Planning your wedding reception can be a huge undertaking and very stressful. Get off on the right foot by creating lists for everything and keeping those lists in a central location, either on your hard drive or in a good, old-fashioned folder. This will help you stay organized. Communication is also critically important because several service providers will be charged with making your reception successful. While they mostly work independently, they do interact with each other and need to be on the same page. They need to know what is happening around them at all times. Make a commitment to surround yourself with good, proven professionals. After you hire your vendors, maintain good communication with them.
Tip For Hiring Vendors: Research prospective vendors from photographers to caterers to DJ's. Narrow your list and then meet each candidate in person. Consider that your DJ actually controls 75-80% of what happens during the event yet accounts for only a very small piece of the entire budget. Studies show that most brides and planners wish they had placed a higher priority on some of the key players, especially the entertainment provider. Remember that he or she is responsible for the flow of things.
Get to know all your vendors personally. The relationship might start with a few emails and then lead to some phone conversations followed by a one or two lunch meetings. These days it is possible to do almost everything online with no personal contact, but this method will result in planning gaps and is not advisable. We love technology and use it everyday. But when planning something as important as your wedding reception, it is best to use technology with, and not in place of personal interaction. Do it in person whenever possible, at least until you get to know each other. Then use effective and regular communication to make sure everyone is on the same page. Good ideas can go bad as a result of poor communication. It happens in the business world all the time.
Remember the importance of your lists. They will serve as your roadmap and help you stay organized. If you simply try to remember it all you could go crazy. Lists will get the stuff out of your brain and on paper or your hard drive for access whenever you need it and so that you can organize it on worksheets. You might also want to create a website for the event. These are inexpensive and easy to create. It is also very wise to book everything as far out as possible to avoid problems getting the right providers or venue as the big day approaches. With so much information and misinformation out there you could easily become overwhelmed. So after some initial research and exploration, zero in on one or two main resources and use them to their fullest. It will make life and planning much easier for you.
Tip For Hiring Vendors: Research prospective vendors from photographers to caterers to DJ's. Narrow your list and then meet each candidate in person. Consider that your DJ actually controls 75-80% of what happens during the event yet accounts for only a very small piece of the entire budget. Studies show that most brides and planners wish they had placed a higher priority on some of the key players, especially the entertainment provider. Remember that he or she is responsible for the flow of things.
Get to know all your vendors personally. The relationship might start with a few emails and then lead to some phone conversations followed by a one or two lunch meetings. These days it is possible to do almost everything online with no personal contact, but this method will result in planning gaps and is not advisable. We love technology and use it everyday. But when planning something as important as your wedding reception, it is best to use technology with, and not in place of personal interaction. Do it in person whenever possible, at least until you get to know each other. Then use effective and regular communication to make sure everyone is on the same page. Good ideas can go bad as a result of poor communication. It happens in the business world all the time.
Remember the importance of your lists. They will serve as your roadmap and help you stay organized. If you simply try to remember it all you could go crazy. Lists will get the stuff out of your brain and on paper or your hard drive for access whenever you need it and so that you can organize it on worksheets. You might also want to create a website for the event. These are inexpensive and easy to create. It is also very wise to book everything as far out as possible to avoid problems getting the right providers or venue as the big day approaches. With so much information and misinformation out there you could easily become overwhelmed. So after some initial research and exploration, zero in on one or two main resources and use them to their fullest. It will make life and planning much easier for you.