Paying vendors early

If you have signed a contract with said vendors, double check to see if you can pay them off prior to their required date. There could be an extra fee (you never know).

I'm able to pay off my vendors anytime prior to my wedding, but double check to see if you can too.

I wouldn't. If there is some odd circumstance where they back out or go MIA, you will be out that extra money. It seems pretty rare (and I'm sure it is) but I wouldn't risk that just so you can get it over with. Transfer the money to a savings account or find another way to get it off your mind.

I agree with An. If it’s in your savings account, it’s earning you interest — not the vendor!

Plus, you never know what could happen. The less money you have out there, the better.

My mom is like you, so I get the need to get stuff out of the way, but just hold off. It’s for your own good!

My venue doesn't accept that. The explanation I was given was actually very nice.
They said that life happens - somebody could die, the couple might no longer be together, a weather-related emergency might happen and you need the money to do repairs, an accident that leads to a great amount of hospital bills. Whatever, it's all life. Once you pay them more, it's a pain in the you know what to give you back the money (minus the deposit obviously) due to accounting stuff, so you might not get your money back as quickly as you thought. Some vendors might refuse to give them back. That way, if you only pay them the deposit and save the rest of the money on your own, you have a much quicker access to the money than if you were to explain the situation to your vendors and hope they understand.

We're putting the money into a savings account and making a chart of what the money is paying for. So if I put in $200 for the photographer, I make a note, then add it up with the deposit to know how much I actually have towards that vendor. So far it's been working great!

I sure did. I would just call or email and ask if I could make a payment

I choose not to, because you never know what may happen in the course of planning. I'd also make sure to make those payments on credit cards in case of any issue with the vendor. Save the money and put it aside as IF you paid it off and forget about it until it becomes due. I like to do every payment except the final payment. That way i know they will still show for the work. Also what if they pass away or you need to push your date back or some other tragedy? You would need to inquire what happens to the money spent in those instances.

Check with them first. I paid all of mine early and most were fine with it. My baker was a little thrown off, but said it wasn't a problem. I actually feel relieved that I paid early because I won't have to drive over to my venue (3 hours away) to hunt down and pay all of my vendors on time.

I would hold off paying them in full until the date the contract states you owe them payment in full. Let the money collect interest in your account. I had the same thought a few months ago and I'm glad we didn't pay in full. We ended up switching venues because we found out some information about our original venue regarding mismanagement of money, personal issues with the owner and several other things. Unfortunately we may lose our original $k deposit, but its better that we only may have to forego that as opposed to the entire thing. Also, even though some places charge a 2-3% credit card fee, you may want to consider paying them by credit card. In the event they didn't perform their duties as per your contract, you can always dispute the charges with the credit card company. (Lets hope that doesn't happen, but its always good to be prepared!)

I don't plan on doing this just because when my money is in the bank, it makes money, so I would rather get the extra couple dollars and pay on time

I agree with PPs, we just have a separate account for wedding stuff and make payments per the contracted schedule (or slightly before).