Choosing A Wedding Professional

Hiring a Wedding Vendor or Event Professional; what to look for:

It is sometimes hard to put a price tag on someone’s personality or their years of experience or to assign value to someone’s level of responsibility, artistic vision, understanding and willingness to help.

When choosing a wedding professional it may be difficult to recognize if these qualities are present in the person you are interviewing. It is vital to also recognize when these important attributes are not present.

Some people are more responsible than others. Some people are more helpful than others. Do they get results? Will they get results for you?

Hiring a Wedding Professional; what to look for:

What do you need for your event?  Flowers, Rentals, Food…?  Yes, of course. And, you will need to know how these services will fit your needs.  But what about the wedding professional himself?  What kind of person are they?  Will they be easy to work with? How do they conduct themselves at your event?  Will they deliver what is promised?

Here are some things you should look for and carefully consider when choosing a wedding professional:

• Do they listen to you?
• Do you feel comfortable talking to them?
  • Do they return your calls?
  • Do they understand you? Do you understand them?
  • Are they helpful?
  • Are they as excited about your wedding as you are?
  • What do you think is important? What do they think is important?
  • Do they present problems for you to solve or do they offer solutions to problems?
  • Can they predict potential problems and offer solutions?
  • Do they bother you with technical details that do not concern you?
  • Are they critical of you?
  • Are they critical of others?
  • Do you feel anxious or upset after talking to them?
  • Are they physically ill? (common cold, sore throat, etc.)
  • Are they scattered? (going off in all directions at once.)
  • Give them a simple task to do – Is it done right? Is it done in a timely manner?
  • Do you like their personality? Would you have them as a friend?
  • How long have they been in business?
  • And finally: What is your budget? – What is their price range? (Though important, this last item is not as important as the service you will be getting… or not getting.)

  

  Ask yourself:  “Are these qualities present in the person I am hiring?” or  “Are they not present in the person I am hiring?”

  You want to put together a great team of vendors who are nice people who can work together. Hiring people after carefully evaluating their personality is almost unheard of. Few people know that personality dictates future behavior. Sure, anyone can have a bad day but a chronically bad attitude in even just one of your wedding vendors could upset the whole team you are putting together.

  This not only applies to wedding planning but to business, government and interpersonal relations. Indeed if you were able to weed out of your life those causing you trouble, life would smooth out just like that.

  So yes, you will be shopping for flowers and linen and someone to be your Master of Ceremonies. But one also needs to “evaluate the personality of the person he is hiring” and determine if they indeed will provide a high level of service and represent you well on your special day.

  See:  Wedding Planning Tips

  Eric Zimmermann,

  DJ/Master of Ceremonies, Pianist and Bandleader of Elegant Music 626-797-1795