You’re engaged and ready to hit the ground running!! First off- congrats! I love that for you! Second- I am going to provide you with all the stress free tips and tricks that I wish I knew when I got started. I got engaged in May 2021 and by the end of the year, I had almost every “big” aspect planned. Though my wedding hasn’t actually happened yet, I have so much confidence in my vendors & I am glad I took my time to research the way I did.
The first day I sat down, I got my laptop ready and then quickly realized I had no idea where to start. I was familiar with some wedding apps to help, though, such as The Knot and Zola. I downloaded their apps and explored a little on there. They do provide “checklists” and vendor searches by city.
I found that while they were useful, the apps didn’t give me that much information on specific vendors. There were some photos and some reviews, but I found myself having to Google them or look them up on Instagram. Google helped me get a better idea of reviews & costs. Instagram though- Instagram changed the game COMPLETELY.
Stress Free Tips: How I Used Instagram to Find Vendors
- Hashtags. Search the location where you plan to get married and attach “wedding” to it. Ex: #chicagoweddings #chicagoweddingvenue #chicagoweddingphotographer.
- Start following the ones you are interested in. You don’t have to be convinced that’s your vendor at that very moment. Just follow them if you are even the slightest interested and pay attention for the next couple weeks.
- CLICK THEIR TAGS!!! This one is by far the most important. I found SO many more vendors this way. Typically, wedding vendors will post their work and tag the other vendors they worked with that day.
Stress Free Tips: How I Stayed Organized
Excel is life, friends. I sectioned off a page into the big aspects and left a few lines for the ones I inquired with. I listed what they offered and costs. It was helpful to make final decisions, and still helpful as it has transformed into my budget tracker.
Stress Free Tips: Big Aspects We Secured Within the First 7 Months
I believe everyone is going to start in a different place, so for that reason, I will list what I consider to be the big aspects and then share the order I went in and why! Side note: you might not need all of these, either. These are just the big ones that Spencer and I chose to pursue.
- Venue
- Photographer
- Videographer
- Florist
- Hair & Makeup Artists
- Caterer
- DJ
Seems like a lot (and there may certainly be more)- here’s the order I went in and WHY.
1. Venue
Spencer and I are both from different states. I am from Chicago while he is from Indy. We also both currently live in Arkansas, which we love so much. For us, we considered both financials and what we wanted the most from a venue. Consider what you are envisioning. Is it a church wedding followed by reception elsewhere? Do you want to get married indoors or outdoors? Do you want both the ceremony and reception on the same property? These are things to consider.
Once we secured the venue, I started to obsessively click on their tags, other bride’s handles and their tags, and just kept doing that!
2. Photographer
There are so many great photographers out there, how in the world are you supposed to choose?! While there are many awesome ones, you have to find one that will fit your vibe & aesthetic. I already knew what colors our wedding would be (and since you are on this page you could probably guess what it is…) and I wanted to find a photographer that has shot similar weddings aesthetic-wise. Things to look for when researching photographers: look at the overall tone of their photos. Are they colorful? Neutral? Dark? Light and airy? You want to search for the one that aligns with the colors of your wedding and overall vibe. You will have these forever!
I did the same thing once we had our photographer. I started to obsessively click on their tags, other bride’s handles and their tags, and just kept doing that!
3. Caterer
Depending on your venue, you may or may not need to research and lock in a caterer on your own. We needed to, and so for us it was important that both our venue and caterer have worked together before and were familiar with one another. It’s a major stress reliever, as that’s one less thing you have to worry about on wedding day. We obviously considered the cost, menu, flexibility with menu, and also their ability to serve family style, plated, or buffet style.
Once we secured the caterer…. I feel like you’re catching my drift.
4. Videographer
This is something I have always dreamed of having, so for us we know this was a big one to lock down. The more and more videos I watched, the more they all started to blur together. I found that by only looking at a few each day and recording my favorites, I was able to narrow it down to what I was looking for. Just like photographers, videographers have their own style. You want to find the one that will go with your wedding vision board. Things I considered were whether or not they had a drone, if they’ve done any videos with venues similar to mine, and the music & editing style. If you can’t figure some of these out by watching videos, you can always ask them if they have a drone, how the music selection works, how involved you get, etc.
5. Florist
I took my time with this one. I took any pictures I had saved from dreaming of my wedding and put them together into a “Florals Inspo” PDF. I made a page for each: 1) overall vibe, 2) personals (bridal bouquet, bridesmaids, boutonnieres, etc.), 3) ceremony details, and 4) reception details. Once I had the PDF put together, I would literally just look for florists whose social media seemed similar. I met with a handful of florists before I found the right one! Make sure you know what is important to you, consider where you could repurpose florals from ceremony to reception, and listen to their ideas too! One aspect that I am so excited about for my wedding was an idea provided by my florist (a secret I’ll never tell. Jk- I will share after my wedding of course!!)
6. Hair/Makeup Artists
This one took me a while because quite frankly, I wasn’t even sure what to look for. I eventually ended up doing exactly what I did for my florals. I put together a portfolio of looks I was going for, and looked on various artists’ social media to see what aligned most with my vision! Be sure to ask about bride and bridesmaids prices, as those will both be different, as well as flower girl. Also be clear early on with how many people will need their services, because sometimes they’ll bring an assistant if you are over a certain number.
7. DJ
This was also hard! Hence why it is so low on my “big aspects” list- because it took me a while. I found it difficult because their social media doesn’t necessarily reflect their work. Their work is their music, so unless you listen to an hour or so of an event, how do you really know what it would be like to have them? Well lucky me- I was at a local brewery when the DJ we went with was playing. I was obviously on the hunt, but I kept finding myself drifting from conversation to watch the DJ interact with people. I also found myself getting into the music. Both GREAT signs. I literally walked up to him and asked if he did weddings, then secured him the next week.
So I guess on this particular one I don’t have much advice. I would ask friends and family for anyone they recommend, pay closer attention when you attend a wedding, or ask for a sample of their music from an event? I didn’t do that, so I am not sure if it’s common to ask that, but worth a shot!
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We’ve definitely locked in other vendors that are big (such as a bartender), but this happened in 2022 and I didn’t feel an extreme rush to secure them immediately. If it is important to YOU and you feel you need to act quick, do it!
Other Big Aspects You May Consider
- A coordinator or planner
- Photobooths
- Stationary
- Any other unique idea you may have or something I simply just can’t think of right now!
I hope you were able to pick out a handful of stress free tips to help you get started. If you have any questions please comment! I am happy to help, though I’m no expert! Just sharing what worked for me 🙂
Happy planning!
