You and your fiancé(e) have made up your mind: instead of celebrating your wedding at home, you have decided to go for a destination wedding. Hooray! That’s exciting!
But hold on: once the choice for a destination wedding has been made, the real work of planning your wedding starts: finding wedding planners and vendors in another country or state. Where should you even start?
Luckily, many other couples have stood in your shoes before (including the writers of this blog post!).
As a couple who celebrated a beautiful wedding in the South of France despite living in Asia, we can attest to the fact that finding reliable wedding vendors was initially one of the most daunting tasks. The time zone differences, unfamiliarity with the local area, and the lack of a personal network or references made the process even more challenging.
However, through this process, we discovered a simple yet incredibly effective trick that made finding wedding vendors (and getting better prices) a breeze. Let me share it with you.
The Challenge of Finding Destination Wedding Vendors
When planning a wedding far from home, there are some hurdles to overcome.
For us, navigating time zone differences, not knowing the area, and having no local connections made vendor selection a significant challenge. Initially, we had no idea where or how to start. It all seemed very overwhelming!
Finding wedding vendors is not just about finding a florist or a photographer. It’s about ensuring that each vendor understands your vision, aligns with your budget, speaks your language (metaphorically and literally), and can deliver the quality you expect.
The Instagram Trick That Changed Everything
During the planning process, we stumbled upon a simple trick that completely changed how we found our wedding vendors.
Instead of spending hours on Google and browsing slow websites with unclear descriptions or out-of-date content, we were able to identify multiple, trusted wedding vendors in one go.
The trick? Instagram.
Here’s how it worked:
1. Search for the Venue on Instagram
Begin by searching for the wedding venue you’ve chosen on Instagram. You can either look for the venue’s official Instagram account or check out posts tagged at the location (if you’re unsure how to do this, here’s Instagram’s help on seeing posts taken at the same location).
If you’re choosing the second route – posts taken at your wedding location – make sure to sort by most recent rather than top to see the latest posts.
2. Browse Tagged Wedding Photos
Look through wedding photos tagged or taken at the venue. These often include stunning images from real weddings held at the venue, which are great inspiration and showcase the actual work of real vendors who have worked at the venue.
3. Identify Tagged Vendors
Pay attention to the descriptions of these posts. Many couples and wedding planners tag the vendors they worked with in their posts’ descriptions. This means you can find the names and Instagram handles of florists, photographers, caterers, bands, and more, all in one place.
Here’s one example for Chateau de Tourreau, a popular wedding venue in the South of France. The description on the right contains the Instagram handles of the wedding planner and 14 other wedding vendors, including the groom’s tux!
One swallow doesn’t make a summer? Here’s another example. Again, the full list of wedding vendors is mentioned.
4. Create Your Vendor List
Equipped with your Instagram vendor list, it’s time to check their profiles, view their portfolios, and see if their style aligns with your vision. Reach out to them directly via Instagram or through the contact information provided in their bio.
5. Get Feedback From Other Couples
Instagram also makes it easy to identify the couples who have worked with the vendors. Often, the bride or groom is tagged in the post too. We contacted several couples who celebrated their wedding at the same venue as us and asked them about their vendors. This kind of first-hand feedback is priceless when it comes to booking wedding vendors from abroad.
6, Keep Track of All Vendor Interactions
Last, make sure to keep track of all your vendor interactions. Download our free wedding binder spreadsheet to stay on top of your wedding planning.
Why This Trick Works
Compared to browsing wedding vendor’s websites, we found that using Instagram had several advantages:
Local Insights From Real Weddings
By seeing the venue’s photos tagged by past couples, you get a genuine look at how the space has been utilized and decorated, giving you valuable insights into which vendors might be a good fit.
Real-Time Information
Instagram provides almost real-time information and updates from wedding vendors, allowing you to see their most recent work and offerings.
Immediate Contacts
Tags in posts lead you directly to vendors’ Instagram profiles, where you can quickly gather contact details and start the conversation.
Better Prices For Wedding Vendors
A traditional search on Google often only brings up the most exclusive vendors or those who have time and money to invest in search engine optimization. Smaller wedding vendors, such as local photographers or DJs do not have the resources to promote themselves well on Google. However, they promote themselves very well on Instagram.
By using Instagram for our wedding vendor search, we saved significant amounts of money and made our budget go further!
Conclusion: Finding Wedding Vendors For a Destination Wedding
Finding wedding vendors for a destination wedding doesn’t have to be a stressful ordeal.
By making the most of Instagram, you can efficiently discover and connect with talented professionals who can help bring your dream wedding to life. So, if you are planning a wedding away from home, remember this simple trick! It might just make your planning journey a whole lot smoother.
Happy planning!
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