Throughout the wedding planning process, one of your primary responsibilities is going to revolve around researching and ultimately selecting particular wedding vendors. Chances are you’ve already been browsing through some potential options on Instagram, and have likely received some recommendations from friends and family as well. Nonetheless, particularly for those planning a wedding in a bigger market (such as Houston), you’re likely going to have plenty of options to pick from. 

As an all-inclusive wedding venue, our team has been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to work with and recommend so many talented wedding vendors around the Houston and Conroe area. Photographers, florists, caterers, DJs, you name it. If one thing is clear, Houston is filled with some amazing wedding professionals! In planning your big day, one term you may hear across different wedding-related blogs is a “wedding vendor dream team.” Essentially, your wedding vendor dream team should be composed of the vendors capable of truly bringing your dream wedding to life. Obviously, everyone is going to also have a budget for their big day and that may require you to make some tough decisions, but the core premise holds true. Throughout this blog post, we’ll provide you with some tips on assembling your wedding vendor dream team and how you can prioritize certain elements. That all being said, let’s dive right in!

Photos on the thumbnail courtesy of Ama by Aisha #AmaByClaudia.

Prioritize Your Must-Haves

In a perfect world, your wedding vendor dream team would include the best of the best at every spot. However, just as I mentioned in the introduction, everyone is going to need to establish a budget early on in the planning process. Otherwise, you’ll undoubtedly be faced with a bevy of headaches later on and likely some unneeded stress! With that in mind, at the beginning of the planning process, make sure to highlight the vendors that you and your fiance would consider to be “must-haves.” In other words, is there a photographer that you’ve been following on Instagram for awhile and has truly portrayed the ability to capture an entire wedding day flawlessly? If so, it would probably make sense to get them locked in first. Maybe you recently attended a nearby wedding where the food was absolutely amazing and exactly what you had imagined for your special day? If that’s the case, then catering might be an important item. All in all, get your must-haves out in the open early on and brainstorm ways you can possibly spend less (if needed) on other vendors to ensure your must-haves are there for your wedding.

Consider Recommendations

Each and every year, hundreds of thousands of weddings take place in the United States. Furthermore, it’s safe to say that the Houston area (Conroe and The Woodlands included) encompasses quite a few weddings in its own right as well. And in order for all of these nuptials to take place, you need more than a few wedding vendors available. All in all, what I’m trying to say is the wedding industry has grown to be a lot bigger than you might initially think.

Speaking from personal experience, our wedding venue (Madera Estates) has been fortunate enough to have hosted hundreds of weddings over the years. With this, we’ve been able to work with plenty of talented wedding vendors and feel confident in our ability to refer engaged couples to particular vendors, based on their budget and overall wedding vision. While you’re in the process of assembling your dream team, you may get stuck on certain vendors. Maybe the photographer and videographer were no-brainers, but you have no idea who the go-to local DJ is. No matter what the situation may be, it’s always going to be worthwhile to lean on your other vendors or wedding venue coordinator as resources during this planning process. They’ll likely have experience working with several of the other local vendors and can help lead you in the right direction. As an added bonus, assuming they’ve worked a wedding at your selected venue, this should make the day-of process that much more seamless, as they’ll be aware of any venue-specific logistics. To sum it up, we named this section “consider” recommendations since you’re not required to go with options they suggest, but it is certainly worthwhile to take their advice into consideration!

What Vendors Do You Need?

If you’ve never orchestrated a large-scale event, you may be a little surprised by just how many variables go into planning a wedding day. This is part of the reason why we always encourage couples to utilize a checklist throughout the planning process to ensure they stay on schedule and don’t forget any important details! Nonetheless, with this blog being focused on building your vendor dream team, wouldn’t it make sense to list out the different members of this team? You may already know this off the top of your head, but we figured it would be helpful to list it out too! 

Photographer – It’s always worth it to hire a professional photographer for your big day. They obviously have a huge responsibility for this and you’ll want someone you can trust to capture every single moment.

Videographer – We could’ve included this with the photographers above, but many couples are also opting to hire videographers to capture clips throughout the day in video form as well!

Caterer – Good food is a must for any celebration, right? Schedule taste testings to ensure you’ll be happy with the food served on your big day.

Florist – Flowers and weddings always go hand-in-hand. If you’re not already set on a specific flower type or color, lean on the expertise of a professional florist.

Wedding Cake – When it comes to wedding traditions, a beautiful and delectable wedding cake is a must. Don’t forget about the groom’s cake either!

Music/Entertainment – Whether it be ceremony music or a fun entertainment experience at the reception, you’ll want to make sure to allot some of your budget for these vital vendors.

Hair & Makeup – You’ll obviously need to get all glammed up before the festivities get underway! Utilize social media and referrals to find talented hair and makeup artists.

Wedding Venue – Unsurprisingly, one of the first decisions you’ll make in the planning process can also be considered a wedding vendor selection! When considering different venues, make sure to schedule tours to see them in-person and always inquire about availability on your selected date.

Others – As you can imagine, the possibilities are endless and as such, we could talk for quite awhile about every single wedding vendor you could include. Above, we listed a handful of the ones that you’ll see at the majority of weddings (keep in mind that this will also include an officiant, planner/coordinator, jeweler, invitations, decor, etc). However, a few others that might not be present at every wedding, but can certainly add some extra pizazz include firework displays, photo booths, late-night snack bars, desserts, on-site alpacas and more!

Tour Madera Estates!

What does your wedding vendor dream team look like? Do you already have any of the spots filled up? We hope this blog helps simplify part of the process and will provide clarity when you start researching potential vendors. If you’re currently engaged and planning your wedding near the Houston area, we would be more than happy to show you around our wedding venue, Madera Estates. Based out of Conroe, TX, Madera is a Spanish and European-inspired luxury wedding venue. For those interested in booking a free tour and meeting with a member of our team, feel free to click HERE to check out our online booking calendar. In addition, HERE is a link to our online photo gallery if you would like to take a peek at some weddings previously held at Madera Estates.