7 Big Reasons Why the Bride Didn't Hire You

By Stephanie Padovani of Book More Brides

You meet with a couple and everything goes great.  They love you, you love them; it’s a match made in heaven.

 

Except--they don’t book you.

 

Even if you have the guts to ask the bride or groom why they didn’t hire you, their answer doesn’t tell the whole story.  Most couples will say it came down to budget because that’s the easiest answer.  

 

If you’re ready to delve deeper and learn the truth, here are the real reasons why she didn’t book you.

 

*For the sake of brevity I have chosen to use the words “bride” and “she” in this article.  I’m not suggesting that only brides or heterosexual couples plan a wedding.  Really.  

 

1. You look exactly the same as the cheaper competition.

 

It’s never about price, even when they say it is.

 

Imagine that you’re planning to buy your dream car.  You settle on the make and model with all the features you want.  Then you go down to Car Dealer #1 who quotes you a price of $25,000.  Car Dealer #2 down the street charges $23,000.

 

It’s the exact same car and you don’t notice any differences in service, quality or warranty.  Which dealer do you buy from?

 

You buy from Dealer #2.  Why would you pay more for the exact same car if you don’t have to?

 

The same thing happens with the bride or groom.  If they can’t distinguish you from the lower priced competition, they’re going with the cheaper price.

 

When a bride ditches you for someone cheaper, it’s not just all about price.  It means you didn’t communicate your value.

 

2. You didn’t look, sound and act professional at the meeting.

 

At the meeting, every aspect of your interaction is under a microscope, and the couple assumes you’ll behave exactly that way at the wedding.

 

If your office is disorganized with shrieking children and animals tearing through the room, that image of chaos can blossom in the bride’s imagination.  If you dress like a bum and have a wicked case of halitosis, she’s imagining the horror on her guests’ faces.

 

You’ll lose the wedding if you don’t attend to the small details and project professionalism throughout.

 

3. You didn’t respond quickly enough.

 

As soon as you don’t respond to her email or voicemail almost immediately, she’s having nightmares that you won’t show up for the wedding.

 

You must respond within 24 hours, no exceptions.  Otherwise, she won’t trust that you’ll show up on her big day.

 

4. You didn’t make her feel special.

 

When asked to describe what they want the wedding day to be like, 99% of brides will answer, “I want it to be unique and fun.”  What she’s really saying is that she wants to feel unique and one of a kind, because that wedding is an extension of her.

 

If you give her the impression that she’s “just another number” by making assumptions, getting the wedding date or details wrong or (God forbid!) forgetting her name, you’ve failed the test.

 

5. You talked about yourself instead of her.

 

If you’re the one doing most of the talking at your meeting, it’s easy for her to assume that’s exactly what you’re going to do at the wedding.

 

Ask open-ended questions to get the couple talking and then listen.  If the couple doesn’t do at least 80% of the talking, you’re losing the wedding.

 

6.  You didn’t ask for the sale.

 

If you don’t ask for the sale, you certainly can’t book the wedding.  One wedding pro we met actually discourages couples from booking that day and urges them to meet with at least three other wedding pros!

 

The more time that goes by after your meeting, the less likely they are to book you.

 

7. She “fell in love” with another wedding pro who painted themselves into the picture of her perfect wedding day.

 

Above all else, the bride is buying an experience when she books.  The experience she’s buying is the certainty that she will feel special and that her uniqueness will be reflected by the look, sound and feedback she gets from guests that dance all night long.

 

If a competitor comes along and asks the right questions to learn what she wants, then describes that in her own words, placing himself as the entertainment director, she will book him instead of you.

 

Don’t buy the easy myth that price is the reason why you didn’t get hired.  Identify which of these seven mistakes you made and fix it.

Stephanie Padovani is a blogger, writer and wedding business coach.  She and her husband, Jeff are the dynamic husband-wife duo behind Book More Brides, the #1 membership site for transformational marketing strategies for the wedding industry. Visit BookMoreBrides.com to learn how to book up to 70% more weddings with this proven email response.

 

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