Following on from my moderately successful post on guest ettiquette, I present my next blog post as a cranky bride, where I will be covering expectations from wedding vendors. This one will be a bit of a doozy but I promise it is worth the read, as I can give you my unique insight as both a bride and a wedding vendor myself.

As a relatively ecclectic pair, my fiancé and I spent a lot of time looking into all of the aspects of our upcoming wedding before making any major decisions and here are the top things that we expected from our potential vendors.

1. Punctual Replies

This really sounds like it should be a common sense thing but honestly after the amount of enquiries I sent out I can tell you how much time I spent waiting for people to get back to me. In Perth particularly, peak wedding season is between October and May. We got engaged in early November 2015 and spent a week and a bit on a previously planned holiday before getting stuck into wedding planning.

During peak season please allow businesses time to get back to you! On average as I was sending enquiries in peak season a reasonable amount of time for me to wait was 2 weeks. I am also possibly more patient then most, however there were multiple businesses that took between 4 and 8 weeks to respond. This is far too long.

2. Professionalism

This one is a big one! Some of us brides have been known to be a little demanding and sometimes even difficult. If you have enquired with a quality vendor or even booked a quality vendor and you are not being realistic you should expect professionalism. From a brides perspective, I expect my vendors to be punctual, and be professional in their communication as well as their presentation.

As a vendor working with other vendors for your big day, I expect to be able to work with YOUR chosen team and that we all be respectful of each other's needs. This in my case is usually interacting with the other hair stylist/makeup artist and also the photographer, ensuring they work together with me to get you ready for your big day on time!

3. Terms and Conditions

As a bride you should expect to receive terms and conditions from your vendors. What this means is that they have covered themselves and you in case of anything happening. I highly suggest you read through them properly as it will generally cover everything from what to do in case of them not being able to make it etc and also what they expect from you.

If you do not receive these please think about it before you book with your vendor. As a hair and makeup artist I hear lots of stories from brides who have booked with artists who don't have terms and conditions or have under-quoted and have found that they need to replace their artist weeks, sometimes even days before the wedding.

4. Quality

Please ensure you do your research! Look at their previous work, ask for recommendations from other brides. I can not stress this enough. If you aren't sure ask to see further work, with social media so accessible these days it shouldn't be hard to look through vendors work and make decisions for quality vendors for your big day.

If you have a particular vendor in mind enquire early as vendors in high demand can book out 12+ months in advance, this is particularly the case with photographers, makeup artists and hair stylists so please keep that in mind.

5. Follow through

This one is feeling like a common sense thing but if your vendor promises to do something they should follow through with it.

As a bride when I was promised something especially from the vendors already briefly touched on in point 1, if I had any sort of gut feeling I'd have issues I wrote down what was promised on what date and when it was promised by. This gave me a visual representation of when to let it go, that these vendors did not deserve my cash.

May your wedding planning be stressfree!

As we enter into peak wedding season here in Australia I thought I would take some time to provide my top tips on how to be a top guest at a wedding!

As I am sure some of you that follow my work are aware I am actually a 2017 bride myself, so as I'm sure many of my newly weds and soon to be wed clients would know all of the frustrations that come along with organising the wedding. I'll be breaking it down and adding my tips for planning as I go in blog posts just like this one.

Before we get to the formalities, being a top guest starts with your RSVP!

1. When you receive your formal invitation to the wedding of your friend/family member/work colleague etc the first thing to note is the WHO is invited. Does the invitation have just your name on it or does it have you and your partner?

Please pay close attention to this as it will guide you on the way to being a top guest! Only RSVP for those who have been invited. If there aren't names for your kids etc please don't hesitate to contact the bride/groom to ask, but as a rule of thumb, if the name isn't there, they have not been catered for.

​2. Please RSVP by the due date! This allows the bride and groom time to finalise numbers for catering as well as allowing for any extra hire items that they may need to allow for. It also confirms how many wedding favours are required! This is particularly important for anyone who is self catering their wedding.

My wedding invitations literally read if you don't RSVP by the due date please bring a sandwich and a chair. I pinched the idea from Offbeat Bride. People think I'm joking but I'm actually dead serious about this!

3. If you aren't sure on the dress code please ask, if you aren't wanting to disturb the bride and you know who the bridesmaids are please reach out to them to ask for some ideas.

​4. If you can't make it, be honest with the bride and groom! They will most likely be a little disappointed but don't RSVP and say yes then cancel at the last minute. Chances are that the bride and groom have already paid for you which could be from as little as $25 a head to $200+ a head. This could mean that they could have added some nicer luxuries to their honeymoon or invited someone else.

Beinv brutally honest here, my fiancé and I have quite openly said we don't mind if you don't come but please let us know! It means for every person we don't pay for we can spend a little more on our honeymoon.

Ettiquette tips for on the day

1. Please respect the bride and grooms wishes regarding social media and pictures at the wedding. If there is a wedding hashtag please utilise it as it will make it easier for them to find any photographs after their day is over. If they have asked for you to refrain from posting until they have had a chance to please respect that wish.

2. Unplugged ceremonies are becoming increasingly popular! As is the case with our upcoming wedding we have respectfully asked that it be an unplugged ceremony, this means no phones or cameras or any other picture taking device unless you are one of the paid professionals.

We made this this decision after attending the wedding of a friend of mine where a child with her iPad was getting in the way of the paid professional. I can not stress this enough! Don't be that guy even if it is not an unplugged ceremony, be respectful of not being in the way of the professionals.

3. Gifts - the modern bride and groom have traditionally been living together for some time before they get married so a lot of the old traditional gifts are not the way to go. We appreciate that attending a wedding can be expensive just like it is expensive to actually have a ceremony and reception. If you are stuck for ideas cash is always a good way to go, alternatively look at gift vouchers. One of the best ideas I've had recently was to gift flight centre vouchers which can be used towards the honeymoon or the like.

4. Don't bring any negativity or drama to the wedding. This is a common sense thing, this is the happiest day of the bride and grooms life so far so please make sure you add to the happy vibe.

​ Alcohol consumption

1. This one feels like it should be a commonsense thing but given that commonsense is becoming increasingly uncommon, please be mindful of your behaviour. If you are likely to get rowdy and cause embarrassment to the bride and groom please limit your consumption.

2. No one likes a hangover, please make sure you keep hydrated with water in between alcoholic beverages. Try not to drink on an empty stomach!

Thank you for reading the musings of a cranky bride,

May your wedding planning be as stressless as possible.