The first meeting: what to ask
Ten questions that separate a good agency from a pretty shopfront.
Before talking about styling
The first meeting is almost always free and lasts an hour. It exists to check two things: that the agency can do your wedding, and that you get on. You will be talking to this person about money, complicated families and hard choices for a year.
The ten questions
- How many weddings do you plan per year, and how many on the same weekend?
- Will you personally be there on the day, or someone from your team?
- Have you worked at the venue we are considering?
- How do you handle the budget: who pays whom, and when?
- What happens if a supplier cancels three weeks out?
- What is your plan if the weather turns?
- Do you receive a commission from the suppliers you recommend?
- Can we choose suppliers outside your list?
- How often will we check in, and through which channel?
- What happens if we have to postpone the wedding?
Signals worth noticing
An agency that refuses to give a ballpark before “studying everything”, that imposes its supplier list without explaining why, or that asks nothing about your budget: three good reasons to keep looking. A good agency tells you no from time to time.