Engagement season is upon us, so couples will begin researching and interviewing wedding vendors for their special day.  To help out with this search, I have listed below five (5) simple things every wedding vendor should have before couples book them —

A Solid Contract.  A flimsy contract doesn’t protect you and it doesn’t protect the vendor either.  Make sure that your contract with your vendor includes the location, date, and start and end time of your wedding.  Other elements that should be included in the contract are the number of staff members on-site, the agreed upon services (list EVERYTHING), the delivery date of the product, the pricing, the cancellation policy, and the fees you must cover for the vendor on-site (such as parking or meals).

References and Experience with Weddings.  If you cannot find any reviews for a wedding vendor, check their references or ask your venue about them.  Your venue coordinator can probably provide you with some inside knowledge.  And, make sure they have experience working on weddings.  Why is this important to you? Weddings are very different from birthday parties, conferences and/or retreats, and your wedding is not the time to be a vendor’s training ground.

Insurance.  Your wedding vendors should have general liability insurance that protects their work.  Why is this important to you? If one of your guests falls and injures himself because a wedding vendor didn’t properly tape down their cords, you want to be sure the vendor’s insurance covers

Their Own Equipment. I am starting to see a trend where vendors require couples to pay for their services, then they require the couple to pay for the rental of their equipment.  This is ridiculous, and (in my opinion) unacceptable.

Back Up Plans. Most of your wedding vendors will be solo-entrepreneurs, so you should inquire about their back-up plan if they can no longer carry out their wedding day duties.  And, ask your photographer, videographer and deejay about back-up equipment.  You don’t want 1/2 of your wedding undocumented because of a lack of batteries or equipment.

Good luck with your vendor search!

Love & Soul Always, Kay