When you’re planning a wedding, you will be dealing with lots of different vendors who will all play a crucial role in making your day come together. Once your wedding is over, many vendors will ask you to write a review or testimonial so that they can use your feedback to help other perspective clients choose them. If your vendor has gone beyond the call of duty and done an amazing job, please do them a kindness and write a glowing testimonial so their business can thrive.

When writing a positive review, be sure to include specific details as to why you loved working with this vendor. Include their personalities and overall experience. Be as gushy as you want but also be sure to include concrete examples to help build trust with their audience.

But, what if they’re service was subpar, or worse– downright awful? Should you still write a review? The answer is yes, however there are some considerations to make first.

The DOs of Writing Vendor Reviews

  1. Contact them directly first: If there were some things you would have preferred done a certain way or perhaps weren’t up to your satisfaction, consider reaching out directly to let them know. A lot of wedding vendors rely on reviews to get more business so if it’s something small, it might be better to handle it offline rather that write a negative review about something that could be a quick fix.
  2. Talk to friends and family: Tell them your experience and seek their opinions on whether or not you are justified in wanting to write a review or maybe you are over reacting to a small issue. You can also ask for their feedback when you write your review.
  3. Wait until after the wedding: This is a biggie– do not write a negative review before your wedding. Not only are your emotions running high, you also don’t want to ruin what likely was a good relationship before your wedding even happens. While it’s hard to do so in the moment, be patient and give vendors time to respond to your concerns – you’ll find that most want to go out of their way to please their clients so let your vendors do what they do best before rendering final judgment. Furthermore, it is always good to take a beat and let the dust settle before writing any sort of negative review. 
Vendor Review

The DONTs of Wedding Reviews

  1. Treat everything as the end of the world: Some brides get into a habit of having a meltdown over everything that doesn’t go exactly how they want. Sometimes, it is avoidable and sometimes, things just don’t work out. What you shouldn’t do is blame a vendor for ruining your wedding if the issue was out of their control– and you definitely shouldn’t blame them in an online review.
  2. Get too emotional: If you want the online community to take your review seriously, make sure you write the review when you are calm and can write properly. Things like spelling mistakes, and sentences in all caps make you seem more dramatic and less trustworthy.
  3. Hire someone without reading the reviews: This has less to do with writing a review and more to do with how to avoid needing to write a negative one… Do your research! Read reviews online and see if there are multiple couples who have had similar issues – this will provide good insight into how a vendor works and what issues, if any, you may run into.

Once again, it is always a good idea to write reviews for your vendors after the wedding to help them grow their business but also to help other couples plan their wedding. Make sure to be specific, proofread and always, always, wait till after the wedding before you write any vendor review (but especially negative ones).