Vendors and small touches

With a short guest list you hire fewer vendors, but each one carries more of the day. Choose people who are comfortable in a small, personal setting, and who have done weddings this size before.

Who you need

• Photographer: 3 to 4 hours covers portraits, the ceremony, group photos and the start of dinner.
• Food: a food truck works well outside, a drop-off caterer suits a seated dinner at one long table.
• Music: a good speaker and a playlist is enough for under 30 guests. One acoustic musician is a lovely upgrade.
• Toast: sparkling cider, lemonade or a mocktail cart keeps every guest included.
• Florals: a bouquet, a few low centerpieces and one statement piece read as full in a small room.

Questions for your photographer

• Can I see a full gallery from a small wedding, not just highlights?
• How many edited photos do we get, and how long until delivery? Four to eight weeks is common.
• What is the overtime rate per hour?
• Do you bring a second shooter, and do we need one for 30 guests? Usually not.

Questions for your food vendor

• What is included: plates, utensils, serving tables, staff, setup and cleanup?
• How much space and power do you need, and how early do you arrive?
• How do you handle allergies and labeling on a buffet?
• When do you need the final count? Often 7 to 14 days out.

Tip: Ask about power. Food trucks often run on their own generator, but some need an outdoor outlet. Ask, and tell the venue before the day.

Music, officiant and florist

• Musician: ask for a set list and whether they bring their own speaker and power.
• Officiant: ask whether they will meet you once to write the ceremony, and how they return the license.
• Florist: ask for delivery and setup timing, and whether they pick up vases after.
• Rentals: ask about delivery windows and the pickup time, which must fall inside your booking.

Contracts and deposits

Get every vendor in writing, even friends. A one page agreement with the date, arrival time, what is included, the total, the deposit and the cancellation terms prevents nearly every argument. Keep all contracts in one shared folder.

• Read the cancellation and rescheduling terms before paying a deposit.
• Check whether the deposit is refundable, and under what conditions.
• Confirm the vendor carries liability insurance if the venue asks for it.
• Note who your contact is on the day, if it is not the person who sold you the package.

If a friend is doing the photos or the cake as a gift, still write down what they are doing and when they arrive. Friends are generous, but they are also guests, and a clear plan lets them enjoy the day too.

Pick vendors who know small weddings

Someone used to big receptions may over-direct a 25 person dinner, with long announcements and staged entrances. A vendor who shoots intimate events stays out of the way and still catches the toasts. Ask each one how many weddings under 50 guests they did last year.

Look at reviews from the last 12 months, not the best ones from five years ago, and read the low ones too. One late arrival is bad luck. A pattern of late arrivals or slow delivery is how that vendor works. When two vendors are close on price, pick the one who answers your messages faster, because that is how they will answer on the day.

Finally, introduce your vendors to each other by email a month out, with the timeline attached. A caterer who knows when the photographer wants the cake cut, and a musician who knows when toasts start, will work around each other without you in the middle.

Touches guests notice

• Handwritten place cards at one long table.
• A family-style meal passed down the table.
• A framed photo of anyone who could not be there.
• Shade, water and a chair waiting for older guests from May onward.
• A short note from the two of you at every place setting.

The emergency kit

Pack it the week before and hand it to your point person. It turns small problems into two minute fixes.

Tip: What goes in the kit. Safety pins, a stain pen, a phone charger, tissues, a lighter for candles, a small sewing kit, bandages, pain reliever, sunscreen, bug spray, tape and scissors.

With the right vendors and a few personal touches, the day feels bigger than the headcount. Next, the mistakes we see most.

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