Brittani {Vendors}

Brittani, of Britt Croft Photography, is back, and this time, the bride-to-be is giving us some fabulous tips to keep in mind when picking your Lowcountry vendors... Hey ALW readers! I’m back again, this time spilling on some of our vendor choices. Hiring quality vendors is SO important. You really want to work with people that truly care about how important this day is in your life and respect and appreciate your business and budget.

When choosing vendors…

- Don’t be afraid to meet with a few different vendors in each category that you are looking for. I felt kind of bad about doing this…like I was sneaky and price shopping. But as a bride, it’s your prerogative to ensure you’re finding the best fit for you. Just be honest if anyone asks, and make sure you are polite and kind about it. I knew what kind of food we wanted for our wedding (good ‘ole down home country cooking!), so I inquired with three or four caterers in the beginning. Surprisingly enough, one got back to me immediately, two took weeks to get back to me, and one never did. Obviously that says a lot, and if I had only inquired with one and thought that was the normal wait time for inquiries, I may have hired a company that wouldn’t pay my wedding food much attention. Regardless, it’s always good to meet with several different options to get a feel for who will be a best fit for your type of wedding, your personality, and your budget.

- Try to meet in person. Getting a feel for someone in person can be totally different over email or the phone. How do they dress? Are they timely? Are they polite? Do they come prepared and organized? Are they enthusiastic or overbearing? These things may seem silly, but they say a lot about how this person will be on the day of your wedding. Will they be presentable and professional? On time and polite to your guests? This is hugely important!

- Ask to see examples of their work, reviews from past brides, or a taste test. This may seem like common sense, but its crazy how many brides skip on the little things. Tasting the food beforehand or hearing about what past brides felt about the planner you are sitting down with can make a big difference in how your wedding day flows.

- Who have your friends used? Ask around to your married friends and find out what vendors they used and loved or wouldn’t recommend. What’s better than hearing it straight from someone who has experienced a service previously?

So who have we chosen to work with for our wedding? Remember are getting married at The Pavilion at Pepper Plantation, so almost all of our vendors are located in the greater Charleston area.

- Photographer: Katelyn James, Richmond, VA

- Caterer: The Crazy Dutchman, Charleston

- Florist: WildFlowers, Inc., Summerville

- Cake and Cupcakes: Publix in Mt. Pleasant (Don’t judge – I will be writing more about this later!)

- Rentals: Group Dynamics, Charleston

- Hair and Makeup: Bellezza Salon & Spa, Charleston

- DJ: The Party Music, Roy Palmgren, Charleston

Who have you chosen to work with for your big day? What were some of your challenges choosing or finding vendors that fit your vision? Leave a comment and let me know – I’d love to hear!

Charleston Weddings {A Charleston Bride} Brittani

So our friend Brittani, a Charleston Bride, of Britt Croft Photography, is planning her big Charleston wedding this coming September.  I asked her if she'd take us on the journey as she blogs her way through all things wedding planning, right up until her fabulous Lowcountry Wedding!  Today, it's all about her photographer.  Take it away, Britt...

"Hi ALW! It's been a while, but I've been truckin' along with my wedding to do list! Last time I wrote, I chatted about selecting our Charleston wedding venue.  I get so excited when I think about it because I just know it's so "us" and will set the perfect mood and backdrop for our big day.

Probably the most important thing to me, naturally, was the photography. Everyone has different priorities, but for us, the photography is what will take us back years down the road. It's how we'll remember so many of the thing that flew by that day, or that we were too busy to think about. Our wedding album will become a family heirloom that we will pass along to our children and grandchildren. Photography was definitely at the top of the list in terms of importance. Along with the venue and food (also so important to us), the photography was also a big chunk of our budget.

As a wedding photographer myself, people have asked me from day one of our engagement who would shoot our wedding. "Surely you must have chosen that first!" people would say. Nope. Sure didn't. In fact, the decision stressed me out A LOT. It was SO important to me that I was terrified of making the wrong decision...so I put it off and put it off, but after we booked our venue, I really had to buckle down and discuss it with Dustin before the awesome photographers I loved booked up for our date.

I spent a ton of time thinking about it. There are so many photographers whose work I love that I didn't know how I could choose. I finally narrowed it down to three. I thought some more. I browsed portfolios, blogs, etc. I tried to get a feel for personalities and such. I thought about it even more. I wanted someone with us on our big day that I felt I could relate to. I know that on your wedding day, you spend a lot of time with your photographer. I wanted someone who used light beautifully...that is SO important to me! I wanted someone who told a story, who would appreciate us wanting to do a first look, would pay close attention to details and the personalization we plan to add to our Southern wedding, and who put a lot of emphasis on bride and groom portraits. Portraits of my handsome southern man and I on our big day is so important to me because I know those will be some of the most powerful and intimate pictures from the day. Just us...loving being in love. I thought some more. I figured I needed a plan of action...I needed to prioritize my list and see who was available. Well, I decided who was my number one choice and emailed yer. Yup! She was available for September 15th! Yay! We chatted a bit about the day and soon after were officially booked!

So...who'd we choose? Well, the sweet Katelyn James. After doing all that thinking...this wedding in particular really sold me: Buddy & Jill . There was SO much that was just so relatable about it. Buddy's looks and handiness reminds me of Dustin in a lot of ways...and of course the whole cozy country theme and "farmers wife" thing was perfect. We knew from the beginning we wanted our whole wedding party to wear boots, too, and I just loved the whole mood and vibe of this wedding. We really felt like Katelyn would know how to work with us and shoot our kind of wedding. We can't wait to see how she tells the story of a day we are so eager to be here. Anddddd...we are getting super excited about our engagement session! It'll be here before we know it in April and it will be so special to have some truly authentic professional portraits of us just being us.

So what happened next? Well, we booked our caterer, DJ, AND I just recently found my dress!!! I thought the latter would be a stressful and exhausting experience, but it was anything but. I can't wait to share about those next two steps with y'all in the next few weeks! :)