When to book your Wedding Vendors | Wedding Planning Tips |

I know - there are hundreds of blog posts from every wedding vendor telling you to book them first - naturally.

However, there really is an order that works, and if you stick to it you’ll have less stress in the planning process.

Who gets booked first depends on what direction you’re going in with your wedding designing and planning. Are you doing it all yourself? Or are you outsourcing the design and management of the day to a planner?

If you are - then there are two vendors that you hire early on.

The first is the venue - without that you don’t have a date set in stone. You also don’t have a place to host the event…so find a venue, book it. Or, if you’re working with a wedding planner, they can do that for you early in the process of working together depending on the service you’re having them do for you.

A wedding planner is in my opinion, a worthwhile investment - depending of course on the type of wedding that you’re hosting.

So once the venue has been booked, the two other vendors that you hire are your wedding planner, and the next vendor who is a sole operator who may also be in demand. That could be anyone - the florist, DJ, musician, or even the photographer.

The best way to put together the wedding that you want, is to pick two or three people or businesses in each category and then interview them. Once you have your short list, book them all that day.

Why that day?

Because we all book up quickly.

Even if your wedding is over a year away.

Even if the service you’re hiring is only “day of planning” - booking the most important people early gets you the vendors you want.

There are vendors that have multiple options to choose from - some venues have more than one space that can be rented out, some photography studios hire students each year so they can book out multiple weddings each weekend - those types of businesses don’t need to be booked right away.

But if you’re hiring an individual - then you need to book right away.