How to Find Great Wedding Vendors
Starting to research wedding vendors is a tall order. So much of the search engines and social media platforms are saturated with sponsored posts or paid ads, making it hard to actually find wedding vendors beyond the major ones in a certain market.
Our advice is to spend a good amount of time at the beginning of your planning process developing a list of potential vendors before you start reaching out to any. In order to do this, you're going to have to perform more than a cursory Google search.
Search Engines
The rule of thumb with search engines is to only focus on results that populate on the first page or two. When it comes to researching wedding vendors in a particular market, ignore this rule. Many wedding vendors are small businesses that don't have the time or resources to pour into SEO for their websites. In fact, the first page is mostly just paid spots, so you're only seeing the businesses with advertising budgets or corporations. This doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be a better vendor for a particular service, so go beyond the first few pages when browsing via a search engine.
Social Media
Pinterest is the main place for inspo and browsing wedding ideas, but from what we've seen, most wedding vendors are most active on Instagram. In the search bar, type a prompt like, "Las Vegas florists", hit search, and then sort the results by "Accounts". The default "For you" results are spotty and don't give a complete list.
Wedding Vendor Directories
These are hit or miss. While they allow vendors to reach a captive audience of people planning their wedding, they aren't a comprehensive list of vendors in each market. Some of them charge very high monthly fees to be on the site, so many small businesses just can't afford to be listed in these directories. If you only use these to find vendors, you'll be limiting your options to only companies that can afford to be on these sites.
Wedding Trade Shows
If you're getting married in a large city or metropolitan area, there is probably an annual wedding vendor trade show each year. This is a great place to scope out potential vendors without having to submit online quote requests, schedule video chats, or meet in person. This is also a way to meet newer vendors who maybe don't have an extensive portfolio of work or big online presence.
Ask Around
If the market is large enough, there is probably a subreddit for that city. Make a post asking locals for wedding vendor recommendations. Also, vendors are a good resource for finding other vendors. Established photographers know everyone. Dress shop employees will have industry knowledge of hair and makeup service providers. Florists will know which venues are legit and which are photoshopping their pictures online. A sales coordinator at an established venue will know the reputable catering companies, DJs, etc. Be cautious, though, as many venues have preferred vendor lists where they get financial kickbacks or commissions for recommending them to couples. Side note: always check that a venue allows outside vendors. Some require you to pick from their list of providers for things like floral, decor rentals, photography, etc.
Blooming Savvy
Looking for an affordable florist in the Las Vegas area? Check out our prices here.
WANT MORE BLOOMING SAVVY CONTENT?
Read our new book “Weddings Are Expensive - A Practical Starter Guide to Help You Begin Your Wedding Planning Process”.
Available on Amazon for Kindle and in paperback.
Click here to purchase.