Vendor Variables!

Happy Friday LLE Family!

As the year begins to come to an end, we reflect on 2013! It has been amazing for us! We were voted by our 2012 brides as Best of the Knot 2013! Then were voted by our 2013 Brides as Best of the Knot 2014!  We won Wedding Wire's Bride's Choice Award and we have expanded our business and became Travel, Cruise (and Best of All) Honeymoon Experts! Yay!

In addition, we reflect on all of the amazing weddings we were part of this year.  We are thankful for the amazing vendors that help to make these FAB weddings possible.  Which brings us to a question we were asked recently, "Do bad vendors make a bad wedding? How do I choose?"

The answer is.... ummm, how can we put this diplomatically? Ummm... YES! Vendors can make or break your wedding day! We make suggestions for vendors based ONLY off our experience with that particular vendor.  We take this VERY seriously! Vendors do not make it to the LLE Preferred List easily. If a client asks our recommendation on a vendor, we offer up a list of people we LOVE to work with. What makes us LOVE them?  

(They sure aren't paying us to!) 

We LOVE them because:

They have proven that they are fair, knowledgeable, responsible and reliable!

They are amazing at what they do!

They are a pleasure to communicate with! (Respond to emails? Return calls? Manners?)

They are actively working, as a team, towards an amazing event. 

(It's not what they want. It's what's best for the client!)

Unfortunately, we see a lot of bad vendors. Most couples planning a wedding can count how many times they've been to a a wedding on one hand.  How many vendors could they possibly know? Example: Do you think when you book your DJ, he's going to tell you at his last wedding he threw back a few drinks at the bar before slurring his speech throughout the reception?? Probably not. What about the videographer, that throughout the night yells at the Bride and Groom to "Do that again!" Needless to say, those vendors didn't make our List... Lol! 

Choose wisely!

Love and Celebrations! ~ LLE

The Tipping Point

Some of the most popular questions we get asked are regarding tipping vendors. Let's be clear.  Unless gratuity is included in your contract, you are not obligated to tip anyone. Catering and Transportation vendors almost always include tipping in their contracts. Saying thank you with a monetary tip is not always expected but is always appreciated by vendors. In addition, you can't ignore the fact that some vendors just exceed all expectations and will blow you away.

Hair Stylist and Make-up Artist

standard- 15%-20%

courtesy- expected

when- at the end of services

Delivery and Set-up Staff

standard- $5-$10 pp

courtesy-expected

when- at time of deliveries

Photographer and Videographer

standard- $30-$75 pp

courtesy- optional

when- at the end of reception

Reception Staff

standard- 15%-20% of total F&B fee

courtesy- expected

when- at the end of the reception

Ceremony Musicians

standard- $15-$20 pp

courtesy- optional

when- at the end of the ceremony

Planner

standard- optional

15% of total service fee

when- at the end of the reception

Reception Band or D.J

standard- musician $25-$50 pp,   d.j. $50-$150

courtesy- optional, yet preferred

when- at the end of reception 

If you have a Wedding Planner, one or their responsibilities will be to pass out previously prepared individual envelopes, including a thank you note, to each vendor.  If you do not have a planner, the responsibility will then lie with the Best Man, a Father of the Bride etc.  Remember, gratuities are a kind and generous gesture of appreciation to thank the people who go the extra mile to make your wedding day perfect, but it is ultimately the decision of the couple to decide who they will tip and why.

Love & Celebrations!
LLE