So the wedding happened! You’re married! Huzzah! The planning is over, everything was amazing, so now you can relax and not worry about wedding crap EVER AGAIN.
Except not.
You definitely have earned a break, but don’t get too comfortable… there’s still stuff to be done! Wrapping up with your vendors is important, and the sooner you take care of the things the sooner your transition into married life! Below are some tips for following up with your vendors.
Paying: If you’re being billed after-the-fact by any of your vendors, make sure to take care of it as soon as that bill arrives. Leaving it too long is going to sour the happy memory of your special day while it’s hanging over your head. And don’t forget to tip when appropriate!
Photographer: It’s a really great to have an idea ahead of time what sort of follow-up our going to want/need/have with your photographer. While you might not be able to nail down a specific date, do try to establish before the wedding a basic time-frame in which you can expect to follow-up with your photographer after you are back to normal post-wedding life. Our photographer was really great, in that we got to have a full conversation after-the-fact about what all the next steps were, and how to proceed with selections, ordering, product choices, and our expectations for timelines.
Catering/DJs/Florists/Etc.: While it’s not necessary, it is a great idea to follow up with your some vendors if you’ve had a great experience. It can be good to contact the person/planner you were dealing directly with to say a simple thank you, or even write a letter or email to their manager/owner commending the work and service you were provided with. And some vendors participate in online rating listings, so be sure to rate/recommend/leave comments if appropriate. This is definitely not a must, but depending on your situation it can be nice to maintain a good relationship – you never know when you might want to use their services again in the future for any number of things like birthday parties, events for work, etc.
Location/Venue: Firstly, if you put down a damage deposit, be proactive in getting it back! And it can’t hurt to get in touch with the venue or location(s) in order to check up if there were any personal articles left behind by yourself or your guests. For those of you for whom there was little to no communication between the other vendors and your venue, you may need to provide them with contact info for your other vendors after-the-fact in the event that they need to do any follow-up of their own.
Referrals: Some vendors will give discounts to people you refer and some venues will even give you a “finders fee” for a successful referral… so find out what the scoop is for your vendors!
Returns: If you have any leftover or extra things that you over-bought or were unused (favours, liquor, stationery supplies, etc.) that can be returned, then make sure you return them within the allowed time… and ideally you’ve kept your receipts!
This list of course doesn’t cover all the possible follow-up scenarios, as everyone has different vendor expereinces depending on their type of wedding, but it covers most of the basics. Any other recently married folk have any good advice on following up with vendors?
