The wedding vendor list is shorter than the industry wants it to be and the order matters more than the choice. Book in the wrong order and the florist you love is designing for a room you have not seen, or the band is playing to a curfew nobody mentioned. Book in this order and each vendor has what they need from the one before.
First: the ones that decide the rest
Venue
Ask: what time does the music have to stop, and what does the hire actually include. The answer to both shapes every booking below.
Caterer
If not included. Ask: is service, staffing and tax in the quote, and can we taste before we sign.
Photographer
Ask to see a full wedding, start to finish, not a highlight reel. Then ask who shoots if they are ill.
Officiant or registrar
Ask: what is the legal notice period, and what must be said for the ceremony to be valid.
Second: the long lead times
Dress and suit
Ask the shop: when do fittings begin and how many are included.
Band or DJ
Ask: do you carry your own sound and lighting, and do you need a meal.
Florist
Ask: what is in season on our date, and what would you do with our budget rather than what would you charge for our list.
Videographer, if you want one
Ask: how long is the film and when do we receive it.
Planner or day-of coordinator
Ask: how many weddings do you take on the same weekend.
Third: the middle
Hair and makeup
Ask: do you travel to the venue, and what does the trial cost.
Stationery
Ask: what is the turnaround from approval to delivery. Then add two weeks.
Cake
Ask: do you deliver and set up, and what stand do you provide.
Rentals
Chairs, linens, glassware, lighting, the tent. Ask: what time do you set up and strike, and does the venue allow it.
Transport
Ask: what happens if the ceremony runs late.
Accommodation
Ask the hotel: when does the room block release, and what is the rate after.
Last: the small ones
Ceremony musicians
Ask: do you need power, and do you know the venue.
Rings
Ask: how long does sizing take.
Late food
Often the caterer or the venue. Ask: what can be served hot at half past ten.
The ones you can skip
A favour supplier, a photo booth, a wedding website that costs money, a lighting designer for a room that is already beautiful, a separate cocktail-hour caterer, a second photographer for a wedding under eighty guests. None of these are wrong. All of them are optional, and a checklist that includes them as standard is a checklist written by someone selling one.
One question per vendor, asked before the deposit. The answers are the wedding.
Keep every vendor in one place with their contact, their arrival time, what is paid and what is owed. UNSTAGED's vendor list does this and is shared with your partner, so the person who booked the band is not the only one who knows what the band was told.
Book the venue, the food and the photographer first. After that, the list mostly books itself, one question at a time.
— The UNSTAGED Studio
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