With many couples getting engaged around the holidays, early spring is prime time for wedding shows and the first stages of wedding planning.
Better Business Bureau can help by providing valuable information on wedding vendors, from caterers and florists to musicians and photographers.
BBB received more than 5,000 complaints in 2019 about wedding-related businesses of all kinds, including supplies and services, cakes, venues, caterers, limo service, consultants, and photographers and videographers. Many complaints about wedding services involved the delivery time of the products or services.
Victims tell BBB that they ordered products like wedding dresses and wedding favors with the expectation that the products would arrive in time for the wedding, but found there were delays in delivery without an acceptable refund or other recourse.
Similarly, many complaints regarding photographers and videographers regard timelines for receiving the final photos or videos. Consumers say that they expected to get photos or videos within a certain amount of time, but the business delayed sending them without providing adequate explanation. Others report “no show” limos or DJs, and many report it was often hard to communicate with a business.
The following tips can help avert common problems couples encounter to help ensure you have the wedding you’ve been dreaming about:
- Research businesses before hiring them, and read reviews.
- Ask the business ahead of time what their plan is for delivering their product on time. Do they have guarantees? If so, what’s covered by the guarantee?
- Don't pay the entire fee up front.
- Watch out for unexpected fees. Some caterers, hotels or reception venues try to charge extra for “plate splitting,” “cake-cutting,” or “corkage” fees, especially if you bring in a cake or liquor purchased from another source.
