Welcome to the Fineline wedding planning section of our blog where the top wedding planners in the Pittsburgh area give their advice on new and old topics for future brides to be!

Each week we will provide our local wedding planners with a topic that they can share their insight and experiences on! Check back each week for some exciting blogs that will be incredibly helpful for you!

If you have any topic suggestions or questions for our wonderful list of wedding planners please feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this article!

There are quite a few options out there for vendors for brides-to-be. This article contains some helpful hints of why a future bride should not shop for her vendors on craigslist.

Why To Avoid Vendors on Craigslist?

Advice from Jodi Colella at Accents Unlimited, LLC. www.accentsunlimited.net

First I want to say, Craigslist can be a great place. You may be able to find some great wedding (or any other) items dirt cheap—or to sell items after.

It also doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t consider some that do advertise on it. But, I feel there are at least two reasons why you shouldn’t shop for wedding vendors on Craigslist.

1.       It has attracted scam artists. You may think you are talking to someone locally, only to find that they are in fact, not. You need to do your research on said company. See where they originate from. Do they have a business license? Find out! Is there a reputable and relevant website for them? ANYONE can create a website in minutes. It doesn’t mean that it is a real business.

Do a Google search. See what others say about them and if they even exist. Check with the Better Business Bureau. You may find they already have a rap sheet a mile long. Unrelated to this, other vendors and myself are even seeing scammers claiming to be engaged couples! Scary.

2.       Lack of experience. Again, there are some very reputable vendors that advertise on Craigslist. It does bring more of a web presence. However, there often numerous vendors that advertise on Craigslist that are new or unknown to the business. There is nothing wrong with that. But when you are looking for that right DJ, planner, or photographer, are you going to choose someone who has terrible grammar and punctuation, has no website (or an unprofessional one), and charges next to nothing? Those are just a few of the red flags. I do look at listings on Craigslist from time to time and this is often what I see. Next, I look them up on Google. There is usually nothing else about them. No portfolio, no website, no presence–nothing.

Thanks to advanced technology, all wedding vendors can affordably and properly showcase their talents online via websites, blogs, galleries, videos, and the like. A reputable company takes the time to research and implement marketing/advertising, a professional web presence, portfolio and have a reference base (ask to speak to real client references and see photos). Their work will be showcased and be represented well. They will have a business license. For DJs and photographers/videographers –they will have reliable and modern equipment with back-ups and insurance. But, please be careful. Believe it or not, some that claim to reputable can sometimes steal others’ photos and videos and claim them as their own. Luckily, most use watermarks now to avoid this. When it comes to DJs. WATCH OUT. Piracy is running rampant and anyone can claim they are a DJ. Claims that they have hundreds of thousands of songs can often indicate stolen music. Did they pay for their music? I see this constantly!