You're in love, ready to celebrate and throw the party of the year, so it's time to pick a date and start planning. Before you get too far, let's discuss our 5 Tips to Avoiding Unethical Vendors and shady people in the wedding/event industry.
If you try to go it alone, you may feel just that...alone. We always recommend finding someone to help guide you along the way. Not just to make things easier but to help you NOT get taken advantage of. Unfortunately, there are a lot of unethical people in the world. And when you think about vendors serving the wedding market, you would assume everyone is on the up-and-up, right? Nope!
Over the years, we've learned that there's not just one type of unethical business. It typically involves a person or persons, and not necessarily the business as a whole. But it can be both, so you have to be on the look out. After 16 years in the industry and keeping a watchful eye over our highly coveted preferred vendor list , we consider ourselves "in-the-know" of who to steer clear of and who's the "best of the best" to work with. This is where the right planner, or network of people can be the game changer you've been looking for.
So let's jump in and explore the top 5 ways to help avoid problematic vendors in the wedding and event industry. While these tips apply to couples looking for their dream-team, they can also easily apply to your every day life. These are all around good practices to exercise before you give someone your hard-earned money.
5 Tips to Help Avoid Unethical Vendors & Shady Money Grabbers
1. Shop Word-of-Mouth
Before you reach out to the random vendor that The Knot or Google recommended to you, ask your network of friends. Word-of-mouth is always the best way to find your vendor source because you are able to talk to someone first-hand that has already used that service prior to you. This way you can ask honestly what someone liked, didn't like, how smooth the process was, was the service worth it, and were they a good overall hire. While online resources will help recommend, truly nothing beats a word-of-mouth recommendation. 96% of our clients are recommended by other couples, family members and vendors in the industry. Now that's something to talk about!
2. Research, Read and Review for Yourself
Even though that vendor might have been referred to you, it's a good idea for you to do your own due diligence and research for yourself. We recommend doing all the creeping that you can. Google Reviews, Yelp, The Knot, Wedding Wire, Zola, Party Slate, and the good old-fashioned Better Business Bureau give you lots of vehicles for research. Drop that vendor's name into each one of these platforms and see if they come up and what others have to say.
As you find the vendor on these sites, be sure to read the good, the bad and the ugly. If someone has all 5-stars, great...but are they hiding something, did they pay to get the bad reviews taken down (you can't pay for reviews to be removed from most sites but you can on Yelp, so be aware) or are those legit great reviews? That's where it's good to look at mulitple platforms. When bad reviews show, read them for depth. Was the customer mad for a reason or did they not understand what they purchased vs. the service they received. Don't rely on just the "star" ratings at a high level. Dig in a bit and get a full understanding. After you've done that, you can always ask vendors that you do trust, if they know anything about the vendor in question. Most are happy to share their insight and perspective, and if you already trust who you're talking to, chances are you can trust their input.
Other points to consider:
How long have they been in business?
Where is the main office located?
Is there team made up of sub-contractors or are they actual employees?
Are they licensed to do business in the city? State?
Do they have a COI (Certificate of Insurance)?
Hot Tip: If they don't, stop there and avoid at all costs. This is a BASIC business practice and all business should have this regardless.
How long did it take them to respond to your initial inquiry?
Hot Tip: We believe strongly all inquiries and general outreach should be responded to in an 8-hr business day. Even if it's to say, "We got your email but we're jammed up or out of office, and we'll get right back to you tomorrow.", there's no reason they should respond same day. Communication is always key!!
How do they handle the questions you did ask? Did the conversation flow well or did the vendor seem annoyed?
3. Have a Live Discussion
You've created a list, checked them out online, and now you're ready to have a live discussion. We recommend doing this in person or via Zoom, Google Meets or FaceTime at a bare minimum. Live discussions, not just a phone call, will give you a much better sense of their ability to answer hard questions one-to-one. It'll help you get a sense of how well you will work together, and if they are being "shady", it'll likely come through stronger on a live virtual call rather than a phone call.
4. Ask for a Written Quote and a Contract
Next, ask for a written quote and a contract. These are also basics. A good vendor should be able to outline the exact services they are providing to you, along with a contract of what happens when, where, and how, and it should contain information about how they will mitigate issues along the way. This is also a good time to ask about that COI if you didn't ask about it before. Basic business practices should never be overlooked. This is also where we will warn you against hiring friends or family members to do certain things for you at your wedding. Got a friend that wants to perform your ceremony, as long as your religion permits it, fine with us. Got a friend that wants to do your flowers, DJ or Emcee your event, we're going to tell you that's a bad idea. As a matter of fact, we believe so strongly that it's a bad idea that we won't even work with friend and/or family vendors any more. We've seen it go wrong too many times and we've learned the hard way. No matter how you think it will be fine, and whatever bad thing we've experienced in the past won't happen to you...trust us, it will. Always does....so stick with the pros!
5. Listen to Your Gut
This may seem somewhat obvious but it's oh, so true. Listen to your gut. If you've gone through all the processes above, done your due diligence, gotten the contract and the perfect price point quote but something still doesn't feel right, then you need to listen and go another route. It may be something as little as you didn't feel like you meshed well, or maybe that vendor said something to raise a flag or give cause for pause. If you can't get passed it, we say let it go and find someone else. Your gut will rarely be wrong, so trust your instincts.
Keep in mind there are several factors and gut feelings to pay attention to as you go but with the right guidance and awareness, you can keep yourself protected. And as always, we recommend getting someone on your side, like a planner. Hiring a wedding (or event) planner will ensure you have someone looking out for all of your best interests. If you decide to go it alone, know that we're here if you change your mind but in the meantime, follow the steps above.
Lastly, if you're looking for more helpful tips and information, be sure to tune into our Podcast, "Lifting the Veil", where we touch on a variety of topics on a weekly basis. If you'd like to listen to episodes relating to selecting vendors, unethical practices, how to vet and hire your vendors, and more, click below or tune in to your favorite provider by CLICKING HERE and join us as we "lift the veil" on the wedding world.
Happy Planning!
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