7 Simple Ways to Research Wedding Vendors

When searching for your dream wedding vendor team, browsing vendor directories, reading online reviews, reviewing pricing and availability, and conducting interviews with your top picks are crucial steps. However, if you want to do extra research, there are other things to consider before directly contacting wedding vendors. Although important, these steps are not as crucial as ensuring that the vendors are within budget and have good recommendations. Check out these seven easy things to help you learn more about wedding vendors near you.

1. Social Media

Researching wedding vendors through social media can provide many benefits. By checking them out on social media, you can see the wedding vendor’s previous work, which is particularly important if you’re hiring a vendor that creates a physical product such as a florist or cake baker. You can also get a sense of the vendor’s personality and work style. Browsing a wedding vendor’s Instagram page can provide you with up-to-date photos of their most recent work or images that may not be featured on their website or WeddingWire Storefront.

2. Awards

Although a wedding vendor can be exceptional without having won awards, awards such as WeddingWire’s Couples’ Choice Awards show that a vendor has an excellent reputation within the industry. This award recognizes vendors who provide the highest quality, service, responsiveness, and professionalism, based on reviews from couples. While winning awards should be an additional factor to consider when hiring a vendor, it is still useful information when narrowing down your list of prospective vendors.

3. Real Weddings

Real wedding features, which are frequently showcased on websites or in magazines, are a great way for vendors to display their best work. Real weddings are also an excellent opportunity for you to observe wedding vendors in action. On WeddingWire, you can quickly check out a vendor’s Storefront to see if they’ve been featured in a real wedding. While being featured in a real wedding isn’t the sole factor in hiring a wedding vendor, it’s a crucial detail to keep in mind when making your decision.

4. Other Editorial Features

Doing a simple Google search of a vendor’s name and/or company name may turn up some exciting information. Perhaps the vendor you’re investigating has been quoted as an industry expert in local or even national news articles about weddings – sharing their expertise and unique perspective. Knowing that a wedding vendor has been quoted in the news provides additional assurance that the vendor is seen as an industry professional who is great at their work.

5. Vendor Connections

If vendors have been working in the industry for a long time, they likely have a group of fellow vendors they often work with outside of their job. By viewing these vendors through social media or their real wedding features, you can familiarize yourself with the vendor’s network. Are the other vendors well-liked in your area? Knowing that a wedding vendor is well-regarded by other industry professionals can tell you a lot about their personality and work ethic. On WeddingWire, a vendor’s professional network and endorsements can also provide more information about their experiences working alongside other vendors.

6. Industry Organizations and Events

It’s always a good idea to know if a vendor is active in the wedding industry, whether that means belonging to local or national organizations, attending educational conferences, or frequenting networking events. Not only does this mean that the vendor is well-connected, but they’re also interested in staying up-to-date with industry happenings to learn from others.

7. Wedding Forums

In addition to reading online reviews or asking vendors to provide contact information for past clients, it’s always a good idea to get references for a prospective vendor. This can be done by looking at local groups in the WeddingWire Forums, where you can discover information about local vendors from other engaged or recently married couples in your area.