem great but were expensive were the ones that weren't great on communication which I found odd. But I totally again with you. That is helping me narrow down caterers at the moment.

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Lol omg Autumn, you had me really laughing. Yes, that is my biggest fear. "guinea pig" I have no interest in whatsoever! lol She is trying to compete in a market with no experience those prices need to be brought waaaayyyy down and stated upfront. lol

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OMG Katie, we are in the same boat. I just knew I had plenty of time. Clearly not because of the wedding that was planned for 2020 is now being pushed to our times. The venue I had been communicating about had got booked by a 2020 bride so me and my FH talked and we decided whatever we picked from now on would be the one and no need to postpone deposits to secure our date. So the next venue we picked was a little out of range but at least we have a year and a half to get allllll the money together. but sheeeesh I thought we were ahead of the game. no one would have ever thought of this pandemic. Heck mine is Dec 2021 and my venue was booked so yeah I get it lol

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It definitely makes sense. I did not think of that. Thanks Meghan.

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Ahhhhh! oh no, that would be horrific. I never thought that this would give me anxiety. lol Thanks for commenting Karla.