Five ways to make wedding vendors hate you

Brides, if you want to make sure your wedding vendors hate you, stop reading. But, if you want to learn how you can be a brag-worthy bride, then read on.

1. Demand a deal
Let’s start at the beginning. Lately, there has been a lot of talk about the “art” of negotiation and perhaps this is going to your head. Before you meet your vendors, do your homework. Research the appropriate price ranges for the particular service you are looking to procure, and then do a lot of listening at your meeting. If there is a drastic price difference between vendors, then most likely you are not comparing apples to apples. For instance, not all florists provide the same quality of product, versatility and design esthetic, so don’t expect the same price. The same goes for your band, deejay, caterer, planner and rental operator.

Instead of demanding a deal, just tell us what your budget constraints are so we can work with you on a plan that meets your needs and helps you stay on budget. But, please do not tell us about how some second-rate “professional” is cutting you a deal. Because odds are, you won’t like our answer.

2. Stalk
Once you hire us, please don’t stalk us. We do not want an e-mail every time you change your mind or make a decision about something. If your wedding is not until fall of 2013, then you don’t exist to us yet. Lose my number until January. Seriously, unless you are splitting from your fiancé and calling to release the date, then we don’t want to talk to you until after the first of the year.

3. Know everything
We are the wedding professionals, not you. You don’t see us marching into your office telling you how to do your job, do you?
Instead of telling us how to do our jobs, let us know what is confusing you and what is not going the way you expected. You see, your wedding is our “office,” a place we frequent several weekends out of the year, and you only do this once (or twice or maybe even three times) and probably have not done this before. Please, learn to trust us because we are the professionals.

4. Know nothing
It is OK if you don’t know exactly what you want, but please don’t be so indecisive that you can’t tell us anything about what would make you happy on your wedding day. While we are quite happy to offer our opinion, we are not in that crazy little noggin of yours, and it is actually worse for us to work with a client who doesn’t know what she wants. Because then we run the risk of disappointing you on your wedding day if our ideas conflict with what you thought you wanted.

5. Multitask me
If I am your photographer, please don’t ask me to do anything else except take pictures on your wedding day. You wouldn’t ask the chef to fill in for the deejay, so please don’t ask your wedding vendors to do anything outside the scope of their contract. It puts them at risk of not fulfilling their obligations to you, and it makes your wedding appear completely unorganized.

Instead of asking your vendors to take over, hire a co-ordinator for the day, or ask your most Type A friend (who is not in the bridal party) to step in and run the show. Let your vendors do their jobs.

This article originally appeared on the GigMasters website at www.gigmasters.com .

The Bitchless Bride, author of the Bitchless Bride blog, describes herself as “a foul-mouthed wedding planner attempting to educate brides on bitch prevention.” Her blog is at www.bitchlessbride.com .