Don’t Get Me Started!

Firstly, please accept my apology for not producing a blog for a while.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to get a professional to do a professional job, amateurs may look good but what if something went wrong? if you are planning a wedding and use substandard “businesses” that are really only amateurs playing at being professionals then what happens, even if you have paid for wedding insurance? Is it like someone without car insurance hitting your fully comp car? If yes then you could be in for some serious problems!

If you want to risk your day being ruined then by all means go for it, you might save a few hundred pounds but what will you do when your friends whisper behind your back “oh dear, I could have done a better job than that” and the looks of pity you get when you come back from your honeymoon. Then a genuine friend has the courage to say “your flowers looked amazing but when I looked closely they were covered in greenfly and there were a few dead heads hidden among the rest” or “the cake looked good but it was a bit wonky and was dry with no flavour” or even “I could see a seam coming undone at the back of your dress” or “the musicians you hired got a few notes wrong and sounded like college students busking in the streets”.

A professional cake maker will show you photos of their own cakes, not someone else’s, they will happily make up some samples for you to taste so you know they taste amazing. They will be able to show you their hygiene certificates, vital if you do not want your guests to find animal hairs in their cake, or worse . . . 

Bridal shops will ensure the dress looks just right and that it will fit properly, you will also be able to examine the dress so you are confident the seams will not come unstitched like ones purchase from China, those ones may be cheap because the thread breaks at the drop of a hat.

A professional Make-up Artists (MUA) will use high quality make-up, clean their brushes after every use (you would not want someone else’s skin rash for your big day!), they will know how to enhance your own beauty rather than just cover up those blemishes. Most brides want to look natural, not like someone plastered their make-up on with a palette knife!

Musicians may be talented but are they professional? Or they may NOT be talented but you aren’t too sure? Research the groups you are interested in. Do the musicians play as full time professionals? Do they have other jobs during the week? If a string group cannot play for your weekday wedding the odds are that they are not professional. Do other wedding suppliers rate them? Do venues recommend them? What are the musicians’ credential? Have they studied at conservatoires? Will they arrange to meet you personally before your big day? Do they have Public liability insurance? There are so many questions you need to ask when you are looking for good musicians and don’t be afraid to ask. Any good group will be only too happy to chat about their business and without hesitation! If you book amateurs/semi professionals and they sound awful on your wedding day what can you do? It will be too late!

Photographers! My big day was 20 years ago. Our photographer did an excellent job but we nearly did not have any photographs! He took his time but eventually provided us with an album containing the proofs, all were watermarked so that we would not copy any ourselves to save money. We made our choices and then contacted him, only we could not get hold of him, he seemed to have disappeared off the face of the Earth! A couple of years later he reappeared, he said he had been under a lot of stress and decided to take a sabbatical and took himself off to another country. He had forgotten that he had only supplied us with proofs! Thankfully he then sorted out our albums so we have our memories to show others. Sadly, not everyone is so lucky.

Even venues are not always all that they seem. Make sure you ask as many questions as possible and speak to as many people as possible to find out what their experiences were. If you want music played, does the venue have a license? Do they even have an alcohol license?

A professional supplier has insurance certificates, many industries also require proper training with qualifications to show they are capable. There are many people out there with a genuine talent but that does not make them professionals. They may not have the correct insurance if any, they may not even be a registered business so do not pay tax. Although this makes their services cheaper it means they are cheating the taxman. In the long run that actually means we are all paying their taxes for them because the government has to get the money from somewhere, it is added onto the goods we buy and the council taxes etc we pay.

Tagged: cakes, insurance, make-up, MUA, Musicians, photographers, Professional, qualifications, suppliers, Wedding