Have you ever thought about starting your own wedding business?
Would you love to be a wedding supplier or start a lucrative side hustle in the wedding or events industry?
Or are you a future bride or groom wondering what qualities to look for in potential suppliers?
Having been a wedding supplier for over 10 years, I’ve noticed beneficial traits in myself and many other great suppliers and wedding industry professionals that I’ve met along the way.
I’m not going to stand here and say working at weddings is rocket science. Or it’s life and death.
It’s much harder and more serious than that!
But seriously, there can obviously be a lot of pressure and expectation on a wedding suppliers shoulders. And rightly so.
If you are being paid to do a job or deliver a service; you are being paid to take it seriously and take pride in doing it well.
You may be providing critical aspects which define the smooth running of someone’s wedding day.
Deviating from this tightrope of a role can potentially cause significant impact to the enjoyment of someone’s wedding if these aren’t delivered smoothly and professionally.
Take heed.
Whether it’s the wedding planner, caterer, photographer, florist, DJ/band, celebrant or photobooth operator.
These are the traits that you should look for as a future bride and groom to minimise fuss and ensure you receive a top notch, timely and well delivered service on your wedding day.
Are you a current or future wedding supplier?
Then you may recognise some or all of these in yourself. If not, cultivating these traits will hopefully help you in the future.
Here are a list of the traits that help make a great wedding supplier:
Conscientious
The wedding is yours – or someone else’s – big day. Your moment in the lime light.
For many, one of the biggest and most memorable days of their lives.
So you want it to run as smoothly as possible. Timely, issue free and with no unexpected dramas.
Of course issues happen sometimes.
But conscientiousness on the part of suppliers will help ensure that they prepare properly, turn up on time and are well presented.
Most of all, being conscientious means they will take pride in delivering their service, and ensure you have a good time and positive experience in the process.
Reliable
Following closely on from being conscientious, being reliable is a key trait.
Weddings aren’t your average 9-5 profession where you can phone in sick at the slightest sign of a headache.
Being reliable means you turn up when you say will and deliver what you have been booked to. No ifs, no buts.
Come hell or high water, a reliable supplier will only let you down in the most extreme of circumstances or where it truly can’t be helped. They are being paid to take the stresses and strains off the couples shoulders.
Occasionally equipment or vehicle failures do occur through no fault of a suppliers.
However the rest of the time, a reliable supplier will ensure the service is delivered and completed when it should be. Or if the worst happens, they will arrange for someone else to cover for them.
The same of course goes for staff. When looking for casual staff or summer helpers, one of the key traits I look for is reliability.
There’s no room for shirkers and skivers on the wedding train!
Be friendly and approachable
You know what I think?
Weddings are happy places. Magical days that people will look back on for years to come with fond memories, wry smiles and wistful stories.
As a supplier, every interaction you have with couples, the venue or other suppliers should be a positive one that adds to this wherever possible.
Okay, there may be challenges along the way and inevitably there are bumps here and there.
However if you generally have a friendly and approachable manner, you will be remembered as being pleasurable and easy to deal with.
This will grease the wheels for future bookings and referrals – from the couple, guests, the venue and other suppliers – more than fancy marketing materials ever will.
Try and make a couples’ wedding journey as smooth as possible.
Build rapport. Answer any queries you receive as quickly and positively as possible.
If you have any issues or challenges, try to ensure a mutually beneficial outcome for all parties whenever you can.
People buy from people after all.
This will also go a long way to generating positive feedback, referrals and testimonials from a happy couple in the future after a positive experience working with you.
Good admin and organisational skills
Inevitably a well organised and professional wedding supplier is going to have to schedule their time effectively and be on top of any admin tasks.
This includes planning ahead, having effective time management practises in place, managing any staff and basic admin tasks such as emails, quotes, invoicing, supplier orders and payments etc.
Not the most sexy or fun part of the job but hey, it’s got to be done. Unless of course you are super organised and have outsourced these unsavoury tasks!
Having processes and systems help. Using templates and apps help. But however they manage it, having these underlying tasks in place lets them focus on the most important task of delivering fantastic events for their paying customers.
Self motivated
Working for yourself or running your own business can be a big shift from working for someone else. Ultimately if you don’t do things (or delegate or outsource them), then they don’t get done.
If you can’t drag yourself out of bed to attack your to do list, then no-one else will.
You need to be self motivated enough to be on top of things and make a success of your business. Of course, motivation rises and falls on different days.
Tired from yesterday? Kids kept you up so you didn’t get enough sleep? Want to chill and smash another Netflix box set? I hear ya.
But you need to have the desire to make your business work and find a way around any challenges you face without wilting like a dried up sunflower.
This underpins other important traits such as reliability and conscientiousness. And hey, you get a few months in the winter when weddings are pretty quiet anyway…
Get up, get out there and get it done. Be the hero in your own adventure story.
Self reliant
You need to be able to rely on you.
Are you confident in your ability to resolve any normal issues yourself?
Deal with any unexpected queries or challenges?
Navigate to and from faraway places and carry heavy kit into a venue if there’s no one else around to help?
There will be lots of times you can of course lean on other people. And there will be family or friends you can bounce ideas and resolutions off.
Or staff that can help carry stuff in.
But you are ground zero. The buck stops with you. You need to be made of stern stuff. Be able to pull yourself up and crack on when the time comes. Pull a long ass shift with no breaks or lunch hour when emergency demands it.
Don’t worry though, it’s all in a day’s work.
Hey you! Yeah you. You can do it.
Good problem solver, resilient and resourceful
Every event is different and clients needs and wants are different too. Different venues, different facilities, different setups.
As a supplier you need to be able to think on your feet. Bounce back from minor issues, be resourceful and adaptable.
You might have to work late sometimes or go that extra mile. Deal with broken or missing kit. Step in for poorly staff. Or pivot and do something completely differently to what you’d anticipated earlier on.
Tweak timings or change your plan according to an unexpected itinerary change. It’s all fun and games (said with gritted teeth and a wry smile.)
Dealing with these types of things will of course come with experience.
As long as you’re not the sort of person that needs a rigid plan for everything or starts twitching and rocking in the corner when the stress levels start to rise.
If you can think on your feet and adapt as required you’ll be fine.
Oh yeah, and always have zip ties and gaffer tape available. It’s amazing what you can fix with those.
Skills (appropriate to the job you’re doing)
Of course, part of being a wedding professional is to.. have the skills that make you professional.
Some wedding businesses don’t require specialist skills. Some you can teach yourself through trial and error or learn as you go. While others you can take training courses and accreditations to hit the necessary requirements.
Other roles, you will require specific skills, talents, experience or qualifications. (If you want to do the job well of course.)
Florists, photographers, high level caterers, celebrants and many others will require these in varying degrees.
It is up to you to determine what you need, how to get it and whether you are up to the task. The Wedding Man will of course be your trusty sidekick on the way as we continue to build resources, how to guides and further information to help you on your way.
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Conclusion
From the list above you can tell most of the traits needed (in my view at least) will come natural to some but can certainly be nurtured and improved by all.
If you are a current or aspiring wedding professional or wedding business side hustler, I’m sure these traits will certainly make your business life easier. Helping you deliver a better, more effective and professional service.
As a future couple looking for the best suppliers, you may only know how beneficial these traits are once you’ve experienced dealing with suppliers in the flesh. This will be evident during the prep stages and then on the day.
However, there are things you can do help you pick the right suppliers in the first place.
Experience and length of time trading can be reassuring. If a supplier had been going for a number of years, they are usually doing something right. They have that valuable experience factor under their belt.
Word of mouth is extremely helpful (particularly recommendations from friends and family) and testimonials and reviews of their service on their website, social media pages, or Google pages.
A long positive record of experiences will both reassure you and give you an idea of the type of experience you are likely to have.
Now, we can’t teach characteristics. But we can help with everything else you need to become a future wedding professional.
Whether it’s your own photobooth business, fun foods, photography or the wide range of other fun and exciting opportunities out there in the industry.
If you’re starting out or thinking of building your own business or side hustle in the wedding or event industry, sign up for our newsletter.
Keep your eyes peeled for tips, news and some great products to help you save time, money and create a profitable and effective wedding business that we have coming to you soon.
Are there any qualities I’ve missed to be a great wedding supplier? Let me know in the comments below.
