From scheduling interviews to reviewing contracts, the process can be more detailed than expected. But don’t worry—we’ve got you covered! In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know to find and choose top-notch wedding vendors confidently, including a wedding vendor checklist. Let’s get started!
How to Find the Best Wedding Vendors in Nevada County
Everything about your wedding should reflect who you are as a couple, including your dress, decor, and menu. Finding the right team of wedding professionals can make a major difference when bringing your vision to life.
At the Rough & Ready Vineyards, we provide a list of preferred wedding vendors in all categories, from photographers to caterers. It’s a great place to start your search as you hire the vendors for your Big Day!
We don’t require you to work exclusively with the wedding vendors on our list, so feel free to choose other vendors that fit your vision best. Choosing your own vendor allows you to emphasize your personal style, preferences, and priorities while respecting your budget for your wedding day.
Some venues impose a fee for bringing in your own vendor outside of their preferred vendor list. At the Rough & Ready Vineyards, we won’t charge an additional fee, and you aren’t contractually obligated to stick to our preferred vendors.
Our Preferred Wedding Vendor Checklist
Our preferred vendors list is a collection of wedding professionals we have pre-vetted and evaluated. In addition, we’ve had the pleasure of working with many of the vendors on our list at multiple weddings, so we recommend them based on trust and experience. We’ve already established a working relationship with them and can recommend someone who fits your style and budget.
Professionals are often added to our preferred vendor list after we have a positive experience working together. Trust has already been established. That means the vendor has experience collaborating on weddings within our space, so they’re familiar with it.
Our couples have vendor freedom for their wedding: they can choose any vendor that suits their needs and budget best. However, we want to ensure that the professionals will create the event the client has dreamed of, so we will go over all of the details with them.
During that process, they will have an opportunity to visit the venue in person, ask venue-specific questions, review and sign our vendor-specific protocols, and provide their liability insurance certificate to the venue. That way, you can breathe a little easier knowing that everything and everyone is covered!
Preferred vendor lists like ours are a valuable tool to have as you plan your wedding because they feature trustworthy professionals. There are many benefits of using preferred vendors. We have vetted them through an interview process and have checked out their professional credentials, so we’ve already done the initial research for you! As a result, you can focus on other tasks, like creating your guest list, going to dress fittings, and selecting your bridal party.
Start a Wedding Vendor Checklist
As they begin planning their wedding, many couples find themselves looking through hundreds of wedding vendors to find the best team for their big day. Most couples have never done this before and are surprised by the amount of interviews to schedule and contracts to review! There’s a lot to finding the right wedding vendor team, and you want to be confident in your choices.
If you’re considering a wedding vendor that’s not on our Preferred Vendors list, make sure to research and interview them thoroughly. Make appointments with your favorite vendors as early as possible to give you the best chance of securing your wedding date on their calendars.
Starting a wedding vendor checklist using a tool like Google Sheets, Evernote, Trello, or Google Docs and sharing it with your fiancé will help keep things organized.
Clear communication is important, no matter the vendor’s role in your wedding. You can tell whether someone is a clear communicator during your inquiry and interview process. As you and your fiancé talk to vendors, ask yourselves:
- Did we feel heard?
- Did the vendor reply within a reasonable time?
- Are their emails straightforward and easy to understand?
- Does the vendor understand our needs and vision?
- How did we feel while talking to them?
- Did we get the sense they will work with our budget?
In addition, ask to see their portfolio. Looking at their previous work samples will help you decide if the vendor’s style aligns with your wedding style. Researching the social media profiles of your prospective vendors will help you find ones that represent your values. You can get a lot of information based on the type of content they create and the verbiage they use in their posts. Looking for online reviews from their past clients on sites like Yelp and Google will help you measure what their experience was like.
Interview Questions to Ask Vendors
The level of customer service a vendor provides you with at your wedding will likely reflect what the initial inquiry process was like. Since email can lack tone and content, meeting in person or on Zoom for a live conversation is wise. You’ll get a better sense of the vendor through their body language, facial expressions, tone, and personality in person. This is especially crucial for vendors you’ll spend a lot of time with, such as your photographer, planner, or officiant.
When you’re talking with a potential vendor, trust your gut! If you have to be convinced to hire them, they’re probably not the right fit for you. As part of your wedding vendor checklist, ask these questions of each vendor when you interview them:
- How many people will be part of your team at our wedding?
- What is your backup plan for emergencies on the day of?
- What is your payment schedule?
- How many weddings do you usually take on per weekend?
- Do you charge additional fees on top of the information you provide? Please provide a detailed list of what you include in your services.
- Are you licensed and insured? (Avoid hiring uninsured or unlicensed vendors or those who don’t provide a contract! Contracts and insurance protect everyone, not just you.)
In addition, when talking to potential photographers and videographers, ask them about their typical turnaround time. How soon will you be able to see and use your wedding photos?
Editing is a task that requires time, and it varies from vendor to vendor. To ensure a smooth experience, knowing when to expect your final deliverables and in what format they’ll arrive is essential.
Equally important is understanding what you can do with your images and videos: can you share, print, or post them freely? Remember, copyright infringement is serious business, so take the time to clarify the type of usage license you’ll receive. This way, you can enjoy your wedding photos without any worries!
Wedding Vendors in Nevada County
Deciding which vendors to hire for your wedding can be challenging. Finding the right vendors involves a lot of research, in-depth consultations, and clearly defining your style and vision. You must also consider important details like packages, prices, and contracts. Remember, your vendor team can truly make or break your big day!
Fortunately, we share a great wedding vendor list with our couples and clients. It includes vendors that we highly recommend because they are familiar with the venue. We’ve enjoyed working with them at multiple weddings, so we know they can create a 5-star venue team for your event!
These vendors have an established working relationship with our venue and a proven professional record. They know our venue space’s layout, logistics, and the best photo locations.
We love to support our local community, vendors, and talent, so we encourage couples to look into options within the neighboring communities and stay local. Choosing wedding vendors in Nevada County ensures they won’t need travel expenses, lodging, or extra time on the road, potentially impacting your event and budget.
Rough & Ready Vineyards
There are so many details that go into wedding planning. At Rough & Ready Vineyards, we encourage all our couples to take full advantage of all we offer, including our Preferred Vendors list. Let us help you with your wedding planning and on your wedding day! Our clear, all-inclusive wedding packages and the Something Borrowed Barn ensure there are no hidden fees or surprise charges.
We’ll advocate for you and help you navigate a fun, stress-free wedding planning process. Get started by checking our available dates for your wedding, learning about our pricing, or booking a complimentary tour:
Editor’s Note: Research and copywriting by Heidi Keefer.
As Venue Manager for the Rough & Ready Vineyards, Tiffany has a genuine love and passion for planning and organizing weddings. She shares, "Being able to create memories that will last a lifetime for you and your guests is so rewarding. I enjoy making your dream wedding day come true!" Tiffany specializes in personalizing wedding services for each client and handling stressful event situations with grace.
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