Family as Vendors

melntaitt

Is anyone using a family member as a vendor? I heard some nightmarish stories at drinks last night about using family members as vendors like my friend Ash -  her FBIL is a part-time DJ and hadn't done a wedding before but offered. She said he was pouty halfway through the party because he couldn't join in the dancing and put the party on a music loop. She didn't complain because it was a free service but she wished she had gone pro.

In the interest of full disclosure my cousin is a photographer with a business and a team and he's flying his team in for the wedding - he's leading the shots but the team is taking over after dinner so he can be there as my family member and my tango dance partner (lol) but I wondered if anyone else was doing this. 

CvilleClaire

A good friend of ours is in the AV/Lighting business and he's giving us his services as his gift.  Everything pretty much gets set up in advance, so he can still partake in the fun.

We have another friend giving us our favorites as a gift.  I was a little nervous, but my FI said he has already done a trial run. 

Jean6912

My sister (& MOH) is a pastry chef and is making our wedding cake.

doeie04

Our friends family owns a record company. They do weddings on the side. The offered to do our wedding for free. (We will be tipping him $200) Sometimes I worry that he will not show or something, but I have no reason to. I actually have thought about having FI make a playlist in case we have to go the iPod route.

I don't know how I feel about doing business with family. That is kind of how we got into the whole BM dress issue.

edw7479

My FSIL is making our cake as a gift, she's a pastry chef and makes amazing cakes!

ETA: I'm not sure about hiring a family member... I'd be too worried about causing a potential rift if my ocd kicked in too much! I think it just depends on the person.

melntaitt

Doeie I remember that; had to do some research but I remembered. How did that work out?

sweetcanadian1979

I am having his mom make the cake & she is helping with a few other things but i have nothing to worry about with her. 

I would be very cautious about using family & friends as vendors. Depends what it is, if it is a cake or something that the job is done before the wedding then it would be ok (unless they don't make the cake) but there are many, many horror stories out there & ruined relationships.

kipnus

My mom is making our cake. She offered, and I accepted. It won't be very complicated. 

SheilaDancer43

FMIL is doing my hair. She's been my stylist since FI and I have been together, so why would I use anyone different, right? Plus, she really wants to do it for me, and I get it for free! We are really close, and talk about anything/everything, so I know when we do my "hair trial" if I don't like what she's doing I can just tell her, and there won't be tension or anything.

MMRoberts11

My uncle is our baker and my aunt may be doing my hair if she hasn't moved to Texas before the wedding.  They both are professionals, offered their services, and I gladly accepted.  I don't expect them to do anything less than they would for anyone else so I went with them. 

doeie04

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_june-2012-weddings_family-as-vendors?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:3ae4d68d-f10a-4dec-8810-da13c14a7b86Discussion:30d6f16c-77aa-46f2-a129-695030035b84Post:980dca11-28e9-48a3-9412-911d738bdb47">Re: Family as Vendors</a>:
[QUOTE]Doeie I remember that; had to do some research but I remembered. How did that work out?
Posted by melntaitt[/QUOTE]

It went well. The shop completely fixed the issue before I even got there.
 
ExBM/friend blew it way out of proportion and made a huge deal out of nothing. I had them cancel her correct dress order and offered to pay the deposit if they couldn't cancel it.

I sent her a text saying, "Don't worry about your dress, you won't be needing it. We are no longer friends due to the way you treated me. Friends don't treat people like that." She responded 4 times with how I was the rude one and I was throwing away a perfectly good friendship and she doesn't need this high school drama. Then her last one was telling me that she talked to the shop early that day and I probably wouldn't have to pay for the extra dress. WTF?! I didn't respond to any of her texts. :)

I haven't heard a word from her since that day and it has been wonderful! haha

lindseyann410

My ex-step-aunt works at a bakery and offered to do my cake as my wedding present.  She did the same for my sister.  I am expecting to have to pay for part of it though.

My sister took a few classes for flower arranging in college, so she will be doing my bouquets with real-touch flowers.

My ex-step-sister is a hair stylist and cosmotologist and has offered to do my hair and make-up.  

I trust them all, and they are doing me a huge favor by saving me money!

Oh, I did have someone offer to DJ for me, but they had basically no experience, so that one I turned down because I'd rather have a professional for that because music was really important to us.

bchbride062012

My cousin is doing my flowers. She is an amazing florial designer even though she's a hot mes to deal with. I will deal with her drama to save some serious money.

Whtara10

My cousin is also a pro photographer and I am using her at my wedding. I've used her for my baby shower and daughters birthday too so I know what kind of worker she is. I didn't want to insult her by asking someone else so I gave her the option.