Instantly put off

Really obvious spelling mistakes. I don't mind in emails or on a forum, because everyone makes mistakes and typos or talks less formally at times. But I do think that on a website or flyer, your writing should be properly proofread. It just looks a bit sloppy to me otherwise.

I agree on the business email, if they have e.g. www.weddingsupplier.co.uk then surely they can have *****@***************.**.**, or ****@***************.**.**. Just so it all matches. It wouldn't put me off if they came recommended or were clearly a very small business (like home stationers or cake topper makers), but I've seen some larger businesses (mostly caterers) where they've not bothered to get a proper email yet and it is a bit weird to me.

Ugh. Unless they are a cheese company

A full price list on a website doesn't bother me that much, as it may be that the supplier tailors each quote personally, but starting prices are helpful, so that I don't waste my time contacting someone who's out of my budget.

Agree with the silly email addresses, which look completely unprofessional.

Template responses. I sourced the vast majority of my suppliers online for my wedding abroad and I chose them based on the helpfulness of their replies.

Exactly this Footlong!

I also hate this, I will go somewhere else if there r no prices as figure that they r going to be really expensive.

No prices on the websites, limited photographs or examples, small hard to read text and contact forms instead of providing an email address. I want to have proper contact details for a company (email, telephone number) and not just a form where I then have no record of the email in my own system. If a website only has a form to fill out I just don't bother! Generally the forms I have filled out have never been replied to so I quickly gave up.

This exactly... Has put me off a fair few venues, i want basic costs... I do not want to ring for information to then fine out its going to cost me an arm and a leg more then I am willing to pay.

The thing about having cost on a website is a really good point - I thought our venue would be way out of our price range and it's only because they had an actual brochure online detailing all their 2013 prices that I knew they weren't. Otherwise I wouldn't have even contacted them. I also found it annoying at venues when the person showing us around spoke more to my parents than me. That's another reason why I chose our venue - when we went to see it the lady spoke directly to me all the time (my OH wasn't there) and asked me what I wanted.
I agree about the email addresses too, looks far more professional to have "proper" ones.

I'll stop rambling now!

Oh now I have something similar, which also bothers me (Thanks for the reminder ? )

When a venue or supplier talks to ME and addresses everything to ME when my partner is clearly there, and I have included him in correspondence.

WE are getting married, please stop being so bleedin' rude and acting like he isn't there.

Biggest turn off for me is taking 3 days to respond to an email. Or doing so and not apologising / being mindful of the delay.

I emailed a company last Thursday and they got back to me on the Tuesday. No thanks.

Spelling mistakes are a no no.

I saw earlier that not having prices online as a turn off, I think it dpeends on the supplier. I'm a wedding photographer and I work all over the country. The travel and hotel costs are difficult to work out so I offer a completely bespoke pricing model.

I was in Cheshire a few months ago so I stayed overnight in Birmingham before completing the journey, working the day and doing the 3 hour return drive home.

Agree with the lack of prices on websites.

It's also not hugely encouraging to find out that the person in charge of your wedding only works Tuesdays...

Oh yeah, this is fine. "Packages start from £1000 for XYZ. Please contact us for a more tailored quote"....

Pavone, some ramblings that maybe relevant more for your business than your wedding but I found it immensely difficult to differentiate standards of photographers on the internet, more so than any other supplier.

I suspect most photographers are web/computer savvy and artistic, understanding presentation, arrangement of photos on webpage etc. Also, photographers are selling their skills by the quality of their webpage, so maybe spend a lot of time on it. This means that a middling photographer can produce an outstanding webpage and compete, on paper (or computer screen) with an excellent photographer.

Conversely, when you look for a florist, you don't judge the quality of their work by their webpage (well, I don't). It has nothing to do with what they are selling you. I happily soldiered through "home made" websites for cakes/florists etc but would have run a mile from a "home made" photography website.

Very difficult. I don't know what a Tog has to do to stand out!

Oh I totally agree with you about differentiating between photographers and that in some fields websites just seems to be more important than others.

I've come across loads of fantastic sites whilst looking for our own and then been completely disappointed by the actual photos. Similarly, i've thought to myself a couple of times that the photos are Ok but the website is a total let down.

Thankfully my OH is originally a qualified graphic designer so I'd like to think ours was OK. It's always difficult to judge yourself though.

Our stand out point though is cupcakes Always goes down well!

See, I probably wouldn't bother asking for a quote. I would have no idea if you were £500 or £5k and unconvinced that I should be writing to you for prices, just to find out that you're £5k and out of my budget. I'm fairly unconvinced that travel costs and hotels are difficult to work out either - if you quoted your package figure as XYZ with travel/hotel to be covered separately, I could have a fair crack at the ball park figure you're going to cost me.

This is exactly what I mean about the difficulty with websites. I can make a fair guess if a florist or cake maker is going to be expensive, judging by the quality of their website. I have far fewer clues to work with on a photographer's website.

I fell in love with a dress but after looking on the womans page on facebook it was full of messages from people who hadnt been able to get hold of her and were worried and she took 4 days to reply to my message too so i ended up going elsewhere

The not advertising the price did bother me, our photographer didnt he done packages to suit your needs but wanted a meeting in my house first so all through looking at his work i was thinking "if hes way out of my price range then this has been a wasted journey for him" it turned out he wasnt but still he could have put his hourly rate on his page at least

I also hate contact forms on websites, they generally don't get answered.

generic answers again,

I ordered some printer ink through amazon on the 1st, which was dispatched on the 3rd with delivery estimated 6th to 10th which I wouldn't have ordered if I had known it would be that long. Still not arrived on 10th so emailed on 11th got a reply saying blah blah blah 7 days from dispatch please get back in touch after 7days!! replied yesterday was 7 days wasn't it? 24 hours till next reply today, saying please wait till 13th. Really not on as printer is now being limited to essential printing only.?

Oooh, the bad website one does it for me every time!! Also, any typos or poor grammar on their website, too. And the not readily available prices is another. If I have to actually ask for prices, I feel like I've already entered into some kind of agreement with them that I'll use them, even though I know I'm not. I don't like giving my email address out to suppliers if I don't know I'm considering them as an option, which I wont if their prices aren't in budget.

And the cheesy name, but that's not just for wedding suppliers. The closest hair salon to my house is called "The Hairport" and I refuse to go there!

As a supplier (videographer) I have found this thread really useful. I believe you can tell a great deal from a website if you really look carefully. Some of my best friends are photographers (really). Each time I know I will be working with a new one I check their site out first to see the kind of work they do. So when I see a couple shot with faces concealed by confetti, arty shots where they haven't lit faces properly, overexposed dresses, badly composed groups etc I do wonder what their average work is like if this is the best.

In common with most photographers I do despair when I get enquiries just asking for "a quote" especially if there is no other information or polite banter to soften it. I mean to say we can quote anything but it's all relative, It's not or shouldn't be like buying a washing machine which has a fixed value.

I'll just rebuild my website from scratch then....!

There's a lot more to it than people realise.

E.G. I'm based in Brighton. An Essex wedding in December runs the risk of snow and travel problems so I'll need to go up the night before. Not only that, if it's a Saturday booking it may mean I have to turn down bookings the Friday before to make sure I'm there, losing £££'s. If the ceremony is at 3pm it'll mean almost 3 times as much post processing work due to the lack of light available. The couple might want to meet me at the venue beforehand. That's a 4 hour round trip before fuel.

If this was a December wedding in Brighton with a 1pm ceremony I'd probably charge aroud £1000.

If I had to go to Essex for that timing it'll be £1600 so if I had a ball park figure of £1000 up there I might shock the client when they do make the enquiry.

Same day, different timings and locations. Huge difference in price.

Believe me when I say that I used to have prices up there but because weddings and the couples are so diverse you've no option but to be bespoke.

It also works in the couples favour too. There's some venues I'd love to work at, like NC Motors in London. I'd take a chunk off my fee for that because it would benefit my portfolio, attract more clients and will be an interesting venue to work

There's also the venues who charge for referrals. Some venues recommend photographers and so to cover this the togs bump their prices.

Yes, I could cover this in my pricing and say that 'wherever you are my average price range between £1000 and £2000'. But, everyone will email me expecting it for the lower amount, playing down how many guests they have or the time the need me for (which always, always runs over by an hour). It's just the way consumers behave. It's why putting 99p on the end of things makes them seem more appealing.

Of course there will always be those who look for prices, don't see any and assume the supplier is too expensive but that's good for me in two ways.

1. I don't look cheap.

2. They are choosing someone based on price.

With number 2, I don't want those sort of clients. Yes, we all have a budget but I'm an artist. I want someone who loves my work, can see me as part of their wedding day and in turn emails me to ask if I can be a part of it.

Assuming someone is megabucks because prices aren't listed is brash. For all day coverage, locally, I charge between £1000-£1200 for bridal prep through to the first dance. I use the best equipment possible and deliver 400-700 images. I know people who charge twice as much and deliver half as many photos and quite honestly are offending the industry by calling themselves photographers.

The biggest thing for me is contact..

I am on my second hair and makeup artist, the original one was taking a while to respond so I got in touch with someone else. Original one has dropped off the face of the earth.

The second one also takes a week to respond to emails which I have to admit makes me a bit wary but they come highly recommended so I am going to see how I like their work and not focus too much on communication.

These are two of my biggest bugbears!

My other one is when suppliers (or prospective suppliers) don't read your e-mails properly. I've had a few cases where people have only answered part of the e-mail I've sent and it really gets on my nerves ?

Delayed responses drive me insane. The first venue we met took ONE MONTH to get back to us with potential dates within the 6 week period we had specified. Needless to say we had something else booked by then. It was just as well we hadn't fallen in love with it as that response would have put an end to it. It was also a large hotel chain with 2 dedicated wedding co-ordinators so no excuse whatsoever.

I've also been trying to book a spa break which I have a voucher for with another supplier. They won't accept deal bookings over the phone and their email ETA is 3 days but in reality a week. It took the best part of a month to schedule a facial and massage!! I'd love to get away with that response level in my job....

For me this is the biggest.

I would never use a photographer who did not put up a basic price range and package listing.

I see what you are saying, but I'd like to think if you said on the page that there would be extra costs involved for weddings involving travelling/staying over you would credit me to realise that the final quotation would be a fair bit higher. Even if I am silly enough to not realise this and then get shocked with your quote, that is my problem, I don't have to hire you.

What I'd be looking for is the price of the package itself as well as options on what packages were available - so I would know if you were remotely in my price range, simply because I know how much photographers can get away with charging!

My finacee went to look at Grittenham Barn, in fact we were pretty sold on it as a venue.

She arranged to meet someone there at 2pm I think but was running a little late. She tried to call her but there was no answer so sent a text instead (a good couple of hours before the meeting was due to take place but no response.

She turned up only to be told it was the ladies day off. Despite being booked in with her. When she finally got hold of her there was no apology forthcoming nor any real duty of care. The few times I've emailed them myself over other things and I've not had so much a response either.

I've also emailed venues galleries of weddings they've had (all good magazine quality stuff too) and you don't even get a reply.

Simple politeness doesn't cost a thing yet often seems absent.

That becomes a million times worse when you see the photos crop up somewhere, yet were never even acknowledged or thanked ?

Or when another supplier doesn't reply to a courtesy message (nice to meet you, work with you etc) yet weeks later they're quick enough to email out of the blue asking for photos so they can use them in their advertising.

Oh the stories us photographers can tell!

I understand, but not putting the price online is a lesser of two evils.

Put my prices online and people will mostly enquire based on price.

The other thing is this. I get a lot of bookings per year. I'm not desperate for business so whether this method is right or not is irrelevant. When I put my prices online I was getting lots of enquiries for the wrong type of venue, with the prices gone I get a completely different type more suited to my work.

I get the impression not putting prices online is somehow seen as untrustworthy or deceptive? I think that's quite odd.

Oh yeah, like recently when I asked for a glass of water at a venue and they charged me for it then a week later asked for some of the images from the day. tsk tsk.

I hate 'About Me' pages with photos of the business owner on especially the ones which start off with "I first got involved with blah, blah after planning my own wedding and liked it so much etc, etc"

Also hate websites that are difficult to navigate, ones with spelling mistakes on, ones which don't have a landline telephone number or an address on, contact forms, music playing and lack of price guides.

Sorry for sounding such a grump but I still feel crap and the antibiotics aren't working yet

Exactly, well said Chris.

For me it is the following:

Bad spelling and/or grammar

Websites that are difficult to navigate

On some sites lack of pricing (Chris I totally get your point, but in general I prefer to have an idea of costing)

Delay in responding

Responses telling me that I don't need to start looking at x until x point in my wedding planning (florist did this to me)

Over friendly first response, once i have built up a rapport then cool but on inital contact i prefer friendly and professional

Telling me what I want or what they believe it crap (photographer and florist)

Unwillingness (when local) to have a face to face inital meeting (photographer, literally lived 5 minutes away)

Bad mathmatics; provind me a quote but adding the breakdown up incorrectly

Gosh it seems I have dealt with some crappy vendors (none located on here)

That's not the reason that it puts me off.

For me, it's because if i'm searching for a photographer/florist/cake maker etc the chances are I will have been sitting at a computer for hour upon hour going through pages and pages of rubbish and simply can't be bothered to mess about.

When I eventually do find someone I like I just want to know where they're based and how much it's going to cost me so I can decide if I want to take it further or not. If I can't find those things out, i'm going to leave because the chances are that I will find someone else I like just as much who will offer me that information.

Unless I absolutely LOVE someones work, they've been recommended personally or it's a one off search where i'm not already bored, I probably wont contact them.

From a business perspective I 100% agree with almost everything you say. From a clients prospective, i'm lazy, i've been googling all afternoon, i've been at work all week, I have a million and one other things to do, I have 20 other suppliers to contact who also don't have prices on their page. Ick, why bother (delete as applicable)

Generally the type of work we showcase publically is enough to attract our "ideal clients" and we'll rarely get enquiries that are completely off the mark in terms of what we like to shoot. If anything, for us, people questioned our prices more when they were not up online- as though they were up for negotiation, like we were pulling the figures out of thing air. If there is likely to be additional travel costs etc we just explain that in person when we meet with people. No one has ever questioned it to date.

It's a tricky one from a business point of view.

I had two catering companies contact me back, 3 weeks after my initial enquiry. They both then asked if they could get back to me after the Olympics! Umm no. Haven't heard from either since and I am definitely not going to chase!