Vendor booking Q's - advice appreciated!

DrPB2b13 · November 2010

FI and I are getting married here in NH. We have a venue picked out, though we have yet to put down a deposit (we're flexible on a date, so that's not really an issue). We also know where we want to get our cake.

My dilemma is that I'm in the process of applying to graduate schools, all a good distance away - if I get into one of my preferred PhD programs, we'll be moving anywhere from Pennsylvania to California, and if I get into a Master's program we'll be in either MA or CT (not far, but still a heckuva drive)

At this point, our wedding is still over 18 months out (approximately June of 2012). I'd really rather NOT have to try to book vendors entirely from a distance, but we're still a decent ways away from a) actually needing to book vendors, and b) having the money saved up to pay deposits.

So with that backstory given, my questions are:

A) Is it too early to interview vendors, especially with no plans to book anytime soon?

Should we be up front with vendors that we're interviewing now with no intention of booking for at least several months?

C) Same as above, but in regards to cake tasting - since it may be difficult for us to come back to choose our cake flavors, how soon is too soon to go for a tasting?

D) Since we may still be booking way in advance of "normal," is it rude to ask vendors on what their policies would be should they go out of business between "now" and our wedding?

E) Does anyone have any other advice for my situation?

(Of course, I WILL make sure I've officially booked the venue/date before I start interviewing other vendors!)

FireDancer04 · November 2010

I think given your circumstances it would be okay to start interviewing vendors. I would explain your situation to them, most of them will be more than welcome to meet with you. When you meet with them, make sure you take excellent notes so when the time comes you know what you want. Also be aware that if you don't book now that their prices and services can and most likely will change.

One way to do this is to visit as many bridal shows as you can.

dhdaydream · November 2010

FI and I got engaged last Christmas and set our date for 8/13/2011, so we had around a year and a half before our wedding. A lot of people gave us a hard time about planning things so early, but my FI lives in CT and I will be moving there this coming June, and so with a move and a job hunt in addition to our wedding ,we chose to do a lot of interviewing and bookings early.

We booked our venue at the end of January and our DJ and photographer at the end of February/begining of March. I ordered my dress in April (Good thing because it came in at the tail end of September and I still have to look into alterations). We did our cake tasting at the end of June. We had a little bit of a lull until recently. About 2 weeks ago we ordered our BM dresses and I am interviewing a make up artist and hair person this month. Our vendors were great about helping us get organized early because of everything else we have to do prior to the wedding.

I think you need to do what works for you. Planning ahead isn't always a bad thing especally when you have a lot on your plate! Hope this helps! Good Luck!

litskispecialty · November 2010

DH and I got engaged 7/31/09 and were married 9/18/10. While we only had just over a year we set our date a year out.

As PP's have mentioned prices change, ours changed right after we booked so we got really lucky.

I would be honest with the vendor about your situation. Honestly if they can't be bothered to book you that far out then they are really not that great of a vendor. Some photographers we contacted on recommendation were booked out a year or longer so booking this early may work in your favor.

It will be tough to book from a different state however. DH and I live in MA but were married in NH. Although it was only 1 hour to our site it was a PITA to get up there sometimes with DH's schedule rotating and I work a lot of Saturdays, plus some vendors are booked on days other vendors aren't.

Try to book as much as you can on the same day to save yourself trips.

We never did a cake tasting as our cake was part of our package (be careful with packages they save you money but you have no say in your vendors or price etc.)

I would also ask about policies. Our venue didn't tell us we needed a min of 100 guests. We ended up having 85 RSVP yes and 70 guests actually show. Thankfully our vendor pulled strings on her fault, but if you have risks of less than a certain number of guests or canceling/changing your date just ask what are you policies? I would hope anyone regardless of how far in advance they are planning would ask. Check on how long you have your deposit refundable for too.

With all of that being said interview interview interview and get recommendations before you book! Shop around and get the best deal you can. GL!

litskispecialty · November 2010

Sorry one more point. BUDGET now. DH and I sat down at the beginning of our process and said this is how much we can spend period (we had to pay for the wedding on our own). Based on that we can put x to this (ie ceremony site, recpetion venue etc.) Based on that we can afford x number of guests. Keep in mind for every guest it's one more favor, one more meal, place setting etc.

Once we had all of that set we took the amount we needed to save and split it up by 11 months. We wanted to make sure we had the total in the bank account by Aug for a Sept wedding because a lot of vendors require a payment by the 30 day mark (ask your vendors when final deposits are due now). This kept us on track. Anytime we had extra money (ha what's that?) even just spare change we put it into the wedding account we couldn't easily access so there was no temptation of oh well we need this today let's take out the money and just replace it, you'll never have the money somewhere else.

DrPB2b13 · November 2010

Thank you ladies! I will take all of your advice into consideration; my grad school applications are all going to be in soon, venue will be booked after Christmas, and dress shopping will commence in January, so I'll start looking into vendors around that time

Vendor booking Q's - advice appreciated!

Re: Vendor booking Q's - advice appreciated!

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