Opinions Please

happe2gether · May 2010

So now that we have the venue chosen, my question did you all typically "go with" the preferred vendors your venue gave you or did you do all of the legwork to find your own baker, florist, photographer, etc.? I'm tempted to just use all of their vendors since they know the site very well and plus I'm OOT but then again...

Thoughts please!
Thanks!

lovetothinkpink · May 2010

I went 50/50.I used the recommended people that I knew I would like such as the DJ,and Caterer.I however really want mini cakes at my wedding so I found a baker that did a lot of that,and I found a florist and wedding planner that I connected with better.

x3Harmony534 · May 2010

I didn't have an option with the caterer, but I was pleased with the list my venue provided. Planning a destination wedding is a bit more difficult, so in your case I might say steer towards those vendors which were recommended. If you don't like what they have to offer, try checking here for other ideas of opinions. I've found most of my vendors through recommendations from the board! I say stick with what they gave you because those vendors are going to be reliable & experienced with your venue, you won't have to stress about them showing up or not meeting your expectations, which is a HUGE deal being OOT. Good luck, I'd go through them all individually & see what you like/don't like, then decide from there.

Pretty Parula · May 2010

For destination weddings, I might choose the path of least resistance as well. When we first started planning our wedding, I was all "I'm not going to use the same vendors everybody else uses, blah blah blah" because I have a fierce independent streak. Then I started to realise that all these people book the same vendors because they're so good at what they do. So I think it's generally helpful to keep that in mind through the planning process. I was a little leery of the preferred vendor lists at first because I thought that maybe we'd get ripped off if we used the preferred vendors, but nothing could be further from the truth. From what I've observed, the venues we spoke with were all pretty particular about which vendors they would include in their 'preferred' list, which makes sense in retrospect, since it's also the venue's reputation on the line. Anyway, long story short, I think you can trust the preferred lists and should generally be able to find what you want that way, just for ease and peace of mind.

If there's something that you and your FI are especially particular about, then you may want to do outside research for vendors in that area, just to make sure you get the right fit. But that would probably be one or two vendors, not your whole list. HTH

happe2gether · May 2010

Thanks ladies! I am the leery type too. I guess I keep thinking about the "what's in it for me?" kind of stuff when vendors recommend each other kind of thing. But then again I had found a DJ and a baker at show once. The DJ was AWESOME, the baker was super sweet but when I actually looked at her work - OMG! I could never pay anyone for poor looking work. Bummer because she really was a sweet lady but I dont want my cake(s) to look like I did them myself.

mlharbis · May 2010

I think you should look at the preferred vendors and maybe look at past posts at different vendors people have recommended (I feel like in the past few months every vendor has been addressed) and pick one or two of those to look at as well. My venue didn't have preferred vendors, but I looked at about 3 vendors of each type before I made my decision. I would think a list of preferred vendors is a help because they do know the location well especially if they have crazy rules (my church has ridiculous rules and it was important to me to have a photographer that was familiar with it). Good luck!

Megs30 · May 2010

I agree with ML. It is nice to have a list of preferred vendors from your venue and you should try to meet with them. But I would suggest meeting with a few others not on the list as well. You want to make sure you pick a vendor you like and get along with.

Good luck!

cherriterri519 · May 2010

The preferred vendor list is helpful, but so are we! Most of my vendors were people fellow knotties recommended. I also used quite a few vendors that my twin sister used for her wedding, which she found through here as well.

Opinions Please

Re: Opinions Please

Choose Another Board

Search Boards