Skeptical about 5 star vendors

Do not just use WW for reviews. ANY good vendor will have reviews on other social media outlets: yelp, Google, facebook, google them in general.

I did give my photographer, florist, MUA and venue 5 stars and they deserved it, and I paid for it.

@Elyse I think references give the opportunity to ask more pointed questions than a paragraph review. I'm working with one vendor whose work I absolutely ADORE, but they could be way more punctual in the time it takes to respond to me. They haven't dropped the ball on anything so it's really no more than a frustration at this point, and if that's the extent of my complaints I probably wouldn't mention it in my review. However, if I spoke to a bride who was considering booking them in person, I'd probably just give her a heads' up in case it's a dealbreaker for her. I wouldn't want to make a mountain out of a molehill and potentially damage their business if I was happy with the majority of their services, if that makes sense.

Keep in mind that yelp manipulates reviews, and anyone can go in and write them.

Don't just go by the stars....really read the reviews because very often the stats and narrative don't jive.

Twostep, the detailed questions part makes sense. I guess I just look it it like I would with a job. If I got fired, I wouldn't put the boss that fired me down as a reference lol. So I worry that with references, a vendor would only provide contact info if they know the clients were satisfied.

I understand where you are coming from. I typically would only look at/consider 5 star reviews.

On the other hand... after my wedding, I had a vendor flat out tell me to leave a 5 star review!

When I'm researching something, I read some of the best reviews, some of the worst, and a few in between and try to come up with a general average.

A personal friends' referral always carries the most weight with me. That being said, I agree 100% with the advice to actually READ the reviews. I selected my MUA here based on the thoroughness of her reviewers here; there were numerous companies with 5 stars, but she was the only one who reviewers really went over the top for, beyond just "she did a great job." or "she made me look really pretty." (Guess this is also an FYI to reviewers: if you really do like the job your vendor did and want to give them a plug, specify WHY they did a good job rather than just saying "fun DJ" or "skilled photographer.")

I wouldn't be...the house we are renting for our wedding has almost 100 reviews, every one of them 5 stars...my opinion...I don't give 5 stars unless the service etc was fantastic.. I say go with them!!

When I read reviews, I also look at the dates of bad reviews. If the bad review was quite a while ago and they have good ones since then, I figure the problem has been resolved (bad employee fired, whatever).

I think I have a 4.8 and a 4.9 and the rest are 5-star reviews.