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Using friends and family as "vendors"?

eagles.fan1234eagles.fan1234
1000 Comments
in Florida-South Florida
Are any of you doing this or has any married knottie done this and can share their experience?  What did you use them for (video, dj, doc) and what do you see as the pros and cons? I may end up with 3 family/friend "vendors" to save costs but it worries me a little....
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Re: Using friends and family as "vendors"?

  • FutureMrsFezzFutureMrsFezz member
    Sixth Anniversary 2500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    we're using a family member to do video for the ceremony. i guess it depends on the things you're using family/friends for, and if you trust that the outcome will be good. 
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User]
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I have half done it. A family member of FI is a photographer and he wanted to do our wedding to save us money. So he brought his camera to our e-party... it was really hard to get him to take pictures because he was having a good time with the family (that's expected, you can't just ignore 87 people you're fam with) Even though it wasn't as serious as a wedding I think that at the wedding it would be the same situation. IMO, family is always going to talk to them and interrupt them and since they're fam, "it's okay"... I think if you can avoid it thats preferable. Just my thoughts. :) HTH
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  • clovonneptclovonnept member
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    One of my friends works in a salon and will be doing my hair and makeup. I can't really speak the experience of having a friend 'vendor' yet, but I am excited to have someone involved who I actually care about!
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  • tshuratshura member
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I am using a family mbr for dj...he has dj'd my birthday party before it was a huge hit..plus he has dj'd new years parties and at lounges and clubs around Miami.  So I am confident he will do well at the reception. (he has done weddings before)
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  • eagles.fan1234eagles.fan1234
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I already have a friend vendor for flowers.  I think she'll do an awesome job and all the work is before the wedding and not during so I'm not really worried about this one.  But the other friend/family vendors I am looking at are photo and video. Alpha - you just explained what my worry was, especially using someone like that for photos.  I am hoping they don't miss things while conversing with other guests they know. 
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  • citytoshore09citytoshore09 member
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2011
    a friend of ours is an amazing DJ, but we didn't use him (even though we should have!). we wanted him to actually enjoy the night. plus, all of our talented friends could be easily distracted - i preferred having someone dedicated to the wedding. i'm helping one of my friends who is getting married by being her DOC -- basically keeping her schedule. i don't mind b/c i don't know a ton of people... and i'm having serious wedding withdrawal. :)
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  • JaiKriBabyJaiKriBaby member
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Our videographer, caterer, and cake baker were all friends of ours.  We had great experiences with all three with one minor exception that I'll explain.  Our friend who was our videographer has never done weddings, but is a film producer.  We used him both to save on cost (our video was our wedding gift from him) and because his work is amazing.  He brought another person with him to shoot the wedding so we could have double coverage and did not miss a single beat.  He gave us all of the raw footage and also made it into a movie for us.  It was incredible and we definitely could not have afforded something of that caliber if he was not our friend.  The only problem we had with him was that because he is not used to shooting weddings, he was in our photographer's way at several points.  When she brought it to our attention, we mentioned it to him (which was awkward), but it wasn't a problem after that point.Our caterer was our best friend and also did our wedding as a gift (we just paid the food and liquor cost).  Because he is our best friend, he went above and beyond and the food and presentation of it at our wedding was out of this world.  Again, I don't think we could have afforded that high level of quality and service if he was not our friend.  The same was true of our cake baker.  She absolutely out did herself and went the extra mile because of our relationship.  I think as long as you are upfront with your family/friend vendors ahead of time, you won't be disappointed.  When you have such a special relationship with people, they want to do their best and will typically go the extra mile to make your day even more special.  We have absolutely no regrets using them.HTH :)
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  • sharonephonesharonephone
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I had a friend use her brother-in-law (groom's brother) as the photographer and if she has gotten the pictures, I have never seen them (this was an October 2007 wedding and my fiance was a groomsman). I know for sure 6 months after the wedding she still had not received them. Remember, it just may not be on their priority list, especially if they are not getting paid. I would approach using family as a photographer with severe caution, as it is probably one of the most important vendors for a wedding.
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