There is a person behind that business
Dear Brides,
I want to stand on my soapbox for a moment. Please, please remember that while your wedding vendors are professional businesses that will help make your wedding dreams a reality, they are also people. Many of us are one-woman shows that work from a home office and balance a life and career. In this technological world, a smart phone is usually in our hand, allowing us access to our business 24/7. This blurs the lines of traditional business hours. But just because technology allows us to be connected at all times, doesn't mean we should or should be expected to.
In the past, I have always tried to accommodate my clients' schedules and many evening appointments work well for me. With a new baby in tow, I am now trying to work around her sleep hours to be my most productive parts of the day. But as a single mom, some days go sideways and suddenly I'm faced with decisions like how to use 30 minutes of free time - do I shower? Nap? Make lunch? Reply to a new inquiry?
Business and family are both are very important to me and your other wedding vendors. Normal 9-5 business hours don't exist for most wedding vendors. Business happens while cooking dinner, in the car while someone else drives, and sometimes mean forgoing fun and family time to meet deadlines. We love this line of work and that's why we do it! But it is a lot of behind the scene prep, work, and pick up that the clients never see.
Recently, I have had several clients talk about other vendors and their bad communication skills. It made me sad. None of us are perfect and never claim to be. Email and social media messenger services have become a common way of communication for clients. But as a business owner, it can be challenging to manage multiple channels of communication coming from clients - some use email, others call, some text, then you have someone sending a FaceBook message, and Instagram message, etc. What's worse, is sometimes these messages don't show up in our primary box, and we may not see them until later, or possibly not at all (looking at you FB and IG)! Technology isn't perfect. So I'd urge you to stick to the methods of communication your vendors list on their website, or when in doubt, if you need to get ahold of a vendor, pick up the phone and call them.
Along the same line, if you have a phone appointment with a vendor and it's a few minutes past when the call was supposed to start, don't hesitate to call them! Sometimes our previous appointment runs long. Most vendors include their email at the bottom of their emails, contracts and website.
Your wedding vendors are professionals who love their job and do it well 99% of the time. But we are people too. Which means occasionally we have an off day where we don't balance life and business perfectly, we run late to a meeting, or we forget to answer an email. So just as we understand planning a wedding is stressful and sometimes overwhelming, please remember that your vendor is a person too. And sometimes they just need an extra 5 minutes to hop on that call or to schedule a meeting at a different time of day. A little patience and understanding on both sides is what makes a client-vendor relationship work well, and leads to our best work and your best event possible.
*stepping down
*edited by Harmony Hilderbrand, Photo by Harmony Hilderbrand Photography
