Q: What do your vendor prices mean? 

A: If you try to research any wedding vendors online, you are quickly faced with the reality that there is little (or no) pricing information for most vendors.  Even when you call the vendors directly, most will be vague about pricing. They will ultimately all say the same thing “It depends. Every wedding is different”. And they’re not lying to you. I’m sure they’ve serviced a wide range of weddings with equally diverse budgets.

But all of us brides-to-be really want to know is one thing: “Please just give me a ballpark! Where do your rates start and whats the average wedding cost?” And that’s exactly the question we try to answer for you.  Our prices are either :

• The starting price: If you see just one number, this is the least expensive option or package this vendor has available.
• Average price range: If you see two numbers, this is the price range for the vendor’s average wedding.

This was the best way of showing you at least some pricing ballparks you could use to actually compare vendors. But please note, if you’re at all interested in a vendor, it is definitely in your best interest to call them. Their pricing could be different for your particular date or they might have current specials (mention that you saw them on TheGoodWedding.com and ask for their “best available rate”. They’ll help you out.)

Q: How accurate is the pricing you have listed?

A: We continually strive to update our pricing information based on what the vendors tell us and any feedback we get from former brides. However, pricing will vary greatly based on your wedding planning specifics. For example: Is your date in June or December? Is your wedding on a Tuesday or a Saturday? Some miscellenous factors could impact you as well: the vendor could have just received a cancellation for your specific date and is willing to give you a discount. We cant say this enough, please browse our Vendor Directory to pick your favorite vendors, but when you decide a vendor is interesting, call them directly for the most current information.

For a complete guide to what you should consider and how to save when booking your wedding, please read our blog series post: How To Plan A Wedding

Q: What do you mean by the “top 5″ listings? How do you select them?

A: While in large metro areas, like Los Angeles, there are thousands of “qualified” wedding vendors our mission is two-fold:

• Provide a variety of vendors while still keeping the overall choice set manageable (max 5 vendors per category)
• List vendors that were “top” in terms of value.

What does that mean for you? It means that each of our categories lists 5 vendors that have slightly different offerings, while still within the same category and budget. So if you’re looking for a Golf or Country Club venue, and you have a Moderate Budget, you would be completely covered if you just checked out the 5 vendors we recommend under “Golf & Country Club -> Moderate Budget” in our directory. We think those 5 vendors will give you enough of a variety to make a good decision without having to call the other 300 golf courses in the LA area. Further, we think they provide a great value per dollar spent. No you’re not going to get the same grand wedding at the Budget place for $5,000 that you would at an Exclusive venue for $20,000. We all know that. But for the money, each place will give you a good return in terms of customer service and the finally wedding day experience.

Q: Why don’t you have user reviews for your vendor listings?

A: Today’s internet seems to be filled with anonymous reviews and comments on just about everything and we are fighting this trend for many good reasons. First, and most importantly, the core mission of our site is to condense information for the consumer and be as simple to use as possible. We save you time by summarizing the most relevant information you need to know to make your decision. If we opened up everything to comments and reviews we’d be no better than the mega-directories where you’d have to scour hundreds of reviews and try to make out whats true and what’s not. And honestly, how could you tell? On TheGoodWedding.com, we are your trusted filter for information. That’s the core of the service we want to provide.

That brings us to our second reason, which begs the question “How helpful are anonymous reviews anyway?”. It turns out that anonymous internet reviews are severely tainted or even blatantly fraudulent. Many studies have shown that one is more likely to write a review if they had a negative experience, so that would mean that a very good business would be unfairly represented as the few bad experiences would be overrepresented (and please understand that every business on the planet will at some point have one unhappy customer).  Further, competitors have been known to “anonymously” write negative reviews and even go so far as to hire online freelancers to write hundreds of negative reviews for as little as $5 (this New York Times article was enough to close our thoughts on the subject).

Finally, its unfortunate but inevitable, that any site open to reviews and comments by users will be hit by an exorbitant amount of SPAM. We actually tried it as a test and within one day 99% of the comments we received were automated SPAM messages. Clearly this isn’t good for anyone.

Plan a good wedding. Start a good life.
This post was written by TheGoodWedding.com | Los Angeles Wedding Planning Directory