How to find good vendors

Geez... finding a good vendor seemed to be tricky for me. I went to the San Diego Bridal Bazaar, but how am I supposed to know whether or not a vendor is really good. Especially, the DJ's! They all had their booth setup with some DJ equipment and some cool lighting, but are they going to work the crowd? Do they know how to emcee? Are they going to crack corny jokes?

Ask your married or engaged friends


I personally think the best way to find great vendors is asking your friends who are currently planning their wedding or who recently got married. More than likely if you're in the season of getting married, you should have at least some friends who can tell you who they used for their wedding. Plus, your friends can tell you what they liked and disliked about their vendors.

Check out yelp or other review sites


These days there are plenty of review sites, where you can get some good feedback on local vendors. I particularly like yelp and find the reviews to be pretty helpful. But, sometimes on yelp, there aren't that many reviews for the wedding vendors, so just ask the vendors directly if they have a list of references!

Meet with the vendors


Maybe not everyone are good people readers, but I think it's extremely helpful meeting the vendors in person. You can get a feel for how they are and if you can get along with them. Even in my own wedding planning process, I find that TRUST is huge! If I don't feel like I can trust that person, I won't even bother giving a dime of my hard earned money! Or should I say, my parents hard earned money! Haha

Ask your venues or other vendors


If you've already booked your venue and some other vendors, try asking them for a list of referrals for other vendors. For example, I asked my photographer if he knew of any videographers, and he said he did. So, use your resources.

*Sometimes, some vendors will actually give you additional discounts if you used their preferred vendor list.