The Importance of Vendor Reviews

Every article out there tells you how important vendor reviews are, and I am a strong advocate of checking reviews before booking any vendor, regardless of how much you liked him/her when you met for the first time. Just because he is nice and has a good sense of humor, for example, doesn't mean he returns a couple's wedding photos within two months, as promised in a contract.

But there are some ares in which I highly disagree with reviews, and I am going to set the record straight (in my eyes, at least):

A bad review doesn't mean much.

Well, it really depends on what the review is. There are always going to be people in this world who are out to ruin others. Don't ask me why, but some people are just nasty. There will be brides who review vendors who they didn't even hire - I just saw one this week where a bride was mad that her date got booked before she booked the videographer, and then wrote a nasty review about him...she didn't even hire him for her wedding! And then there will be couples who will write bad reviews, because of something that was out of a vendor's control - they had a small venue with little scenery so didn't like that there were no "green" photos. You may be laughing a little, but believe me, I've seen it all! Or there will be a bridesmaid who gets mad at the venue coordinator for not being there during photos, even though the bride opted out of hiring the venue director as her day of coordinator and said she was fine on her own - yes, this happened to me.

Theresa Bridget Photography

So if you find a vendor who has 372 AMAZING 5 star reviews and one terrible one star review, you can probably just throw that review out the window. No matter how amazing we are, people in this world are nasty and don't care too much about others. So those bad reviews are likely to be tossed into the mix every once in a while. 

Lack of reviews doesn't mean a bad vendor.

We all have to start somewhere, and sometimes couples will disregard a vendor just because they have very few reviews.

I, for example, have been planning weddings for 7 years...for other companies. When I started The Overwhelmed Bride, I had zero reviews out there for The Overwhelmed Bride Company, because I was just starting out! I had hundreds of amazing reviews under the names of other companies but because there were zero under my current name, I am sure many brides disregarded me as inexperienced.

Every wedding professional has to start somewhere, and that may mean they have 20+ years in the industry but JUST started their own company. So don't look past those vendors before doing some more poking and prodding. You never know, they could be one of the best in the industry!

Please review your vendors!

With all of that being said, reviews are extremely important when it comes to hiring wedding vendors so if you hired a good one (or a bad one), please make sure you review them everywhere you can - it'll help future brides know the truth about his or her great (or not so great) work! And it only takes a couple of minutes!

A day for you, but a lifetime for them

Wedding professionals love love. And they love you. For the most part, they would do anything they can to make a stranger's wedding day absolutely perfect, if it's in their power. I know there are exceptions to the rule, but if there is a successful wedding professional who has been in the industry 5, 10, or even 30+ years, it's clear that they love what they do and they want to stay there for life. And that is because of their brides.

The reason I bring this up, is to give a lesson to all of my brides out there, in order to save the reputations of so many wedding professionals who work long and hard each and every day of their lives to make YOU as happy as can be.

They spend time away from their families at night to meet with you after you get off of work, when they could be spending that time with their husbands and wives. They spend their weekends away from their kids and their families, and they will work well into the night and keep their eyes glued to their phones, to ensure your late-night email is responded to so that you can stay stress-free.

Don't feel sorry for us - we chose this profession because we love what we do. And truly, we love our brides and grooms. Some of my brides are even like best friends to me - we text about non-wedding things more than I talk to my lifelong friends! And that is what makes our relationship so special, and allows the wedding planning experience to be so blissful!

Recently, a bride contacted the media about a photographer who would not give her her wedding photos, because she did not complete the purchase of her album. When you first hear it, of course the media made this photographer sound like a terrible person, because the media creates drama. We're all sitting here pointing our fingers at a terrible photographer, when in reality, the bride completely ignored the fact that it was her fault.

She did not read the contract. And a contract is a contract.

If you haven't already seen it, here is the response from the photographer.

So without diving too far into it, I want all of you brides out there to think before you post a review on one of your wedding vendors. If they were mean, terrible, broke the contract, and just shouldn't be in the industry, then YES! Of course right a review, so that other brides don't have to go through what you went through. We are all here to help each other out!

But think long and hard about writing a bad review and know that this is his or her life in your hands. A bad media story, could ruin a reputation (falsely) and kick she and her kids out of their house and onto the street. A bad review may ruin the twenty years of hard word she has put in for all of her brides.

So before you write a bad review, ask yourself this question:

"Did she do everything in her power to make my wedding day perfect?"

Maybe there was a major car accident and there was literally no way for her to get the cake there on time. Or maybe he got a flat tire on the way and did everything he could to get it fixed quickly and get to your wedding. Or maybe you just didn't read the contract and ask the questions you needed to before signing on the dotted line. We all know that most of us don't ever read before signing. And whose fault is that?

We are all human, and there are things that are out of our control. But the real thing we need to realize is that we are all human. Something will go wrong on your wedding day, no matter how perfect your planning may be. And that is just out of our control. But your wedding vendors are human, and they have feelings, just like you do. They are as upset (or more upset) if they get into an accident on the way to your wedding and can't get there on time. And their livelihood is in your hands, whether or not their business, their life work with excel, or plummet immediately.

So read your contracts, ask your questions, and put yourself in their shoes before writing a bad review. We all want the truth to shine, especially when we are upset and angry. But don't stretch the truth, and write your reviews with honesty. What if a customer at your work got upset over something that was out of your control, and you lost your job over it?? Just think before you write.

It's one wedding day for you, but a lifetime for them.