Now let me begin by saying that this is in no way a sour grapes post. If you'll notice, I've won this award for the past 3 consecutive years. I've worked very hard to build my reputation in Kansas, and I place a very high value on the trust that my couples place in me. I can say with brutal honesty, that every review that is on my page is legitimate, however I can promise you, that is not always the case.
This is something that has been weighing heavily on my heart for the past year or so. While I am admittedly excited when I am awarded the couples choice award, I also know without a shadow of a doubt that others across the country who receive it haven't done so honestly, or ethically. Unfortunately, there is no truly legitimate awards system in place for the wedding industry, an industry that is starving for awards. Let me repeat that: THERE IS NO LEGITIMATE AWARDS SYSTEM IN PLACE FOR THE WEDDING INDUSTRY.
Wedding Wire's (as well as The Knot's Best of Weddings) award systems are in place simply to drive traffic back to their site. When a company (mine included) displays their award badge on their website, clients click on it, taking them to wedding wire, and the cycle continues. It is actually a stroke of marketing genius. Unfortunately though, it's not a victim-less act. Once again, the one who pays the ultimate price for this are the couples who base all or part of their decision to hire a wedding professional solely based upon this award. Unfortunately, this is all to often the case. The people who are taken advantage of, are couples who are doing something for the first time in their lives, and believe without knowing that these "awards" are legitimate.
Now you may be asking yourself the question: "How does this affect me though"? So what if it's driving traffic to their site, right? Let me explain. Here is the bombshell: Not every company or person in the wedding industry is an honest or ethical business person. That coupled with the fact that Wedding Wire could care less who wins these awards, only that the end result is a large amount of click through traffic to their website. Last year, a photographer in Tulsa, Birdsong Photography, decided to test his theory, and created a completely bogus company on Wedding Wire called "John Doe Photography". You can read about it here.
In his post, he explains that he was noticing less than stellar companies around him repeatedly winning awards from both The Knot, as well as Wedding Wire on an annual basis, yet those same companies were saddled with one unhappy client after another. He'd had enough, and created the fake photography company on Wedding Wire. Within a few hours, he'd asked both past clients, as well as other wedding professionals in the Tulsa area to go to the profile and submit a review. (You can read those reviews here, just scroll down a bit, they are actually pretty comical!) Within a few short hours, the company was "Wedding Wire Rated", had a badge to present, and scarily enough, had it continued, were well on their way to winning "Wedding Wire's Couples Choice Award" even though the company didn't even exist!
Again, I will tell you that every review that I have on my site are from couples that we've worked with, and that I can prove easily. But regardless of whether a couple is looking at me or another wedding professional, regardless of the type of company, do not base your decision on who you'll hire based upon Wedding Wire, The Knot, or any other of the online publications. They do have someone's best interest in mind, and I can assure you that yours is not higher on their priority list than their own.
In short, do your research, interview (in detail) those who you are looking at working with, and have a clearly worded agreement in place with every company. This is for your protection! For more information, feel free to contact me on my website, or give me a call. Even on dates that I am not available, I am happy to give couples names and contact information of venues, planners, photographers, and anything else that they may be looking for on their wedding day.
This is something that has been weighing heavily on my heart for the past year or so. While I am admittedly excited when I am awarded the couples choice award, I also know without a shadow of a doubt that others across the country who receive it haven't done so honestly, or ethically. Unfortunately, there is no truly legitimate awards system in place for the wedding industry, an industry that is starving for awards. Let me repeat that: THERE IS NO LEGITIMATE AWARDS SYSTEM IN PLACE FOR THE WEDDING INDUSTRY.
Wedding Wire's (as well as The Knot's Best of Weddings) award systems are in place simply to drive traffic back to their site. When a company (mine included) displays their award badge on their website, clients click on it, taking them to wedding wire, and the cycle continues. It is actually a stroke of marketing genius. Unfortunately though, it's not a victim-less act. Once again, the one who pays the ultimate price for this are the couples who base all or part of their decision to hire a wedding professional solely based upon this award. Unfortunately, this is all to often the case. The people who are taken advantage of, are couples who are doing something for the first time in their lives, and believe without knowing that these "awards" are legitimate.
Now you may be asking yourself the question: "How does this affect me though"? So what if it's driving traffic to their site, right? Let me explain. Here is the bombshell: Not every company or person in the wedding industry is an honest or ethical business person. That coupled with the fact that Wedding Wire could care less who wins these awards, only that the end result is a large amount of click through traffic to their website. Last year, a photographer in Tulsa, Birdsong Photography, decided to test his theory, and created a completely bogus company on Wedding Wire called "John Doe Photography". You can read about it here.
In his post, he explains that he was noticing less than stellar companies around him repeatedly winning awards from both The Knot, as well as Wedding Wire on an annual basis, yet those same companies were saddled with one unhappy client after another. He'd had enough, and created the fake photography company on Wedding Wire. Within a few hours, he'd asked both past clients, as well as other wedding professionals in the Tulsa area to go to the profile and submit a review. (You can read those reviews here, just scroll down a bit, they are actually pretty comical!) Within a few short hours, the company was "Wedding Wire Rated", had a badge to present, and scarily enough, had it continued, were well on their way to winning "Wedding Wire's Couples Choice Award" even though the company didn't even exist!
Again, I will tell you that every review that I have on my site are from couples that we've worked with, and that I can prove easily. But regardless of whether a couple is looking at me or another wedding professional, regardless of the type of company, do not base your decision on who you'll hire based upon Wedding Wire, The Knot, or any other of the online publications. They do have someone's best interest in mind, and I can assure you that yours is not higher on their priority list than their own.
In short, do your research, interview (in detail) those who you are looking at working with, and have a clearly worded agreement in place with every company. This is for your protection! For more information, feel free to contact me on my website, or give me a call. Even on dates that I am not available, I am happy to give couples names and contact information of venues, planners, photographers, and anything else that they may be looking for on their wedding day.
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