Vendors not responding to emails in timely matter or not responding at all?

This is really dependent on when(day of the week, but also time of day) you’re contacting them, the type of vendor you’re talking to, and how you’re trying to contact them.

View Quoted Comment Yes, I understand that. That’s why I asked what is the average amount of turn around time on emails (ie. 48 business hours) and do some vendors also have other everyday jobs. Thanks

Don't feel bad; I'm getting married in 53 days. I sent my baker an email on March 20th and still no response and my cake is paid in full. Oh and of course it's a destination wedding.

View Quoted Comment Yes some vendors have other every day jobs. My DJ, photographer, and hair and makeup people, and officiant all had other jobs outside of the wedding industry. The reason I said it varies is because a lot of wedding industry professionals take Monday off, but because weekends are filled with weddings, they may not return an e-mail from Thursday until Tuesday. This also varies on if you’re in a popular wedding area.

There is no "average" turn around time for answering emails as every vendor is different. Some may have different day jobs and for some, weddings are their primary business. Some people are quick to respond and some aren't. Some businesses are extremely busy and they get to you when they get to you. For some vendors, it's better to call. When you say they take "forever" to get back to you, what do you really mean? 2 days? A week? A month?

When emailing vendors, it's best to keep your emails short and concise (2 or 3 sentences at most). If you ask too many questions, they will probably take long to respond or not respond at all. If there's someone you're not hearing back from that you really want to do business with, call and set an appt. Vendors may get 10 to 20 emails a day in addition to calls, and they are busy with current customers and other elements of their business.

April is the start of the busy season for weddings so it's not surprising that vendors take longer to get back to you.

I had similar experiences with some vendors as well when I was planning. There were a few venues I emailed that just flat out never got back to me and I used that as a guide.

My venue is closed on Mondays so I knew that any email or phonecall that day was a no go. My photographers were pretty good about getting back to me as were really all my other vendors who did this as their full time job.

I did have an experience talking with wedding planners/coordinators who did it as a side job. We had a long conversation then they said they'd have a quote for me at the end of the week. I didn't get a single thing back for three weeks (only an email saying they're working on it and to give them another week when I emailed the at the end of the first week).

I don't expect people's lives to revolve around my wedding obviously, but I wanted to be comfortable that I would have vendors that would reliably respond to my questions if any came up.

My feelings exactly! Especially since I’m still in the planning stages. It really prolongs the process when they take three days to reply back. Yes I understand people have lives and are busy by sheesh. I feel like I spend all day checking my email waiting and hoping for emails to come through.

View Quoted Comment I emailed my caterer on Thursday and haven’t heard back. Now this I completely understand because I’m more than sure they have had weddings all weekend long. A photographer emailed me late Friday night, and I emailed right back literally (I have my email on my phone) and I haven’t heard anything back yet. (And May I add, they updated their social media). And as far as the ones who just don’t ever reply, I just don’t get that at all. But like I said I just take that as a sign.

View Quoted Comment Aw man. I’m sorry to hear that. Have you tried calling if that’s possible?

I'm having exactly the same issue here! I keep thinking do you even want my money!! Haha I get people have lives and it's hard to run a business but I can't help but get annoyed. It definitely prolongs the stress of planning.

View Quoted Comment My point exactly. It drags the whole planning process out smh I’m ready to book and be done!

I’ve had similar issues with my florist. She was slow to respond at first but I didn’t follow my gut and sent the deposit. I followed up to check and see if she got the check and she didn’t respond all week but had cashed the check. After that I asked for the deposit back and told her we weren’t comfortable with the lack of contact since we would be spending a lot of money for her services. I’m currently waiting for her to send the deposit back. Hopefully I won’t have any issues with getting it back.