Wedding planning is hard enough, add-in a pandemic and it very stressful! But add-on scammers too, UGH! Here are some things to keep in mind when looking for a wedding vendor. If I can give you a little advise from a someone that attends a lot of weddings, you can ask all of your friends who they used or use a friend of the family for one of your vendors but I would talk to the pros, I have a list of vendors that I would trust to do my own son’s wedding and I wouldn’t hesitate to share that information with you! Before we do that we are here to help guide you through some of the big decisions that will make it a little smoother and less stressful. 

1 Buying a Dress from a Fraudulent Website. 

I am here to tell you everything you read or see on the internet isn’t always what it looks like, shocking I know! It’s pretty easy to spot a seller that shouldn’t be trusted. There are vendors out there that are on the internet that show you a beautiful dress that looks like a million dollars and charge you $150, you think WOW, I am on a super tight budget, this is perfect, right? WRONG!  You order it and wa-wa-wa that is not what you get in the mail! This is why I HIGHLY recommend going to a store/salon/boutique to try on or find your dress or even your bridesmaid dresses! You will hear this phrase a lot from me on this blog post, meet your vendors in person! The phrase if its too good to be true it probably is, you need to trust your gut.  I have had a number of brides that said they ordered the bridesmaid dresses off Amazon or from a Facebook ad and when they arrive, they were not what the picture showed, or sizing is WAY off!!! If you must order online pay attention to where it is coming from, I would highly recommend staying away from vendors shipping from China, sad to say but true. These can be highly miss-sized, or not very good qualify, or even worse take months to get here! Some ways to check out a vendor are the reviews that they have received, the BBB, make sure the site has a working phone number or email or both.  One tip that I found when doing this article what don’t pay 100% upfront, you have no leverage if something goes wrong. 

2. Falling Victim to a Bankrupt Company

Times like now that we are in are sad but true, there are a lot of companies going out of business or filing for Bankruptcy and often times this means they are closing their doors abruptly, leaving you standing in the lurch without a dress that you have already paid for. There really is no way to detect this might happen but here’s a helpful tip. Periodically check in and keep in touch with your dress shop or retailer, even if you have months until your delivery date or big day, get to know the staff/build a relationship with them, I’m not saying go out for drinks but you get more bee’s with honey than you do with lemons. If you have a friendship you might hear a little more if something is “going down”.

3. Getting Ripped Off by a Gem Seller

Unfortunately, a lot of ring shoppers get duped into buying a phony diamond or a ring that isn’t as valuable as advertised. This is a tough one, not too many of us are gemologists but the internet can be very helpful! Do some research before buying your rings.  Ask the retailer if the rings/stones are GIA (Gemological Institute of America) certified. GIA is deemed by industry experts to be the top gemstone rating agency in the world. Having a GIA-approved certificate for a ring means it underwent inspection by professional gemologist.  I would again, suggest going into a retailer to make this big purchase, do your research. 

4.  Hiring an Unreliable Wedding Planner

You hired a wedding planner to help relieve stress off of you and help you not make matters worse!  Hiring a flaky or disorganized wedding planner can easily ruin your wedding not to mention your bank account!  One way to check on if you are hiring a reliable wedding planner, you can check online for their reviews, google, The Knot, Wedding Wire or Better Business Bureau.  Make sure they have tons of happy customers.  If they are just starting out ask for phone or emails from past brides. Do your homework and trust your gut or you’re going to have Aunt Suzie as your coordinator. 

5.   Picking a No-Show Vendor

This title should be slightly changed to be no-show or low-quality vendor.  The last thing you need on your wedding day is to have a vendor not show up or bring you less than beautiful flowers! If you are looking for a vendor, ask to meet them in person, don’t put too much down upfront, chat or check in with them often.  As a photographer, I check in with my couples a 2-3 times before their wedding and often I follow them on social media this way it gives us a chance to get to know each other a little better, see how their planning is going, recommend great vendors and feel like family when it comes to your big day! Vendors work a lot with other vendors and we know who the bad ones are! Do your homework is said through-out this blog but if you ask around to your friends who they used for their wedding, go to wedding shows (when they are re-opened), ask other vendors who they recommend, look on the internet for reviews: Google, The Knot, Wedding Wire.  

Planning a wedding is a lot of work, if you have a vision there are a lot of professionals out there that can make that vision come to life! At the beginning of this post, I said I would share my list with you will here it is, I work with some of the hardest working wedding professionals in the Willamette Valley and I would recommend anyone on this list for my own son’s wedding. (no, no-one is getting married) It does take work but it will be worth every effort that you put into it!