When to pay vendors in full?

Your vendors will give you a date when the balance is due - most of our vendors are due 2 weeks before the wedding.

Your contract should tell you when final payment is due...

The contracts we have minus Dj do not give dates

Your contracts don't mention when payments are due?! Not even a "30 days prior to event" type detail? I have never, ever seen a business contract without payment info.

FH wants to pay in full right now. I plan on paying by their due date or the week of (if no date was listed) instead of dealing with this on the wedding day. As for a tip, I will send that with a Thank You card shortly afterwards.

@bee I just double checked bar caterers want by 30 days after Venue says by 24 hours before the rest no where on it

That's bizarre and super unprofessional! Are these actual, professional vendors? The payment schedule is one of the most basic parts of the contract. I have never seen one lacking this information, and I would run screaming from any vendor who presented one without a clear due date listed. Yikes! I guess at this point all you can do is call and ask.

On average it's 2 weeks before the wedding date

My advice would be to pay everything off as soon as possible. However, most vendors give you a timeframe. Like most of our vendors required a deposit of course, and then the rest due 30 days prior to the wedding. Others just request it before the day of. But it's so much easier to relax knowing they are paid already and one less thing to stress about!

Most of my vendors require final payments due 30 days before the wedding. If it's not in your contract, definitely ask your vendors.

Even if it isn't required, I would try to pay everything off at least a month ahead of your wedding date so that you don't have to worry about it.

They usually do have their own dates

I would call and check with the vendors to see when it should be due. Everything is different our Dj said we could pay him the week of . Our venue said the balance needs to be paid two months in advance.

Your contracts will have a due date. Don't pay them before that day. If anything happens before it's a lot easier to refuse to pay than to ask for money back

Mine are actually all day of wedding.

Mine are all due 2 wks prior but we're hoping to have them paid off 2 mo ahead. J

I ask for final payment 7 calendar days before the event. My main goal here is to not have my couples conduct business on their big day. I'd rather they enjoy themselves. Best wishes!

I wouldn't pay early unless you have insurance or are getting money off for paying early

Assuming you are dealing with professional vendors who you've gotten references for and are successful, ongoing businesses, when you pay them is mostly irrelevant. In other words, you can expect them to pay you back if it's canceled or something happens. So you may very well choose to pay them early, if that's the best thing for you. That being said... you never know, so it doesn't hurt to be careful.

I would pay when on or right before the due date. Why should the vendors hold onto and make interest off your money longer than necessary? You could be earning interest off that money instead.