Wedding vendor management: a playbook for planners

Vendors are where weddings go wrong quietly

A wedding has a dozen or more vendors: venue, caterer, decorator, photographer, videographer, makeup artist, mehendi artist, DJ or band, choreographer, officiant, transport, hotel, invitations and gifting. Each has its own quote, its own advance, its own balance and its own arrival time. Across five weddings, that is easily a hundred relationships and a few hundred payment dates. None of it can live in your head.

1. Build a vendor directory, not a contact list

A phone's contact list tells you a number. A vendor directory tells you whether to call it. For every vendor you have worked with or seriously considered, record:

• Category from a fixed list, so you can filter (decor, catering, photography and so on).
• Contact person, phone, email and city.
• Typical cost, so a new quote can be sanity-checked in seconds.
• Your rating, honest and private.
• Preferred or not: the shortlist you reach for first.
• Notes: what they are brilliant at, what to watch for.

Over a couple of seasons this directory becomes one of the most valuable things your business owns. It is also what lets a new team member book a decent vendor without calling you.

2. Track readiness per wedding

For each wedding, list the categories it needs and mark each as planned, booked or paid. The useful view is not inside one wedding; it is across the portfolio: which weddings still have categories without a vendor, sorted by how close the wedding is. A wedding in 20 days with no makeup artist is an emergency. A wedding in 200 days with no makeup artist is normal.

3. Payment schedules and one payment calendar

Agree a payment schedule with every vendor in writing: usually an advance to confirm the booking, sometimes a mid-point instalment, and a balance before or on the day. Then put every one of those dates into a single calendar across all your weddings, with the amount and who is paying (you, the couple, or a family).

Look at the calendar in your weekly review (see managing multiple weddings) and again two days before any large payment. A late advance can cost you a date; a late balance can cost you a vendor's goodwill for every future wedding.

4. The run sheet for each function

A run sheet is the minute-by-minute plan for one function, shared with every vendor working it. At minimum it includes:

• Vendor arrival and setup times, and when setup must be finished.
• The sequence of the function with timings (entries, rituals, performances, meals).
• A named point of contact for each vendor, and your on-ground contact for them.
• Load-in access, parking and power requirements.
• The final headcount for that function, for the caterer.

5. Close the loop after the wedding

Within a week of the wedding, settle every outstanding balance, collect final invoices, and update each vendor's rating and notes in your directory. Did they arrive on time? Did the quote change? Would you recommend them to your best client? This is the step most planners skip, and it is what makes the directory get better every season.

Commission and transparency

Whatever your arrangement with vendors, be clear with clients about how you are paid. Couples talk to each other, and trust is the asset referrals are built on. A fee structure that you would happily explain to a client is usually the right one. More on fee models in how to price wedding planning services.

How Baton handles vendors

Baton gives you a reusable vendor directory with categories, contacts, typical cost, rating and a preferred flag. On the overview, vendor readiness shows which weddings still need vendors, ranked by how soon the wedding is, and payments due lists every amount owed across your portfolio, soonest first.