Fantasy Sound Event Services is back with our monthly blog series, Seven with Kevin! This month, we wanted to focus on a huge relationship you’ll build throughout your wedding planning journey—the one with your wedding vendors. This small army teams up with one goal in mind: to make your day as amazing as possible. Your Planner, Florist, DJ, Photographer, and anyone you choose to join your team work hard behind the scenes and on the day of to bring your vision to life.
While vendors will always strive to deliver the best work and experience possible, you can make the process smoother—and even more enjoyable—by showing appreciation and respect in small, meaningful ways. Here are seven gestures that Kevin recommends to keep your wedding vendors happy every step of the way.
1. Communiate Clearly & Kindly
Your wedding vendors without a doubt works hard for you, but they are also putting a lot of time into their other clients and events, so clear and timely communication is key. Responding to emails and providing details on time helps your vendors serve you better, whether that’s confirming your ceremony start time or clarifying a last-minute song request. Kevin wanted to share, “It’s also essential to make sure the details and information you’re providing to your creative partners are consistent across the board. If you give one vendor new information, make sure you update the others as well. This can avoid confusion and delays on the day of your wedding.”
When communication remains open and kind, it sets a positive tone for your entire vendor team. Just remember that your wedding vendors truly care about making your day as perfect as possible, but they can only do that with accurate information and your collaboration. Approaching conversations with patience and respect will not only yield better results but also build a lasting relationship with the people who are making your wedding dreams come true. Help them, help you!
2. Trust Their Expertise
You chose your wedding vendors for a reason. Because you resonated with their work, their style, and their personality. These professionals have experience and know how to bring your ideas to life. Kevin says, “Nothing sets a wedding up for failure more than when I tell a client, ‘We’ve tried that before and it didn’t work,’ and they insist on proceeding anyway. It always turns out the same way it did the first time. There’s no worse feeling than walking into a wedding knowing you won’t be able to execute their vision.”
Trust their guidance when they advise against certain ideas. Kevin recalls a past event where a client insisted on moving their photo booth outside. He had advised against it, explaining that the outside temperature was too cold and the lighting too dim. Kevin explained that guests would be reluctant to go outside and that the dim lighting could affect the quality of the photos. Unfortunately, the events unfolded exactly the way Kevin had warned. Trust your team—they’ve got your back and your best interests at heart.
Photography: AGS Photo Art
3. Share Key Information
Information is truly knowledge, and the more your wedding vendors have, the better. Never assume any detail is irrelevant; share everything with your team. Vendors always appreciate a complete timeline, including any special moments and requests. If a member of your vendor team is left out of the loop, it can create an unwanted mess.
Kevin shared, “I was DJing an event once, and the photographer decided to take the couple off-site for a few extra photos. They hopped in a limo and drove down the street because the photographer found a cool tree to use as a backdrop. The problem? No one knew they were gone. Not their parents, not the venue, not even me. Unfortunately, dinner service had to start without them, and the coordinator had to check with the mother of the bride about how to handle the steaks. Should they cook them as planned and serve without the couple present, or let them overcook while waiting for them? They ended up serving while the couple was gone so that the guests could eat.
All in all, they were gone for about 30 minutes, but it threw the entire timeline off. If all the wedding vendors had been informed beforehand, it would have saved a lot of time, worry, and stress. Take it from us, and keep your wedding vendors in the loop.
4. Feed Your Vendor Team
A handful of your creative partners will be with you a majority of the day, sometimes working up to 8-10 hours without much of a break. They’ll be loading in, setting up, managing timelines, and keeping everything running as smoothly as possible. Providing a vendor meal and making sure they have something to eat isn’t just courteous; it’s essential. Kevin says, “It’s a small gesture that can go a long way. It will literally fuel your team to make sure they’re doing what they do best. A well-fed vendor team is a happy vendor team. And we all know, no one can do their best work when they’re running on fumes and potentially hangry!”
When you’re finalizing details with your catering team, ask your caterer or your coordinator about vendor meal options, and make sure there’s a time for them to eat built into your timeline! It’s truly a simple step that creates goodwill and keeps the energy high on your wedding day for everybody involved.
Photography: Apollo Fotografie, Simple Joie Photography
5. Be Organized
Staying organized is honestly the best gift you can give to yourself and your vendor team. When you have all your ducks in a row from the beginning, and you’re on top of those details, timelines, and logistics, everyone stays aligned and minimizes stress across the board.
One thing you want to avoid is giving different vendors conflicting information. If you tell one vendor one thing, make sure you relay the same information to the next. Kevin mentioned, “I have worked so many weddings that have derailed because different vendors were working off different timelines. The confusion and inconsistency will affect everyone. When couples stay organized, everyone stays organized. It creates the perfect flow that allows all of us to do our best work.”
When you’re communicating clearly and giving your wedding vendors the same information, you’re not leaving anything up to interpretation. Everyone knows exactly when, where, and how to do everything! This will save you and your family stress and help your vendor team to feel calm and confident the entire day.
6. Tag and Shout Them Out on Social Media
Once the whirlwind of your wedding day settles, one of the simplest ways to show appreciation is by tagging your vendors on social media. When you share your photos or favorite moments online, take a second to mention the creative partners who helped make it all happen. We know you’re gonna share those photos on the ‘gram, so take that extra step and make sure they are acknowledged! Kevin shares, “Tagging your vendors on Instagram shows future couples what to expect and builds trust in the team that made your day possible. You looked for the same thing when researching your own vendor team!”
It might feel like a small gesture, but your post can have a significant impact on future couples, while also extending that thank you. So, go ahead and do it! Show that love to your team!
7. Leave a Review (or Two)
After all the wedding craziness, something kind you can do for your wedding vendors (in addition to tagging your vendors on social media!) is leave a thoughtful review. It only takes a couple of minutes out of your day, and really has a big impact on their business and those future couples who are just beginning their wedding planning journey.
Kevin ended with, “It’s always great to hear your hard work mattered, and that the day couldn’t have happened without you. It reminds us why we love what we do, and keeps us helping couples year after year.” And like we said, you were once in this position of having to research vendors and scour the internet to find out any information you could on a creative partner. Make it a little easier for the next person, and let them know your experience.
Just a couple of sincere sentences on Yelp, Google, The Knot, or WeddingWire will help a vendor grow their business, build credibility, and feel seen for the countless hours they poured into your celebration.
