Questions to ask Wiltshire Wedding Suppliers

Questions for Wiltshire wedding suppliers 

Can you share a copy of your brochure and a price list?

Many wedding suppliers will only include a short summary of their services on their website so it’s important to ask for this next layer of detail regarding the services they offer, complete with examples of their work and corresponding prices. Not all suppliers will have a brochure, but they should be able to share or direct you to examples of their recent work. Similarly, not all suppliers will be able to give you a price list.

Let’s take florists, for example. A florist’s price will vary significantly depending on flower choices, style and quantities. In this instance, you could ask for an approximate price for a specific item, such as a bridal bouquet in the style you like. Once you’ve gathered this information from a couple of different suppliers, you’ll be able to compare and get a feel for whether the supplier is the right fit for you and your budget.

Tip – it’s important to check if the prices quoted by the wedding suppliers are inclusive of VAT as this could make a huge difference to your overall spend, and you’ll want to make sure that you’re comparing supplier quotes on a like-for-like basis.

How long have you been in business?

You may wish to ask your shortlisted wedding suppliers how long they have worked in the wedding industry and how many weddings they average each year. This will give you an idea of how experienced the team is and perhaps why their prices reflect this. Perhaps your budget won’t stretch to a super-experienced team with hundreds of weddings under their belt. That’s fine! However, it’s important to check that if a wedding supplier is new to the industry, they have real examples of weddings they have successfully executed and that you’re happy with that level of service.

Do you charge extra for travel and accommodation?

If your wedding supplier is not based close to your wedding venue, you’ll need to ask if they’re willing to travel and what they would charge as an extra. At The Pear Tree, we work with a number of incredible Wiltshire wedding suppliers and would always recommend taking a look at local suppliers first to keep your costs down.

Do you have liability insurance?

It’s important to check that potential suppliers have their own insurance to cover the work they do for you and to safeguard against any errors or accidents. All reputable suppliers should have their own insurance and your wedding venue may even request a copy before your supplier is permitted to work there.

What are your payment terms?

It’s always useful to know what deposit each supplier will require as well as when they’d like subsequent payment/s made as this allows you to manage your budget accordingly. It may be that a supplier that requests a large deposit or upfront payment in full may not be the right supplier for you.

What happens if you are unable to provide the product/service we’ve booked you for?

Wedding suppliers are human beings, therefore things can (and do) happen that affect their ability to carry out the job at hand. Therefore its essential to ask what their backup plan would be if something happened that rendered them unable to provide the product/service you’ve booked them for.

For example, if your photographer is taken ill the night before your wedding day, what plan do they have to ensure that you still have a photographer at your wedding? Hopefully, the photographer would have a second shooter to fall back on, or good contacts that they could lean on for a replacement at short notice. It isn’t nice to have to think about worst-case scenarios, but it is the best way to ensure that you have covered all bases and been thorough in your supplier research.

Have you worked at our venue before?

Although the answer to this question is far from a must-have in most instances, it can be helpful to consider a wedding supplier that has experience working with your venue team and knows the layouts of each space.

Tip – remember to check that your venue does not require you to work with one of their recommended suppliers before you reach out to anyone.

Will you be our contact throughout planning, and will you be there on the day?

When working with any wedding supplier, it’s important to know upfront who your main point of contact will be in the lead up to your wedding and especially who will be there on the day itself. If you connect with someone before you book who ‘gets you’ and who you trust, you’ll want to know if this is the person you’ll be dealing with.

Will ours be the only wedding you work on that day?

Some suppliers will be more likely to work on multiple weddings on the same day, whilst others should be focused solely on your wedding day. It is up to you to determine how important it is that certain suppliers dedicate the entire day to you. For suppliers such as cake designers, multiple bookings in one day may not be a problem as long as their delivery time works for you and your wedding venue.

Can we arrange a Zoom / Skype call?

Arranging a face to face conversation with your wedding suppliers is a great way to ask all of the questions you feel are relevant for you, and to get a feel for how well you’ll work together. For some suppliers such as wedding planners / stylists and photographers, the chemistry you have is really important to ensure a harmonious working relationship.

Its time to begin your Wiltshire wedding supplier search

We hope these questions have helped guide you through the initial stage of sourcing and selecting wedding suppliers.

For couples who have booked their wedding at our beautiful Wiltshire venue, The Pear Tree events team will support you every step of the way with your wedding planning, from mapping out plans to recommending suppliers. Our list of recommended Wiltshire wedding suppliers have each worked at our venue multiple times and we can wholeheartedly testify to their talent.

If you would like to visit The Pear Tree or discuss your wedding plans in more detail, please do get in touch.