Here’s something I’ve noticed shift in the last year or two: couples who come to me overwhelmed not because they can’t find vendors, but because they’ve found too many and have no idea who to actually trust.

You’ve got Google reviews that all sound the same. Instagram feeds that look stunning but don’t tell you anything about how someone communicates at 9 PM two weeks before your wedding. Reddit threads with horror stories. AI-generated vendor summaries. Most of it doesn’t tell you what you actually need to know.

So let me walk you through how I’d evaluate a vendor if I were a couple doing it from scratch.

Start with consistency, not beauty

The first thing I look for is whether a vendor looks and sounds the same everywhere. Is their Instagram consistent with their website? Does their inquiry response feel like the same person who wrote their About page? Is the tone in their reviews consistent with how they show up on social media?

Inconsistency isn’t necessarily a red flag — but it is a question mark worth investigating. The vendors who are genuinely excellent at what they do tend to feel cohesive across every platform because they’re not performing. They’re just being themselves.

Couples in 2026 are doing exactly this kind of cross-platform comparison before they ever send an inquiry. You should be.

Reviews tell you more than star ratings

A vendor with 50 five-star reviews and a vendor with 12 five-star reviews are not the same situation. Look at what the reviews actually say. Are they specific? Do they mention how the vendor communicated, how they handled something that went sideways, how they made the couple feel on the wedding day? Specific reviews signal real experience.

A vendor with fewer reviews isn’t automatically a red flag. A newer planner, photographer, or florist who has glowing specific reviews from every client they’ve had is often a stronger signal than someone with a hundred generic reviews.

Also look at how vendors respond to reviews — including the less positive ones. A professional response to a critical review tells you far more about someone’s character than their five-star average.

Red flags that are easy to miss

Slow response time is the most consistent red flag I hear about from couples after something has gone wrong. If a vendor takes five days to answer an inquiry, that’s data about how they’ll communicate during planning. It doesn’t get faster after you’ve signed.

Vague answers to specific questions are another one. If you ask a caterer how they handle dietary restrictions and they give you a non-answer, push for specifics. The vendors I trust — and recommend to my clients — are the ones who can explain their process clearly, answer specific questions directly, and make you feel more confident after the conversation, not less.

Use AI as a starting point, not a final answer

AI tools are genuinely useful in wedding planning — for generating question lists, drafting inquiry emails, comparing categories, building timelines. But AI can’t tell you whether a vendor will still be in business next spring, whether their reviews from last year reflect their current team, or whether they’ve worked your specific venue before.

Use AI to get organized and get started. Use peer recommendations, real reviews, and actual conversations to make the final call. The couples who hire great vendors almost always have one thing in common: they asked really good questions in person.

At Legacy Events Iowa, part of what we bring to the table is a vetted vendor network — people we’ve worked alongside and can speak to firsthand. If you’re navigating vendor decisions and want a professional second opinion, reach out.

Want help finding vendors you can actually trust? Legacy Events Iowa has the relationships and experience to point you in the right direction. legacyeventsiowa.com