Top Reasons a Wedding Vendor Will Not Work With You

Many people believe wedding vendors’ goal is to make money and will work with anyone. Most of the time, that’s not the case! There are many factors that go into deciding whether a wedding professional will work with someone on making their special day as memorable as possible. The following list outlines some of the main reasons why a potential client might be turned down by a vendor.

1. Being Cheap

It's unfortunate, but some people believe that they can get away with offering a vendor very little money for their services. This often comes across as being disrespectful and can be a huge turnoff. Most wedding professionals have put a lot of time and effort into becoming experts in their field and deserve to be compensated accordingly. Now, from my personal experience, there is a difference between being cheap and being tight on money. There have been events that my team has chosen to work on because clients simply couldn't afford our rates. At that point, the ball was in our clients` court to persuade us why we should choose to work with them. In many cases, we have benefited greatly in other ways than being paid directly, either by being referred to potential clients, receiving amazing testimonies, or just helping out a family in need a member of which has been diagnosed with a dangerous disease and was already drowning in medical bills. If you are being reasonable and respectful, I don't see why you shouldn't get at least a bit of a discount, if that's something you really need.

2. Bad Communication

This can be anything from constantly bombarding us with emails, texts, or phone calls to not communicating back to us at all. I, personally, have an open communication policy allowing clients to text/call me almost at any time to discuss their event, but there is an unspoken understanding that if I don't reach back immediately, there is a good reason why. On the other hand, it happens more often when people hire a vendor and don't communicate with them expecting the vendor to magically be aware of every detail of your wedding. A wedding vendor can not read your mind so… communication is key. There is a golden middle where you share all the details with the vendor to make sure they are prepared to take care of you without micromanaging them. Also, if the vendor isn't asking your questions and/or offering suggestions, that's a bad sign. Great communication goes both ways and if one side isn't doing a great job at it, another side must seriously consider if doing business together will be a wise choice.

3. Being Negative and/or Treating Vendors Poorly

Believe it or not, back when I just started my career, I was hired by an older couple who thought I was simply their help. Not every vendor mentions it, but it's common sense to feed your vendors while they are working to bring your perfect day to life. During the process of being hired, I requested to be fed during my break and the couple responded with me being present at their wedding to work and not eat. A solid argument on one side, but it did raise red flags for me on the other. The couple later apologized after I told them my team will not be offering our services to them and we took them on as our clients. The couple ended up being sweet and professional to my team and simply needed to be educated on the boundaries but it did set a precedent! If you don't take care of and treat your vendors well, they will not care of you. I am sure you have heard of the wedding photographer who erased all the photos after his/her client/friend, who barely paid the photographer anything, refused to offer the professional a meal during the wedding. I know you don't want to end up in this situation. The success of your wedding heavily depends on the professionals you hire. Please treat them with respect.

4. Micromanaging

This tale is as old as the time itself. If a wedding videographer isn't getting the right shots and you are constantly on their backs about it, either you did not do your homework hiring an experienced vendor or you are micromanaging and not seeing them getting the work done in their own way. Either way, there is a lesson for you to be learned. Now, there are situations when a vendor is not where they need to be for one reason or another. If that's the case, there is nothing wrong with you getting their attention and making sure they are on top of the situation. Even the greatest wedding vendors are human beings and may make a mistake. It's completely ok to chat with them because... you guessed it - communication is key. Yet, constantly telling vendors how to do their jobs and, in most cases, not really knowing how things work is a huge NO-NO. Remember, it's ok to ask questions and keep clear communication going, but you have to give vendors their space. After all, you put your trust in them when you hired the professionals.

I've prepared this list to help you avoid potentially uncomfortable situations, which may also be costly. I am confident you don't relate to the items on this list... but if you do find yourself feeling triggered after reading this article, remember that the success of your wedding is in the hands of the vendors you hire and we are people just like you.

• Misha

P.s. Make sure to look out for my next email in which I link the article where I discuss why you shouldn't hire certain wedding vendors to save you from a catastrophe.