Photo by HazelPhotography.com
by Danielle Andrews Sunkel, Co-Founder of WPIC Inc.
In the past few months, two vendors have completely bailed within hours of our event… and they did not have backup. Unacceptable. There is no reason that I should be scrambling to find a replacement vendor at 6pm on a Saturday night, when I need said vendor for 8am the next morning. (It took three hours and 25 calls by the way. Thank you Candace French for finding my saviour Black Blush, who made my brides look beautiful!)
If you are going to work in the Wedding Industry, you need to be willing to be dedicated to your clients, the business of weddings cannot be taken lightly. You are dealing with the biggest day of people’s lives thus far. This is a monumental milestone and needs to be treated with reverence and respect. A wedding is not just a gig or a job, you are being honoured by being chosen to take part in this couple’s special day. What are you doing to make sure their day will go off without a hitch?
Emergencies happen, you need a backup plan.
The show must go on without missing a beat. I have been called during a wedding to be told my 2-year-old son was at the hospital because he was in a car accident with his father, run a wedding rehearsal in a holter heart monitor, rented cars when my car is in the shop, pulled bed sheets off hotel beds to use when we were short on linens, given my own wedding rings to use, given up my own clothing during a wedding, etcetera, etcetera. If there is a void, I’m going to fill it.
There are going to be times and situations where you absolutely can not make the wedding, but you CAN NOT cancel! You need to have backup, and backup for your backup. Wedding Planners should always work with an assistant, that is a built-in back-up system in itself, but members of The Wedding Planners Institute of Canada have WPICAlumni.com, they have access to wedding planners 24/7, they post their need, and someone will show up to the wedding.
Every single vendor needs to have two backup vendors they can call in a pinch. Discuss your backup plan with your clients and make sure you have your backup plan mentioned in your contract with the couple. That way, all of you are covered.
Having a network of friends.