Do’s & Don’ts: Building Your Vendor Team

PICTURE THIS! You’ve been going through the motions of searching for your vendor team, you’ve read all the reviews, looked at all the portfolios, and now you’re finally ready to start reaching out to a few vendors. 

All of a sudden, you have no idea where to start! 

Requesting vendor quotes can seem like an incredibly daunting task, but I’m here to ensure the process of building your vendor team is seamless. If you follow my tips and provide your vendors with all of the information they need, your vendors will be grateful and they will be able to provide you with quick, accurate, and custom proposals, tailored to your event. 

Here is some of the key information us vendors need in order to send you a quote or a proposal: 

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Your full name! 

• Providing your first and last name will ensure us that we are working with you and not with someone who may have a similar name in our client roster. Bonus points if you also provide your fiance’s first & last name.

• Your email address

  • We need somewhere to send this proposal so your email address in the main message is key. In addition, please double check that your email address is correctly spelled. 

  • Sometimes some wedding planning sites like WeddingWire, Zola and The Knot have the email already accessible, but if you’re contacting a vendor outside of those sites, having your email in the initial message is very important. 

• Your date

  • We need to make sure we are available to work on your wedding day, and having a final date, with a venue booked and ready, is important to breeze through your vendor booking process.

• Your wedding location or venue

  • Including where you’re getting married in the inquiry will ensure vendors will quote you appropriately for parking, transportation, or travel. It will save a lot of back and forth! 

• Your estimated guest count

  • We get it; when you’re just getting started in the vendor quoting process, you are not going to know exactly how many people are coming. However, having an estimated guest count will ensure that we’re quoting you accordingly. 

For example, here at Velada Events, we offer different pricing dependent on your guest count. Our counts are as followed: 

• Weddings between 2 - 10 people are considered an Elopement

• Weddings between 11 - 50 people are considered Microwedding 

• Weddings with 51 people or more is a regular Wedding

For some vendor types, other information is crucial. Below are some examples: 

• For photographers, videographers, and content creators, knowing the estimated start time and end time is crucial in order to quote you the amount of hours you need accordingly. 

• For hair & makeup specialists, knowing how many people are getting their hair & makeup done, plus your estimated ceremony start time, is important to plan the start time of the day. 

• For ceremony musicians, they may have multiple ceremonies/cocktail hours in one day, so having an estimated ceremony start time is necessary for a quote. 

Making sure that you send all of this information when inquiring will guarantee that you get proposals from vendors quicker, get quoted appropriately for your needs, and that you get past the vendor-quoting stage faster. 

Once you get a response from a vendor, I encourage you to take some time to review the materials thoroughly, but not too long to where someone can snag up the vendors you really liked and connected with. 

You’ve gotten all of your quotes, looked at all of your options and now you’re ready to start booking vendors. Are you wondering, “how do I make the decision?”

When selecting your perfect vendor, my advice is two-pronged: 

• First, it may seem obvious but pick the vendor you can afford and fits within your budget. 

• However, arguably more importantly, having a good personality match with your vendor is just as crucial as cost. 

  • You will be working with all of your vendors for a long time, preparing for one of the most important days of your life, so make sure that the people that encompass your team are people you connect with and that you trust to execute your day flawlessly. 

Follow these tips and you should be more than READY to tackle your vendor-team assembly! And if you have any more questions or would like to hire Velada Events to be your planner or coordinator, click below to schedule a 30-min consultation!