Suppliers
Choosing photographer, band, caterer, florist and cake maker: questions, briefings and quotes.
All things wedding
Plan your wedding
Bring your tasks, costs and guests together for the day.
Invitations and wording
Find the right words for your wedding invitation.
As a wedding guest
Write a personal message and choose a thoughtful gift.
Wedding anniversaries
Explore anniversary names, traditions and celebration ideas.
An introduction
Suppliers are the items where price says least about the result. Two photographers on the same day rate deliver completely different pictures, and two caterers with the same menu deliver two different evenings. Quotes become comparable only when the same question goes to all of them — what is included, for how long, for how many people, and what costs extra.
The second factor is how they work together on the day. A supplier is rarely there alone: photography, music and kitchen interlock, and who needs what and when co-determines the running order. That is why "how do you work with the others" is often more revealing than any reference.
The third point is the contract, usually read for the first time when something goes wrong. What happens in case of illness, postponement or bad weather, and by when can you cancel? This section works through the trades one by one — with the questions that belong before booking, and without figures that would differ by region anyway.
What should you look for at the tasting?
A tasting does not test the flavour, it tests whether the dish scales. When to hold it, who comes, nine things to che...
The questions to ask before you book a photographer
Second shooter, raw files, usage rights, delivery time, no-show: eighteen questions for the meeting, grouped by theme...
How do you recognise the right wedding photographer?
Documentary or classic? How to read a photographer's portfolio, ask for complete weddings instead of a best-of, and w...
How do you choose the caterer?
Service style, the kitchen on site, staffing ratio and the binding headcount: the four points on which a catering quo...
Enquiring with wedding vendors: what belongs in the message
Six facts without which nobody can quote — plus a ready-made template, the guest-count question, and how to follow up...