To start off this topic, I should explain that I don't specifically mean summer weddings.
What we're talking about here is all of you who are doing your wedding planning right now, in the summer months (for a wedding day anytime in the year).
You may not realize it, until you really get into it- but this time of year is unique.
Compared to the other popular engagement time of the year (Winter), your potential wedding vendors are not only receiving inquiries from lots of couples, but they're also working with a booked calendar helping all of their current clients bring their wedding day visions to life while also working closely with couples getting married over the next few months to make sure that everything is in place for a smooth wedding day.
I sometimes hear feedback that clients are frustrated with other vendors who are taking a long time to respond to them. I don't necessarily know if this was something experienced in general or just during this time of the year. Although, it's worth mentioning that if you're experiencing a delay in response times during busy season (and your wedding is 3 + months away) it's probably not cause for concern.
To share a little insight, most of the wedding vendors you will be working with are local small business owners. Some of us have some admin help, while with others, the person you are working with on the wedding day is also the person responding to all of the emails and holding all of the other rolls in the business.
Personally speaking, I don't leave a client hanging, but occasionally I'll have someone ask for something (like a trial run or a detailed wedding itinerary) months ahead of our timeline that I am simply unable to work into my schedule at that moment. In this case I like to remind our clients of our process and assure them that they will hear from me on a specific date to handle it.
Similarly, if you're requesting an in-person meeting of any sort prior to booking (when this isn't typical) you might find unfortunately, that you have to wait awhile for that to be available. In our business, a client will occasionally request to have a trial run session prior to booking and this is the time of the year when that gets a little tricky. Through early fall, our trial run schedule is quite booked with our clients who are getting married in the coming months, so it's typical that there may not be availability for a little while.
Read on for my 3 Pro Tips!
Tip #1. Focus on one - two vendor categories at a time. Find a few options to connect with and learn more about their processes and then close out each task by finalizing your booking. While you can expect response times to be a bit slower than in the winter, if a vendor takes a week or more to get back to you during this phase you might want to take that as a sign. I would.
Bonus tip; Request a phone/video call rather than in person meeting when possible. This will be much easier to coordinate much sooner. I know that I can always offer options for a phone conversation within the current week, while coordinating a hair and makeup session during busy season might take 3-8 weeks.
Tip #2. Make sure you're aware of the next steps with each vendor, if they involve any action on your part, and then make note of them in your calendar. This one is HUGE. This prevents you from worrying because you haven't heard anything from your vendors in August through November (or sending multiple check in emails) when your next steps aren't actually happening until March. I recommend using Google calendar and entering each item like this "Wedding Task- work on hair & makeup inspo". Then you can always search "Wedding Task" to see everything at a glance.
Tip #3. Enjoy all the lovely current work your vendors are producing. Once you've completed 1 & 2, it's your opportunity to relax, enjoy the rest of the summer and be sure to follow all of your vendors on Instagram so you can see the newest work they are creating. This may even help you with your wedding day vision!
I hope you found this helpful!
Happy Wedding Planning,
Ann