Event Suppliers/Vendors: They Can Make Or Break Your Event
You have to be careful when you are trying to plan a great event. You need to make sure that you are using the right vendors that are there to help you. There are many different people out there that want to take your money and you need to make sure that you are protecting yourself and your event when you decide to use them.
Planning the perfect event for any reason is something that anyone wants to do. It is not always easy, however it is something that you have to take seriously because you will want to make sure that you are getting the most for your money. You want to get the most for your money, but yet still put on a great event.
Shop around for prices on what you need. For example, if you need fifty table clothes, don’t get them at the first store that you come to, call at least three suppliers and ask their prices on that same item. That item could be just $1 cheaper at another store, and shipped free, compared to paying $1 more for each table clothe and to have to pay shipping as well.
Look for items that you can reuse at other events. For example, go back to the back to the table clothe order. Will you be able to launder the items, cheap, and reuse them again at another event? This is a good idea is you are going to be an event planner or put on a lot of different events in the next few months or years. While it could be a little more costly up front instead of using paper, you have to look at the number of times you can use these table clothes, and the price you would pay each time if you were to use paper. Remember, savy affairs and events are not the place for paper anyway, so you might end up buying paper table clothes for four events, and then still have to purchase those linens for another event.
A supplier can make or break your event, just by not showing up. You need to keep a list of supplies, that are local so that just in case you find your supplier doesn’t ship or doesn’t show, you can purchase what you need, without waiting. You always need a backup plan. For example, the 125 paper table clothes you orders online that are blue and green, can you get them anywhere else locally, within fifty miles, even if it costs more? If your supplier doesn’t show, or doesn’t ship and it is the day of the event, you need to send someone to your backup, and get what you need. Don’t let anyone hold you up from being successful.
Hold people to their contracts, to what you ordered. If you ordered 100 green cloth napkins and 40 black napkins for centerpieces, and your shipped the products but in backwards amounts, call the supplier. Tell them you want a big discount or you are going to refuse to accept the shipment. Make your point known. If you have to put up with items that are wrong, then get a discount; get money back on the overall deal. Make it or break it, that is all a name of the game. You can be strong with vendors, remember you are paying their bill and you don’t have to pay for what is right. Make the vendor or supplier work for your money.
You should avoid vendors and suppliers who are always running late. Avoid suppliers that do not deliver what you order, and in the quantities that you always order. Keep a running list of suppliers that will put you on top of everything from forks, to tables, to food, to lighting and candles. Always know where you bought the item last, and at least one other supplier for that item so your events will ‘go off’ without a hitch.