What Are Wedding Vendors: Complete Checklist

To fully understand what are wedding vendors, you must see the checklist of everyone you’ll need to have a smooth wedding ceremony and reception. These are the people you must contact and book for the different wedding elements during wedding planning. 

You can also read about the questions to ask when planning a wedding to prepare for your event confidently. In addition, our blog is full of wedding planning guides to help couples with the most important day of their lives. 

what are wedding vendors

 

What Are Wedding Vendors: Who Do You Need For Your Wedding?

A wedding vendor is essentially someone you will book, hire, or pay for the different services and products on your wedding day. Wedding vendors are composed of people that can provide you with things like wedding invitations, favors, flowers, outfits, or services like wedding makeup, catering, music, and transportation, to name a few. 

 

List of needed wedding vendors:

Note that you can modify this list according to your capacity and budget. For example, you can omit certain wedding vendors if you can do some items and services yourself. 

Some wedding vendors also offer multiple services or oversee other vendors, so you only need to transact with them for various wedding products and services. Nonetheless, here is the wedding vendor checklist of everyone you’ll need from the wedding preparation, ceremony, and reception:

  • Wedding planner
  • Wedding coordinator
  • Calligrapher and wedding invitation designers/ printing company
  • Hair and makeup artists
  • Designer and tailor
  • Jeweler
  • Wedding officiant
  • Wedding decorator
  • Florist
  • Catering and bartending services
  • Chair and table rentals
  • Baker
  • Wedding photographer
  • Wedding videographer
  • Wedding band or musicians
  • Lighting company
  • Wedding Dj and/or MC
  • Equipment rental company
  • Transportation company
  • Cleaning crew

 

What Vendors Do You Need For A Wedding?

 

For the wedding items and services that you’ll need before the wedding

Before the wedding, you will accomplish different items and services to prepare for the ceremony and reception. For example, you will need a wedding planner and coordinator as they’ll help you with the other wedding vendors. 

However, it’s also possible to plan a wedding without a wedding planner, then just hire a day-of wedding coordinator to oversee the different vendors and staff during the wedding. For big weddings, you might also need to contact a printing and favors company for the wedding invitations and favors since it would take too much time to DIY them. 

 

For the wedding items and services that you’ll need during the wedding ceremony

During the wedding ceremony, you will need an officiant who’ll perform it, a jeweler for your rings, a florist for the flowers that you will wear, hold, or use to decorate the venue, a venue decorator if your wedding location doesn’t have one, hair and makeup artists, and a designer and tailor. 

If you’re renting a wedding venue for the ceremony, they might also provide some other wedding elements so that you won’t need a chair rental company or decorator. Small weddings might also mean that you don’t need to hire a designer and makeup artist if the bride chooses to prepare herself and the couple uses non-traditional attire. 

 

For the wedding items and services that you’ll need during the wedding reception

The wedding reception usually offers packages with catering and bartending. Otherwise, you will need to contact these wedding vendors or consider catering your own wedding if you think you can handle the responsibilities. 

You might also need to book a wedding musician, DJ, and MC for the wedding reception program, but it’s possible to have a close relative or friend do these roles if they presented themselves. And of course, you’ll need a wedding photographer and videographer present before and during the wedding.  

 

For the wedding items and services that you’ll need after the wedding

After the wedding, you can hire a cleaning crew if the venue doesn’t provide clean-up. It would be best if you also secured the transportation of your guests, especially at a destination wedding. 

 

What Is The Most Important Vendor In A Wedding?

In no particular order, here are the top wedding vendors you’ll need:

  • Officiant
  • Photographer and videographer
  • Hair and makeup
  • Tailor
  • Jeweler
  • Florist
  • Caterer/baker
  • MC/DJ
  • Rental company
  • Transportation company
  • Cleaning crew

 

This shortlist is possible since you can do the invites online, consider baked goodies for the wedding vendors, and do the wedding planning yourselves. 

 

What Order Should I Hire My Wedding Vendors In?

 

12 months before the wedding

  • Wedding planner
  • Venue

 

11 months before the wedding

  • Photographer and videographer
  • Band
  • Designer and tailor

 

9 months before the wedding

  • Hair and makeup
  • Caterer
  • Florist
  • Baker
  • Transporation 

 

How Much Does Wedding Vendor Cost?

These are the average costs, but note that prices will vary:

  • Wedding planner: $2,000
  • Wedding coordinator: $600
  • Calligrapher and wedding invitation designers/ printing company: $1,000
  • Hair and makeup artists: $600
  • Designer and tailor: $2,000
  • Jeweler: $1,000
  • Wedding officiant: $300
  • Wedding decorator: $500
  • Florist: $600
  • Catering and bartending services: $4,000
  • Chair and table rentals: $1,000
  • Baker: $350
  • Wedding photographer: $2,500
  • Wedding videographer: $2,500
  • Wedding band or musicians: $4,000
  • Lighting company: $5,000
  • Wedding Dj and/or MC: $1,000
  • Equipment rental company: $1,000
  • Transportation company: $750
  • Cleaning crew: $300

 

Conclusion

And that’s it! To recap what are wedding vendors, these are people responsible for different products and services on your wedding. 

You can have everyone on the list we gave, but some elements and services can also be accomplished DIY, especially if the wedding is small. Ultimately, plan your budget wisely and know which vendors you’ll need. 

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