Which Vendors To Hire First

Some brides come to me nearly finished with planning and some come to me and haven’t started. For those of you who are just starting the process, I’ve put together some tips on which vendors you should hire first.

A good first step is to figure out which vendors are your nonnegotiables. After that, you should look into booking vendors who can only do one wedding per day - like an officiant, photographer, planner, DJ, etc. These vendors will book up first, so you’ll want to book them for your date while they are available. Then you’ll move on to vendors who can only do a limited number of weddings per day. An example of this would be full-service caterers, or hair and makeup artists. Then finally, you’ll book vendors who can do multiple weddings in one day like (some) florists - some florists will dedicate their day to you, bakers, and rental companies.

You could also book vendors in order of priority. If you really value having a wedding planner wink wink, hire him/her in the beginning stages. If you don’t really care about florals, then you can push the florist down the hiring list.