Whether you are just starting the process of finding your wedding day professionals, or you are back from a beautiful and relaxing honeymoon, reviews are an important part of your wedding experience. It’s how you know your vendor is professional, responsible, goes above and beyond, and does great work. And, it’s how you can let others know just how wonderful your wedding day team was!
You may be wondering, what should I be looking for in a review, or how do I write a review for someone I loved. This answer is nuanced based on each “category” in the event industry, but there are several that overlap. So, here is our definitive guide to writing an amazing review in five easy steps:
- The Details
- Communication is Key!
- Do They Love What They Do?
- Overall Wedding Day Experience
- The FIRST Thing to Do if You’re NOT 5 Star Satisfied
Want to Know the best things to do for your individual professionals to really up the quality of your review? We’ve reached out to some of our best industry colleagues to know exactly what kinds of reviews make their day!
Reviewing Your Makeup Artist – ONLO Beauty
Reviewing Your Florist – Cottage Flowers
Reviewing Your Entertainment – Pat & Sean Kelly & Blue Root Entertainment
Reviewing Your Caterer – Serock Catering
Reviewing Your Photographer – Us, of course!
1. The Details
Just like you learned in second grade, you should include who, where, and when.
- Who is the specific name of the person or people you were in contact with and provided your wedding day service. This could be your makeup artist, your assigned server, band leader, etc… Seeing a specific person named is so helpful for others who are getting a feel for a business. It may help narrow down their search to a specific photographer or DJ as they move towards inquiring. Give the credit where it’s due.
- Where is your venue! Most couples are looking for professionals who have worked at their venue before. Letting people know that your wedding team has experience at a particular location goes a long way.
- When is your wedding date. Similar to naming the venue, calling out your wedding date gives people a chance to see examples from different seasons and conditions. Can your photographer get excellent photos in the dead of winter? Did the wedding party wilt in the heat of summer? Your date can help steer other couples in the right direction for their specific time of year.
2. Communication is Key!
We’ve found that a lot of couples are looking for wedding professionals with excellent communication all throughout their engagement. How did you feel about their communication? Were you excited and confident in your choices, or did you wonder if you were going to be up a creek? A great wedding vendor will be a great communicator with everything from helpful tips and tricks, to the wedding week, and even afterwards.
3. Do they love what they do?
Most wedding professionals absolutely love what they do. If you noticed this, call it out in your review. It helps others know that we are genuine and care about them as well as their wedding day. We’ve seen servers groove along the edge of the dance floor while clearing plates. We’ve seen bands create an amazing atmosphere for guests to enjoy. You might even catch your photographer or planner tearing up as you share your first dance. For prospective brides and grooms, this is incredibly helpful as they consider who to bring along with them for all these memories being made.
4. Overall wedding day experience
This is the most obvious part of the review. How did everyone actually perform on your wedding day? Did they exceed expectations? Did someone go above and beyond for you? Was everyone on time? Did you feel at ease and confident that everything was going well? If you had to adjust on the fly, did everyone adapt skillfully? This is incredibly important for planning couples. Brevity is for the birds. The more detail the better.
5. Not 5 star satisfied?
Finally, if there is any reason you wouldn’t give a five star rating to one of your wedding day professionals, contact them before posting a review. Every vendor wants the chance to make a situation right. Getting in touch with a professional allows them the opportunity to address your specific problem and give you fantastic customer service that turns your 3 star review into 5.
Reviewing Specific Wedding Professionals
Each category of wedding vendor has a few things that are very helpful to their specific client experience. We asked some of our friends what makes their day to read in a review.
Hair & Make-up Artists
Diana from ONLO Beauty gave us this advice!
For your hair and make-up salon and artists, it’s helpful to poll your wedding party and see how their experience was. These are important people to you and your day, so it’s important to know how they’re treated as well.
How did your timeline flow? Was everyone moving through as scheduled? A great hair and make-up team will make a great timeline that sets you up to have a smooth wedding day.
Finally, how well your wedding day look held up throughout the day and how awesome you looked in your pictures! This is why you hire a quality team!
Florist
Your wedding day floral arrangements are such a labor of love, each piece specific to the season and feel you are trying to achieve. Heather at Cottage Flowers gave us some amazing guidance for how to review your florist!
“I’m thrilled whenever any of our couples take the time to leave us a review! And I really appreciate it when they reach out to ask where the best places are to do so. Because flowers are such a visual and seasonal element, I spend a lot of time thinking about the “details” of how they will come together for an event, so in a review, I love to hear a few of the specifics. Did you love your bouquet? Your ceremony decor? The look of the room when you walked into the reception? The more details the better!”
Entertainment
We asked Pat & Sean Kelly for their input, and their words are incredibly helpful!
“How they perceive us as people! – As much as we would like to say that it’s all about the music…it’s not! Couples want to know that your character is also part of your business. Your character on their wedding day is a reflection of them as well. How you treat people and portray yourself plays a huge part in their decision-making process. Couples want to know that they’re not only choosing a good musician but also a good individual.”
We also reached out to Cleveland Morris at Blue Root Entertainment for his thoughts.
“[W]e feel there are 2 parts to the day of your event. The first part is the execution of formalities. The second is keeping the dance floor packed. The combination of these two done well are how we execute a successful event. Detailing the success of these parts of your event really gives a clear indicator of what we bring to the table.”
Catering
This is one of the categories that the more specific and detailed you are, the better for everyone looking for an amazing caterer. John Serock, owner of John Serock Catering offered these helpful tips!
Talk about your specific menu choices and decisions. List a few of your favorite hors d’oeuvres and your favorite entree. This will help folks who are maybe considering the same thing. Was everything hot (if it should be hot), cooked well, on time? These are great things to list in your review.
Did your caterer customize anything to your package? Were they able to accommodate specific requests or dietary restrictions? Have you heard any raves from your guests about the food or staff? Pass those along and share the love!
So, love us? Let us know!
We are always excited when our couples take time to let others know their experience. So, if you loved your wedding day vendors, take a moment to leave a review. Pro tip: save a copy of your review to copy and paste across all the platforms you can find them on. That is a massive bonus for us! And from the bottom of our heart, thank you. It is our pleasure to serve you.
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