I am so excited to welcome Kara Buntin owner of A Cake to Remember to the Weddlady blog!
I was delivering a wedding cake yesterday when the catering director of the hotel came up and introduced himself. He asked if I had been the person who delivered a cake there a couple of weeks ago, and when we determined that I was the same person he told me that he was making sure that his staff directed as many brides to me as they could.
I was happy about the referral, but I was a little surprised by some of the reasons that he had for making it. He said that first and foremost, my cakes were good-looking, but they also tasted good too, which was something that he found not common across the board. The part that surprised me, though, was that he said he wanted to work with me again because I had made the cake setup process easy for them. He liked the information sheets that I bring with me to leave with the cake, and the other things that I leave for the staff at the site to make the cake cutting process go better.
I found this surprising at first, but as I thought about it, I realized that I’ve worked with plenty of vendors who didn’t make an effort to make things easier for each other. I consider it common courtesy toward the person who has to cut the cake to leave a sheet with a list of the tier flavors, but not everyone does that. I always bring a box for the top tier so that the catering staff doesn’t have to search for something it will fit into, but not everyone does that. I always find the person who will be cutting the cake to answer any questions they have about it before I leave, but again, not everyone does that.
When hiring a wedding professional, you want to get someone who you can work with, and who will make your day better. You should ask your friends for referrals, but you should also take into consideration the referrals of other vendors. A good vendor will know who makes the day go smoothly, and who makes things more difficult for everyone. If I know that a certain florist is difficult to contact, or I know that a photographer has behaved rudely to other vendors, I’m not going to be referring them to brides. If I know that a caterer goes out of their way to help clients, or that a DJ makes a special effort to find music that’s hard to get, I’ll definitely be referring them.
A good wedding professional is someone who knows that their service is one piece of a big picture, and that cooperation is the key to making that picture come to life. Your wedding vendors should be ready to be part of your team, and your team should be willing to work with each other to make everyone’s life a little easier.
Kara Buntin - Owner of A Cake To Remember
