Tip: What to Ask and to Look for in Your Potential Event Suppliers

From our wedding coordinator hunt here, I mentioned we prepared interview questions ahead to maximize our time visiting the bridal fair. Below are 5 of the most important questions to ask when you are in a hunt for your events team. Most of these are applicable to any suppliers in general.

1. Are you still available on __________?

It's not only that clients should ask this first, suppliers also ask for the date first in any client inquiry. Most of the time, dates are already finalized. So if your date is final and the answer's a no, skip to the next available supplier.

2. Services, prices, add-ons, other fees, payment terms?

Well, of course! Not what you're looking for? Too expensive? No discounts? Move on to other suppliers. If they fit the bucket, check all inclusions carefully and see if everything you need is listed to prevent unexpected additional fees or problems later.

Some of the usually forgotten but important things to look out for specific suppliers: a. Coordinators: Number of coordinators present during the day. For weddings, regardless if yours is intimate, minimum # of people should ideally be 4, one bride manager, one groom manager, one assigned to look over ceremony preparations, and one for the reception.

b. Venue: hours of use, restrictions, # of prep rooms, and for outdoor events, a backup indoor venue or big tent, and parking spaces! Parking is one of the most forgotten things to consider especially if most of your guests will be bringing their own vehicles. Under extreme scenarios, parking spaces make or break a guest's decision to join and impressions on your event.

c. Catering: Food tasting is a must, if not free, should at least be included in the package. We know that actual food on the day may taste different from the food tasting session, but it still is an important task for us to do. What if they already fall under your expectations during the food tasting? Expect the worst during the event day if that's the case.

d. Photo / Video: If possible, ask for the names of their main photographers and directors. Reason in #3 below.

d. HMUA: Unlimited touchups? How many looks? Will the main artist stay the whole day? Because some of them leave before the ceremony and simply left a junior artist in charge for your touch ups or change looks.

e. Couture: For bridal gowns or debut, ask if a personal assistant is included in your package. This is only essential if your dress is complicated or difficult to change in and out of, and if your coordinator assistant can't assist you properly with it.

3. How many teams do you have or events do you handle in a day?

This would matter for others (like us), and not for some. Others are fine with more than 1 event as long as they have a team present, but for people like us who place high expectations for our dream event, we wanted the main team / A team to be with us the entire day, not just any freelance or B team, especially for a once-in-a-lifetime event like our wedding. If this is also your case, make sure the main team or A team is still available and if they are allowed to put the name/s of your preferred team/photog/director/HMUA in the contract so you can secure them.

4. May I see your previous handled events / clients / works / portfolios / templates?

Survey what they present to you carefully. Find out if there's any similar past works they had that would match your specifications for your event. If this is through online conversation, make sure what they present you are their own works. Too many impersonators and scammers to mention these days, and a lot have fallen victims of them.

5. Do you have registered business permits, receipts and contracts?

One of the most forgotten but also equally important factor to check, especially for major suppliers. Other categories are not that required specifically online shopping and small or start up businesses, but better countercheck their output and client reviews elsewhere to verify.

Save yourself some time by asking these 5 big questions before you decide and say "yes" to your suppliers. But wait! If they happen to pass all these questions, it doesn't end there. For some of the major suppliers, physical meeting or live video chat to say the least, is a must!

a. Venue: Ocular, ocular, ocular! Photos are never enough to justify what the actual venue would look like. Plus, venues don't really show "all" areas. If you hired a full-coordination planner, have them accompany you. They know all the required venue essentials to pull off your event. Sometimes, flexibility and kindness of the person you're talking to may affect your decision, choosing the better managers and staff rather than the venue itself.

b. Catering: as mentioned above, food-tasting is a must. Also applicable to have your coordinator tag along if it's full coordination.

c. HMUA: trial makeup, whether free, inclusive or additional fee, is essential if you don't want to risk surprising yourself on what you would possibly look like during your event. To reiterate, photos are insufficient evidence, especially if results vary from person to person. It is also during this session that you would find out the actual products they are using, if they are clean, suitable to your skin and if the artist is hygienic, friendly, professional, etc.

d. Emcee: Apart from language and singing requirements, the main purpose of meeting with your emcee is to actually get to know each other and see if you have chemistry. They might be very experienced, but you might not like their style. Maybe you want to be more serious? Formal? Funny or comedic? Some emcees have their own forte, and might find it hard to adjust if your preference is very different from their personality.

e. Couture: Not really "required" especially for one-size-fits-all RTWs, but if its an unknown designer or shop, with no visible client feedbacks, physical address or even have reviews and comments disabled, doubt away! There are increasing number of victims from impersonating couturiers online, with eyesore gowns, expectation-vs-reality disasters or worst, no results at all.

These are not everything as some suppliers are not yet covered here, but these are the top important ones in general. It might actually sound like a lot of work, but it will save you time, money and stress in the long run, guaranteed!