Dealing with Wedding Vendors: Get it in Writing

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Dealing with Wedding Vendors: Get it in Writing
written by Debbie MacGuffie

With each stage of your wedding planning, it is critical that you and your vendor reach a point of total agreement and understanding on what products and services you have purchased and expect to receive. The best way to achieve this is to follow up each major conversation with a letter summarizing your understanding of what has been agreed. By "major" conversation, I mean one in which substantive decisions were reached.

Even when this conversation is the third such one you've had with that vendor, and the services agreed to have changed each time, you still want to follow the conversation with a formal, written representation of what you believe was discussed. In fact, it's almost MORE important to write these formal letters when you've made changes to the plan than it is to do so for the original plan (but both are important).

Letters such as these are of benefit to both you and the vendor. You'll be surprised at how often two people can participate in the same conversation and yet come away with differing impressions of what was said. Your written summary will help you to mentally review the conversation, elaborate on points you think need clarification, and provide specifics about your expectations. This results in less confusion on both sides and greatly increases the likelihood that the end result will please both you and your vendor.

A sample letter, to a catering manager, is provided for you to edit and add to for your personal circumstances and for different types of vendors. You'll notice that the letter includes several questions that may have occurred to the writer during the composition of the letter (but obviously not during the conversation that proceeded it). Once the answers to these questions has been ascertained, another letter, specifying the answers, will be necessary. Remember to keep your presentation friendly and professional.