Vendors Are the Backbone of Weddings—Here's Why Sticking to Professionals is Key

Professional wedding vendors matter. Full stop. There, I said it and that's the whole story. Just kidding, I'm about to dive into more information about why they're important, plus how you can find the best wedding vendors near you (Spoiler: The Knot is here to help!). But at the core, remembering the importance of hiring pros is the surest way to avoid future wedding regrets.

In this story:

• Why Professional Wedding Vendors Matter
• The Knot's Commitment to Wedding Vendors
• What is The Knot Vendor Marketplace?
• How to Use The Knot Vendor Marketplace to Find Wedding Vendors Near You

Why Professional Wedding Vendors Matter

While there are a few small wedding tasks that can be DIYed (like having Aunt Joan sew a pillow for the ring bearer), for the most part, wedding duties should be left to the professionals. You might be thinking, "But, I can save money by doing it myself." I hate to burst your bubble but that adage isn't necessarily true. If you invest in a wedding planner, for example, they can help you divvy up your budget efficiently and instruct you on how to spend your money so you don't succumb to common wedding planning mistakes. Similarly, your bestie from college might curate sick playlists for road trips and dinner parties, but they simply can't replace the expertise of a professional wedding DJ.

"Ask anyone who has ever worked with me… I love a DIY moment. And I do believe adding special personal touches add value to the overall experience. That said, it's always more work than you think," explains wedding catering expert TJ Girard, owner of Taste:Work:Shop. The pro has more than 15 years experience in the industry and notably founded Pinch Food Design. "The last thing you want is to be working on your wedding day or even the week leading up to it. Live events can be unpredictable, no matter how much you plan and rehearse. That's why it's crucial to hire professionals with many events under their belt to run the show."

Expert wedding planner and The Knot Ones to Watch 2023 honoree Angelica Laws echoes Girard's sentiments. Laws emphasizes that pros have done the trial and error for you. "Wedding vendors have the ability to take your ideas and edit them into executable plans that work within your budget and at your venue. With DIY projects, you're only adding on more to-dos, more stress, and a way more questionable end result than if you just leaned in and trusted professionals from the start."

FEATURED VIDEO FROM THE KNOT

You might be thinking, "This is all well and good, but how do I source vendors for my wedding? What are the best wedding vendor sites to aid in my search?" Drumroll please…this is where The Knot Vendor Marketplace comes in to connect you with the best wedding vendors near you. Wanna know who's out there killin' the game? We've got you covered.

The Knot's Commitment to Wedding Vendors

This is a bit of a humble brag, but here's the thing—vendors aren't just at the core of weddings, they're at the core of The Knot. Our aim is to help everyone celebrate life's biggest moments and, more specifically, to aid couples in planning weddings that are authentically their own. If you're reading this then you might have noticed our website looks a little different. So, why the glow up?

We understand that the landscape of weddings is constantly changing and it's paramount to us that we transform as well to continue to be a valuable resource to couples and future generations of couples.

Just like a wedding, proper planning is needed for any big change. So we didn't reimagine our brand identity in a vacuum. The Knot conducted extensive research to better understand common pain points and the needs of modern-day couples and the vendor community. The Knot found couples are increasingly relying on vendors, redefining wedding rituals and placing greater emphasis on in-person connection with friends and family after COVID-19 caused people to spend time apart.

"For more than 25 years, The Knot has been a leading expert in the wedding space—but we know the industry looks different now," says Jenny Lewis, Chief Marketing Officer of The Knot Worldwide. "As an industry leader, it is our responsibility to both respond to and help shape what this next chapter of weddings looks like. We've found that couples want to work with brands that embrace the highs and lows of wedding planning, and empower them to create celebrations that feel like an authentic expression of who they are as a couple. Wedding vendors play a critical role in bringing that vision to life and they are the backbone of every great wedding. This campaign seeks to shine the spotlight on vendors—the often unsung heroes of the industry—in a new and fresh way."

TL:DR; We want to be the ultimate wedding partner and champion of celebration, and our brand relaunch is helping achieve that aim. Before today you might not have even realized that The Knot has a Vendor Marketplace to help you build the best team of pros for the day. Spoiler alert: We do (and the businesses listed are top notch).

What is The Knot Vendor Marketplace?

Want a bit of proof that we're the best? We've got the receipts right here. The Knot Vendor Marketplace has more than 3 million reviews for vendors spanning 25 categories making it THE destination for researching and booking amazing pros with ease. The Knot Vendor Marketplace facilitates connections between more than 1 million couples and over 200,000 wedding professionals per year. Ok, ok, I'll get off my soap box now. Let's get down to details—how can you use The Knot Vendor Marketplace to help plan your wedding effectively?

How to Use The Knot Vendor Marketplace to Find Wedding Vendors Near You

Listen up, school is in session. On the homepage of The Knot you can navigate to the Vendors section of the main menu and you'll land at the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Or rather, The Knot Vendor Marketplace. From there's it's smooth sailing—select the category of pro you're searching for (i.e. Videographers, Florists, etc) and add the city where you want to wed in the location where you want to look.

After your initial search, you'll land on a page of results that allows you to sort the options more granularly so you can find pros that are best suited to your needs. Do you want to prioritize businesses owned by historically underrepresented demographics? The Knot Diversity Filters will allow you to do just that. Is it important to you that a potential pro be a Best of Weddings recipient? You can also easily filter to only view award-winning pros. When you find a business that piques your interest you can send an initial inquiry to get the conversation started. And then for the most satisfying part of the process—once you've communicated with the prospective pro through The Knot and booked them, you can cross off one more item on your wedding checklist that displays on the dashboard of your account. Fact: You can't try to tell me that doesn't feel amazing.