Vendor Vetting: A bride's guide to hiring correct vendors!

Hellooo blog fam!   Is it me alone or there’s been a spread of what I ordered Vs what I got news with event vendors lately online? Well, I either need to unfollow some of these blog pages or the issue needs some kinda attention.     In any case, trust me to bring you wisdom to avoid stories that touch for you and yours.   This is something I have used over the years in sourcing and bookings vendors for my clients and has been reliable 95% of the time. We call it Vendor Vetting   What is vendor vetting? Well, it’s a simple background check.   Whether you’re sourcing for vendors online or via a recommendation; you need to do a background check on them. There are different ways to do this but my preferred way is through Instagram, since most sourcing for event vendors happen these days on Instagram.   As you would have noticed, vendors usually tag previous clients on their page; simply slide into the DMs of 3 to 5 clients from their page, asking them about the quality of the vendor’s products/services as well as their general reliability. It helps you tell a legit vendor from a fake one.   And one good sign of a fake vendor is when they don’t tag their clients on their page. It’s a red flag, so run.  Chatting a stranger may not be your forte, but this method works 90% of the time. So it’s worth trying. If some don’t reply, chat with others.     Here’s a template you can use.   Feel free to tweak as you wish.         By sending these to 3-5 people you can be certain that at least 2 will reply.   Another way to also test a vendor is legit is to check their Instagram history through their profile.   Here is a sample of ours.         Simply click about on their profile and it shows you these; when the account started and how many times they have changed usernames.       As you can see; @rightessential_ was created in Sept 2021, that was after our original page got disabled.    The where an account is based also helps you spot japaed vendors who still pose like they are in Nigeria to book events.   Here is a hot tip too for a vendor who doesn’t tag a lot of clients, chat vendors/ planners if they tag those. They can also be very helpful. I know I have been. That’s it on vendors vetting fam. Stay safe out there as you source and manage vendors for your big day!   Lastly: Be careful as you book vendors towards these ember months. You already know it’s the most busy time of the year for event vendors, so do your due diligence. Aside vendor vetting:   Here are some other things you can do to keep safe:          1.  Confirm if your vendor has other events that day, please do. It helps you decide whether to hire them or not and    to manage your expectations if you already did.       2.  Set some ground rules before you hire a vendor & confirm timelines: how many days/weeks after the event would your picture or videos be delivered? How would it be? When will you pay up their balance? How many hours before the event should they arrive at the venue? Agree on these things in writing. If you don’t want to be too official by sending them a contract (I highly recommend this though) , discuss it with them and after that, summarize your conversation, send it to them via email/ chat and ask them to acknowledge.       3.  Don’t agree to pay any vendor their full payment until after the event.     4.  Get yourself a professional event day-coordinator or at least put someone capable in charge of vendor coordination   If you need some more tips concerning vendor sourcing; you should definitely read this post: Vendor sourcing: all you need to know.                Xoxo,   Your fav wedding Planner.