Struggling to uncover the secret to landing a spot on a venue’s preferred vendor list? In this episode, Maggie from The Lighthouse at Glen Cove Marina shares expert tips on how vendors can stand out, build trust, and secure their place among the best!

As a vendor, landing a spot on a venue's preferred vendor list is a huge milestone, but it’s not just about offering great services—there’s more to it. Maggie explains that venues seek vendors who embody professionalism, reliability, and the ability to deliver a seamless guest experience. Preferred lists are curated through trust, built over time by vendors who consistently exceed expectations. 

Maggie emphasizes that it’s about more than just checking boxes for insurance and certifications; it’s about how well you collaborate with the venue, adapt to last-minute changes, and represent their brand to clients and guests. 

Maggie explains that venues rely on vendors who follow their rules and genuinely care about upholding the property’s reputation. By fostering relationships through consistent performance, communication, and professionalism, vendors can demonstrate their value and stay top-of-mind for future referrals. Preferred vendor lists, as Maggie highlights, are about teamwork, and vendors who understand this thrive in the long run.

Highlights:

• How venues assess and build their preferred vendor lists
• Key attributes venues look for: reliability, professionalism, and adaptability
• Importance of certifications, insurance, and following venue policies
• Building trust through strong communication and collaboration
• Why relationships matter: staying top-of-mind for venue referrals
• The role of preferred vendors in representing a venue’s brand

We’d love to hear your thoughts! Share your feedback, leave a review, and help us reach more listeners by subscribing and sharing this episode.

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Kevin Dennis (0:0.736)

All right, folks, welcome to the 25th episode. Maggie, you're on the 25th episode of Mind Your Wedding Business. Yeah, so today it's a little celebration. So thank you for being here. We're now at the end of January, so we've been trucking along. But I'm excited that you're with us on the 25th episode. But Maggie's here, and she's going to be talking to us about mastering venue management and the power of the preferred vendor list and beyond. So Maggie, tell us a little bit about yourselves and how did we get here today.

Maggie (0:1.425)

Welcome to the 25th episode. Maggie, you're on the 25th episode. Oh, fantastic. Yeah. So today is a little celebration. Yay. Thank you for being here. We're now at the end of January, so we've been trugging along. But I'm excited that you're with us on the 25th episode. But Maggie's here, and she's going to be talking to us about mastery and venue management and the power of the preferred vendor list and beyond. So Maggie, tell us a little bit about yourself and how we get here today.

Oh, okay. All right. I would say I kind of started in facility operations management when I was at Paramount Pictures in the 90s, moving through marketing at CBS and then a safety manager at a gym in Oakland and managing catering in a venue in Berkeley, then the San Francisco Film Center and now here at the Lighthouse Glen Cove Marina, certified in CPR, first aid, AED.

Kevin Dennis (0:45.890)

Hmm.

Maggie (0:58.833)

And also I'm a instructor on my CERT team, which is a community emergency response team for emergencies. Lay people, helping lay people in an emergency when the emergency services are overloaded. So there we go. Yeah. All right. So I feel like today we're talking about a little bit of controversial.

Kevin Dennis (1:11.384)

Perfect.

Kevin Dennis (1:20.504)

There you go. Well, thank you for doing that, Maggie. All right, so I feel like today we're talking about a little bit of controversialness is the preferred vendor list. It's people I'm sure you get asked all the time by a vendor, how do I get on your preferred vendor list, all that kind of stuff. So we're going to dive into that. So to start off, why do you think the preferred vendor list is a valuable tool for the venue and for

Maggie (1:29.466)

vendor list.

Maggie (1:37.067)

How do I get on your?

Maggie (1:43.195)

start off is like, why do think the preferred vendor list is valuable tool for the venue and for the client? It's definitely a valuable tool for the venue or the property. Because it's a curated relationship, you've gotten all their paperwork, their insurance, their certifications of its food and beverage. You've worked with them in some capacity before either at your venue or in industry events.

Kevin Dennis (1:49.644)

the clients.

Maggie (2:13.484)

And you don't need to potentially for lack of a better way to explain it. You don't need to babysit them, right? They know the rules you trust them, right? Trust that they've X, you know explain to their team what the rules and everything are, you know, they've trained their staff and all of that and as far as the client

Kevin Dennis (2:19.639)

Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Maggie (2:38.095)

generally it should be an easy lift for the client because you've already curated this relationship and they don't need to worry about these other back end or back of house items and they should be able to focus on curating the client and their experience for the event. I always am a big proponent of expressing to clients that

Kevin Dennis (2:48.174)

and or backup house items and they should be able to focus more on curating the client and their experience for the event. I only get a big component.

Maggie (3:6.564)

people aren't on our preferred list, they don't pay to be on it. And I don't believe in that per se because anybody can pay to be on any type of list. It's all about performance and relationship. In the years past, I've had to remove people from a preferred list because of poor performance, lack of attention to detail, lack of attention to the client and just not, you know.

Kevin Dennis (3:7.182)

people aren't on our preferred list, they don't pay to be on it. I don't see a reason not per se, because anybody can pay to be on any particular list. It's all about performance and relationships. In the years and months, I've had to remove people from a preferred list.

Maggie (3:34.644)

not creating a good experience for the client or not fixing it if something went wrong. And to me, that's why we're in this industry. It's customer service and the end result, everybody should be happy.

Kevin Dennis (3:35.630)

creating a good experience for the client or not fixing it if something went wrong.

Kevin Dennis (3:51.583)

And that's one thing I think in our industry, the wedding industry as a whole is that customer service is not something that we're good for or known at. And I feel like the businesses that are, are the ones that are succeeding and doing very well. you you get a lot of weekend warriors that are in the wedding industry and they're not really, yeah. And so therefore if they get an email on a Monday, maybe they'll get to it by Thursday, you know, kind of thing where.

Maggie (4:10.457)

rate.

Maggie (4:14.149)

Yeah, or at least say we're busy I'll get back to you or you know, whatever it is, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Kevin Dennis (4:17.218)

people that are in business and take this seriously are going to respond to it quickly. all right, so. Correct. Yeah, yeah, yeah, have it set up. So when you're curating the vendor list, what are some of the criteria and things that you are, you know, kind of looking for?

Maggie (4:36.081)

Insurance is a big thing. Insurance certifications, if it's a caterer, know, do they have all of their food safe, food served safe? And if they're serving alcohol, the responsible beverage certification, you know, all of those items, do they train their staff in all of that? And so everybody knows what to do. And even potentially, how do they do they know how to respond to?

Kevin Dennis (4:37.974)

Okay.

Kevin Dennis (4:43.000)

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (4:50.112)

You all of those items. Do they train their staff in all of that and so everybody knows what to do? And even...

Maggie (5:3.384)

in an emergency. mean, we had to respond to an emergency one time here this year at our property and the catering staff was great, right? They kind of just, we all sort of worked in simpatico and it was like, okay, you take care of this, you do that. Like, let's make sure nobody realizes what's going on. We don't need looky-loos. Like the event must go on over here, right? Bartender, you keep serving and you know, nothing to see here. Let's just, so I think that's really important.

Kevin Dennis (5:25.001)

Yeah, yeah, keep keep moving

Yeah, I think so too. All right, go ahead.

Maggie (5:36.963)

I was just going to say, insurance, all of the insurances, liability insurance, workers comp, all of those things are important to make sure that your vendors have. a couple of years ago, we had somebody cater here that was not on our list. And again, we sort of in a transitional phase where we were coming out of COVID, right? And people had sort of already booked vendors. So I kind of had to work with what we already had on the books.

And they were like, oh, well, we've been doing this for 20 years. We don't carry insurance. And I said, excuse me. You will for this day. I need you to get insurance for this day. And he didn't even have alcohol liability insurance. And I was like, well, you can't set foot on this property without that. And they went and got it, mean, to their credit. I was just.

Kevin Dennis (6:11.060)

Oh my god red flag red flag Oh my god

Maggie (6:30.722)

I was floored. was like, I've never heard of that before. But so there are, you know, people out there, you know, and with Instagram and Facebook and anybody can start a business and to your point, weekend warrior, right? But and they can have great pictures, but can they perform?

Kevin Dennis (6:31.630)

I was like, I've never heard of that before. So there are people out there who scale and manipulate the brand, make things fresh. If anybody's in business, you're going to get fired. And they can have great pictures, but they may just pay off. Under pressure. So yeah, that's the biggest thing. So how do you maintain strong relationships with the folks that are on your vendor list?

Maggie (6:50.148)

Right, yeah.

Maggie (6:59.409)

Great question. lot of it is just kind of keeping in touch, you know, every couple of weeks or something, hey, how's it going, you know, industry events, you know, being part of industry organizations like ILEA or WIPA or MPI or, know, what have you, because it's another good way to be in contact and connecting with key players in those companies, right? I think sometimes

Kevin Dennis (7:6.903)

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (7:15.275)

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (7:22.318)

with two players in the company.

Maggie (7:29.124)

people like that, okay, well, I've got the owner's number on speed dial, right? Like, you know, if you have an issue, we're gonna attend to it. And I think that gives a level of people like that, the customers, clients, if you will, like that level of security, right? Like we've got your back, right?

Kevin Dennis (7:31.086)

I've got the owner's number on feedback. If you have an issue, we're going to attend to it. And I think that's in a level.

Kevin Dennis (7:50.423)

Yeah, no, it's a comfort level for the venue. so. All right, so I'm a vendor wanting to get on your preferred vendor list. What advice do you have, not just necessarily for your preferred vendor list, but just someone wanting to get on a preferred vendor list? What kind of advice do you have for them?

Maggie (8:11.460)

That's a great question. I like that because what I often will tell people is, you know, send me your information. Do you have a website? And then usually what I do is I go out to my network of people and I'm like, Hey, have you ever heard of this vendor before? Has anybody worked with them before like planners or something like that? And if nobody has and nobody's heard of you, it's not necessarily a red flag. Like we want to give everybody, you know, an opportunity. Everybody likes to start their own business and stuff, but

Kevin Dennis (8:29.464)

Mm-hmm.

Maggie (8:42.206)

If they bring me, if they bring us an event, for instance, like a caterer, like bring us an event, you know, so we can see you perform. But I will be sort of overseeing, I will be managing you, so to speak, you know, not necessarily micro managing, but I'm going to be watching, I'm going to be watching, you know, for a level of service, you know, I always tell people, like when we're touring clients, I'm like, well, we're not looking for like the French laundry level of service. But this also isn't Taco Bell.

Kevin Dennis (8:42.958)

If they bring up an event for instance, like a theater, it's an event.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Maggie (9:10.766)

You know, like, and when people are like, well, you know, if there's a water, this is the scenario I always use to clients. And then for a caterer, for instance, I'm like, if you're going to set a water glass down on a table, your client's going to expect that to be filled. So if you don't provide service for that, we're going to have a problem because grandma's going to end up asking me for water. And granted, I will go get grandma water.

Kevin Dennis (9:11.437)

Exactly

Kevin Dennis (9:28.654)

You don't provide service for that. You don't even have a problem.

Maggie (9:38.788)

but I'm not gonna get your 120 guests water. And when somebody asks for water and somebody goes, it's not my job or we didn't, we're not providing that, the client didn't pay for it, whatever. No, it needs to be provided, that kind of thing.

Kevin Dennis (9:56.812)

Yeah, well, and I'm a big believer that you have to have a two to three year rule. Like it takes two to three years to get on a preferred vendor list, you know, once the venue knows about you. Unless and I always say unless you have very specialized service, like we just interviewed recently on our other podcast, someone that does pet sitting at weddings. So something like that. Yeah, something like that. You're going to

And I always say, unless you have very specialized

We just interviewed recently on

Yeah, something like that. Yeah, something like that. You're going to get easy to get on a preferred bed. Right. You know, something that you know, but if you're a caterer or a photographer, a DJ, you're one of many. Right. Or like we've had babysitting services, you know, I did that a babysitting service and they have all of their certifications. They have the insurance. They have all of that stuff and we have it on hand, you know, and they were starting new and I was like, oh, this would be great for people. They're a little pricey.

That's easy to get on a preferred vendor list because that's something that you know, but if you're a caterer, a photographer, a DJ, you're one of many, you're not one of one.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

But I also know that they have invested in themselves in getting all of the certifications and the insurance and all of that to provide a service that's quite frankly, you know, it's needed sometimes if you're going to have if you're going to have kids at a wedding, you know, potentially where you fall on the food chain, your friends, right.

in getting.

Hmm.

Kevin Dennis (11:7.444)

Unique. Yeah.

It's all where you fall on the food chain of your friends getting married. Are you one of the first? Well, probably not a lot of kids. If you're one of the last, there's probably going to be kids. So yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And and so you know, it depends what the vendor is, right? I think I've gotten like in the past two months, like four people that are like, Hey, we have a photo booth. And I'm like, Yeah, thanks. Everybody has a photo booth. I don't say it like that. But, you know, great. Good for you. Because a lot of our vendors offer

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

multiple services and one of them is a photo booth and I feel like a photo booth is such an easy lift these days and not necessarily an easy lift that may be the wrong way to say it but a lot of people do it and so go ahead.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, and I think it goes back to you when you mentioned networking and being a vendor, you know, with different associations, it's developing that relationship with you. And if I have a photo booth and I have over the last couple of years got to know you, you you might give me a shot at your preferred vendor list if a spot opened up, you know, so.

Maggie (12:9.476)

Right.

know you, you know, you might give me a shot. Right. If a spot opened up, you know, Again, it's relationship, top of mind.

But again, it's relationships, top of mind, that kind of stuff that, and Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was a vendor list is what I always say.

almost built in a day and neither was a venue. Correct, correct. And are you going to go the extra mile for our clients? know, and not that you wouldn't do that for anybody. like, I mean, I think I appreciated this property, the lighthouse when I came here, because I'm like, wow, as a vendor, I was looking at it through a vendor lens. And I'm like, wow, this is a great property. It's so easy to work like having worked at like, lots of different properties and venues over the in the Bay Area. And we've all done the like, the load in into like, you know,

Mm-hmm.

Bay Area and we've all done the light. The load is like, know, the elevator for high riders.

the elevators for high rises and the elevator breaks or what, you like we're a long load in at a winery or some type of property where it's far out and there's no water or running electricity and you have to worry about a generator and you know, all of these things, like it's just very user vendor friendly here. And I also try to create that environment for the vendors as well, because if the vendor is, if they'd like to work at a property and they're getting two bids on a day,

Kevin Dennis (13:7.000)

Yeah.

Mm-hm.

Right? And I've talked to a lot of vendors and they're like, well, you know, if we get two on a certain date or whatever, and it's between you and another property, that's like a hard lift. And maybe we're not going to make as much money or whatever by, you know, taking the gig at the lighthouse. We're probably going to take the one at the lighthouse because, it makes if the, if the venue can make your life easy, um, it, it trickles down to like everybody's event experience.

Yeah, I agree. And I think it's all we're all in the same team. So if we have that team approach, yeah, and we're all in this together, we're a team couple, and we're there to, you make sure the couple has a great day. You know, I think that's a good thing to think about is like, you know, when the couple, I always encourages the couples like put together a good team. Because when you have one bad team member, it's going to make the wedding so much more difficult and so much more hard.

Maggie (14:2.678)

Exactly.

together a good team. Right. have one bad team.

It's funny you should say that I actually on our tours I sort of incorporate that I'm like well the reason we have our curated list is because You know and I would say hey, are you a sports fan? Like what's your sports team that kind of thing? And I'm like you could have the greatest athletes right, but if they don't play well in the sandbox or they don't gel They're not a winning team and I go it's the same thing for an event event is is like a game, right? It's it's game day for us, right?

Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-mm. Yeah.

We're planning for it and everything and we have a game plan going in and we all know that those game plans, sometimes they change. Something's late, the ceremony goes late, whatever. And you have to be able to pivot and adjust. And if you have vendors that are curated and they work together well, and again, they don't need babysitting. Sometimes I have some vendors, we don't even need to speak. We can just look at each other and go, did you see that? Okay, I'm on it.

Well, yeah.

Yep, you knew. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Like, and so that's, I think, really important. And we have had some clients that recognize that, which I appreciate too, when they actually realized that, all right, we listen to you. And wow, that was so easy. Like we thought weddings were going to be stressful. And that was like such an easy lift. Like we didn't have a care in the world. And like, yes, that's what we're

Mm-hmm.

trying to achieve and that is why we have the list that we have.

Yeah, no. So, all right. So speaking of the list, you know, I feel like they're renewable, you know, so you're only as good as your last wedding or event, you know, so if something were to happen and I'm able to, you know, I have a relationship with you and there's a really good explanation, I think it's going to ease the blow and I will remain on the list. But if I did something really egregious, how do you have those conversations? And, you know, like, have you ever had to remove someone from your list?

Speaking of the list, I feel.

and I will remain on the list, but if I did something really egregious, how do you have those conversations and have you ever had

How does that go?

that go? Yes, I have. And generally, I try to have sort of a debrief or a, you know, after the week after the event, right? If it goes really well, I still try to check in with it like, Hey, that was really great. I love what you did. I think we have a client moving forward that would, you know, like this type of service kind of thing.

But the flip side is true as well. If somebody doesn't perform well, I like to kind of go back and be like, all right, so what went well and what didn't go so well and give them the opportunity to acknowledge what they didn't do well. And if they don't know and I have to tell them, well, that's another red flag, right? For instance, we had a vendor that was on our list. I had to remove them this year, no names or anything.

Yeah.

but they were beverage service and they were pouring shots. And I said, we have no shots in our thing. Oh, I didn't know. Well, that just sets me off when they say, I don't know, right? I'd rather you say I forgot or the clunt, it was the groom that asked like, just be honest, like you didn't know, then that tells me you're not doing your job.

No, no, no.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Or you don't care.

or and or you don't care. And then same event at the end of the night when you know, beverages are provided by the client, they have to be packed up, right? Bars closed, done period, no more alcohol, no self-service alcohol, that kind of thing. And my coworker, Crystal and I are like walking through during our walkthrough and we're like, why are people pouring themselves drinks at the bar out there? Well, the bartender just didn't check, cleaned up, didn't check out with us.

Mm-hmm.

and left the product out at the bar instead of taking it away and back to the kitchen or whatever. And I just lost it. I was like, this is unacceptable. What you do, do you not know your liquor laws, blah, blah. And they're like, oh, well, we generally work at people's houses. And I go, well, you know, this isn't a person's house. Like on what planet, you

know, B.A. and math or whatever. I just...

I don't blame you.

Yeah.

Again, you're not being aware of where you're at and the property you're at. So just because you work a lot at people's houses, you're never going to work at a venue if you can't follow their rules, you know? And that's the thing as a vendor, you know? Yeah.

Thank

No, and that's the thing as a vendor, you know, it's I might not agree with all your rules, but they're your rules, you know, and so if I want to work at your venue, I'm going to have to abide by your rules, you know, and I think that's where a lot of vendors go wrong is that they don't like they don't think of it as we're a guest in your home, you know, and so when you're a guest in someone's home, you're not going to go stand on their

Maggie (19:8.698)

Yeah. Right.

Yeah, they don't think of it as we're a guest in your home. Right? Yep. when you're a guest in someone's home, you're not going to go stand on their chairs and you're not going to go just help. Whatever you see, know, there's, you know, and nobody wants no vendor, no vendor person wants to hear. Well, it's so and so I can do. I don't care about that venue. You are not at that venue. You are here. This is 114 year old building, you know, like

chairs and you're not going to go just help yourself to whatever you see, you know, there's, you know, it just, if, and I think.

No. No. No.

that always kills me and it's kind of like that I'm very patient and I'm very calm but when somebody sort of says something like that like oh I didn't know or like I just I have to kind of take a deep breath and go what do mean you didn't know? Did you not like did you not read like I read all your contracts like did you not read our rules you know that kind of thing or like you know when

Kevin Dennis (20:4.398)

Thank you.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Another thing that I that I always sort of judge vendors on, especially like caterers and such is like the vendor parking is not right up front. The vendor staff should always park the furthest away as possible. And so when I see a vendor and one of their team members or a staff member and not like the owner or, know, like somebody who has to drop something off, but

Yeah

when they just roll on up, park right up front and just kind of saunter in, I'm watching that. And I go back to that manager and I'm like, okay, if that was a hired staff for the day, they're not coming back here. Like do not, yeah, that's not acceptable.

Yeah, no, it's again, we're there to provide a service to the couple and their guests. And we need to make it as easy as possible and moving our car to the back of the parking lot, takes you three or four minutes. It doesn't take long to do that, especially at your property. It takes you two minutes at max.

Maggie (21:3.790)

guess. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean it's at the top of the hill it's not that far and I always tell I look that person the I am like Do you want to tell grandma that she has to walk from up there because you were too lazy? To park your car up there. You're already working and walking around I get it, but but that's what this job is and I've worked a lot of venues and our parking situation is pretty easy lift

No.

Yeah.

No, it really easy lift. Yeah, no, it's better than being in the city or any of the other stuff where you have to move to a park. Yeah, and you have to move to a parking garage and all that kind of good stuff. So, all right.

You know.

Yeah, you're not even paying for parking here, you know?

Yeah. So all of those things I'm evaluating vendors on. Yeah. As we go. Well, that's the thing. I feel like we're always being evaluated. And I think it's like vendors get excited. I'm on the list. So now I'm in. You still have to perform and yeah. You got to stay in shape.

Yeah, no, well, and that's the thing. I feel like we're always being evaluated. And I think it's like vendors get excited. I'm on the list. So now I'm in. And so I don't have to deliver excellent correct. Yeah, no. And again, that's you only go you're only as good as your last event. And if you sucked at your last event, you suck. So that's the way I tell that to my staff. And that's what I mean. And when we do have an incident.

or something that happens, I'm like, well, we suck right now and we need to fix it and we need to get better. And that's the kind of...

Well, there's sometimes to where you know, during the process of a wedding, we know it's a long day, sometimes 10 to 12 hours, and something maybe there's a hiccup in the beginning or something like that. But can you adjust and make it right?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

So sometimes it's not how you start, it's how you finish, right? So I also kind of look at that as well. Like, all right, we had a little hiccup going into there. I wasn't so sure, but you guys came through in the ninth inning and you hit a grand slam. Great, hallelujah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I agree.

Kevin Dennis (23:3.486)

And you recovered yeah Yeah Well, and that's and Things happen, you know, and so it's it's it's how do you react to it? And I have a big philosophy here at what we you know at my company is that we need to be on the offensive not on the defensive You know, so you know, so something happens is like Maggie. This is what happened. This is the solution This is how we made it better for the client. This is how

big philosophy here at what we.

Right.

Right.

You know, and I think that goes a long way instead of me waiting for you to reach out to me. So.

me waiting for you to reach out to me. Right. yeah. Can you solve problems? Do you have, you have solutions for a problem that arose? And can your team, you know, fix something that, you know, we certainly try on our end, but you know, one of my big things is my pet peeves is being on time. If the vendor's late and they haven't contacted me, I shouldn't have to contact you if you're running late. You should tell me you're running late. But you know, I'm perpetually early for everything.

Mm-hm.

Mm. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Maggie (24:3.973)

And we talked about that in one of our Let's Talk Safeties. Give yourself extra buffer time because we all know that crap goes sideways sometimes. And if you have some built-in time to fix stuff, everyone's not stressed.

Kevin Dennis (24:7.651)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, you never know.

Yeah, and you as the vendor arriving at the property, you're not stressed because you're not, you know, there's times where I'm going somewhere and I'm, you know, oh, I'm cutting it close and I'm stressed because I'm traffic and you know, I'm, so when I arrive, I'm not giving them my best self. So that's not, and that's on me. So yeah, so all right. So we, I feel like we tackled the vendor list pretty good. So what,

and you

going.

it close and I'm stressed because I'm hitting traffic.

given them my best self. Right. And that's on me. 100%. All right. we, I feel like we tackled.

you know, other beyond the vendor list, what other strategies or practices have you found to be essential for delivering seamless events?

What other strategies and practices have you found to be essential for delivering team events? What we started here at the Lighthouse was probably about three years ago now that when people book, we offer a one hour sort of consultation, if you will. I hesitate to call it a planning consultation because we're not going to plan your event for you.

Mm-hmm.

But a consultation to sort of guide couples or even if it's not a wedding, but just an event and we'll do a floor plan for you because we all know in the events industry, at least on the vendor, a venue side, like a floor plan is pretty easy to do and then it can be adjusted. But it sort of, it helps ground the client that, okay, it starts to make it more tangible. And then we also do a really quick timeline.

And

we all can do a timeline in our heads in 30 seconds or less. It's just, it's not rocket science, right? It's having our ceremony, it's hour, hour and a half for cocktail hour, if you got pictures, it's dinner, know, buffet or sit down, it's gonna be, you know, one and a half to two hours, speeches in there somewhere, and then dancing and dessert and whatever else afterwards. It's pretty easy from our standpoint, and it really helps the client, again, wrap their heads around the event.

you know, buffet or sit down, it's gonna be, you know, one and a half to two hours to this in there somewhere and then you can cancel it or whatever else happens. It's pretty easy from our standpoint and it really helps the client again.

and also gives them a starting point when they go to the vendors for like a caterer or a DJ or services, because they're going to ask the same things like, okay, what's the timeline? You know, when's your ceremony? So everybody, you know, does a timeline from that standpoint. And so we sort of offer that as a guidance to start with, because it also makes our job easier. And it also makes our vendors job easier because that's when we understand what the client's vision is.

what their budget is potentially, and a lot of people don't know what their budget is. Like, they're like, oh, we have $10,000 for food and beverage. I'm like, oh, okay, great. We can't even take you to McDonald's for that. So let's rethink that. But we sort of partner them with vendors that we think are going to best fit their needs. It's kind of like matchmaking in a way, because you definitely want to get along with your vendors.

Yeah.

It's, you sort of partner them with vendors that are gonna set their needs. Kind of like map making in a way, because you definitely want to get along with your vendors also, because it makes the whole planning process of your event enjoyable. You don't want to make it stressful.

Also, because it's just going to make the whole planning process of your event enjoyable. And we don't want to make it stressful.

Yeah, I agree. So can you share an example of how a well-managed venue can evaluate the overall wedding experience?

I think ultimately if your client, I think client reviews at the end are helpful in so that if they feel like, like I think I alluded to it earlier, like, wow, that was really easy. That was stress free. Wow, I didn't have a care in the world. Like I was actually able to enjoy the guests and you know, the whole day, right? And take all of

Hmm.

Kevin Dennis (28:0.002)

Mm-hmm.

Maggie (28:1.013)

these magical moments in I think that's To us or at least our team that means the world to us, right? Because that's really what we want and and you know We all know weddings for instance are very emotional And there's a lot of other stuff going on, you know family dynamics who knows what? but if we can make the

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

execution of all of the details of, you your caterer to your DJ, to your florist, to your event planner, and or we're doing the coordination, whatever we can do to make it an easier lift for you, I think is important. And when the client recognizes that, that's always key. Now, it's hard to do that on the front end when you're like selling the property or your venue, right? You're like, Hey, I can do all of this. It's not tangible to them.

do that on the front end when you're selling the property or your venue. Maybe I can do a little stuff together with that.

So I think the review from clients, happy clients is helpful. Does that answer your question? Yeah, I it did. Yeah. I was going to mention too that something that just popped in my head.

Kevin Dennis (29:6.188)

Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I know it did. Yeah. I was going to mention too that something that just popped in my head while you were talking is like, think where vendors should be asking the venues for feedback, good or positive, because I think that's something that a lot of vendors don't do. So if I'm a vendor out there, especially if I'm one of your vendors, Maggie, and I'm asking you for feedback, and then I go and do what you

think where vendors should be.

Right. 100%. I mean, and you just made me think of something too, like, as getting away from catering, for instance, but like,

the feedback that you gave me and I go do it, then now it's gonna just continue to cement that relationship and make us stronger in the end.

We've had DJs come in because people are like, oh, well, we have a DJ that we know. I'm like, OK, great. Well, here are our rules. We are in a residential area. It's 75 decibels or less until dusk. And we designed the timeline to move everybody inside by dusk. And we have the decibel meter on our phones. But it's good DJs that come in to do a site visit beforehand if they're not on our list, for instance. And I'm making the exception.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

And they're like, oh, I see you have houses around here. What's the noise ordinance or how does that work? And I'm like, okay, that tells me you're thinking, you know? And that tells me that you're not gonna bring and set up speakers for like a concert at the open calls, Metallica concert at the open Coliseum, right? Cause we've had that before and I have to sit there and I have to ask the DJ to turn it down. And we have had some very indignant DJs

A concert. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

and I'm just floored and I'm like, well, I know they're never gonna come back again. So there's not even, you know, a need to do like a debrief, right? The client pick them. So, but I don't like the experience that the guests are having because well, nobody's and then, or even when we move inside and it's too loud, right? They bring too much speaker for the inside because you've seen the inside just not, not needed. And like everyone's not dancing because it's too loud.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We had that one time this year and I'm like, can you turn it down? Nobody's in here.

Well, and.

Yeah, and I think the funny thing is too, is that a lot of vendors don't realize is that we're, the guests don't realize that we're not part of the venue. So when that DJ did that and that there, it's going to look bad for the venue, not so much for the DJ because guests don't understand that there's so many moving parts that go into a wedding, you know? So therefore it automatically goes, you know, to the venue. And so now we're giving the venue a bad rap. So that's where I think the

Right, exactly.

where good vendors are there for the venue through thick and thin.

You're representing we're all representing each other but to your point and probably should have led with that is that Especially with food and beverage, but definitely with the DJ as well. You know

Kevin Dennis (32:8.002)

Mm-hmm.

Maggie (32:9.680)

the clients know that they've hired who they've hired, but the guests don't. And the guests don't know that it's not an in-house package, if you will, right? And so when you're performing, whether it's food and beverage or DJ or florist or what have you, you're representing the lighthouse or the property or the venue and our brand or whatever venue it is, you're representing their brand. So you are an extension of them.

Mm-hmm.

And so if you can't acknowledge that and you're just, and the client is obviously the number one priority, but you're not there for you. You're there for the client and the guests. And then potentially, you're representing the venue. So I think vendors that don't grasp that and don't understand that it's hard. that leads back to why

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (33:6.638)

And that leads back to why then you'd like to have a computer. Yeah. Because they are.

Maggie (33:8.932)

venues like to have a preferred list because they are an extension of the brand.

Yeah, and you made me think of something else. We're we're ping ponging off each other here, but there's recently last summer I was working with a photographer that's not from the area and they were doing things at this venue that I know where it wasn't allowed. I'm like, hey, you're not allowed to go down those vineyards and the guy's response was I'll never be back. I don't really care. But then now, yeah, you're right, right. But then it made me think of like, so this guy's now showing.

Maybe think of something else. We're ping ponging off each other here. there's recently.

the area and they were doing things at this venue that I know wasn't allowed. I'm like, hey, you're not allowed to go down those vineyards. And the guy's response was, I'll never be back. don't really care. then now, yeah, you're right. Right. But then it made me think of like, so this guy's now showing photos of this couple down an area that they're not, no one's allowed to go. So now this is going to get on an Instagram. This is going to go everywhere. Right. And now other, other couples are going to be like,

photos of this couple down an area that they're not no one's allowed to go so now this is gonna get out on Instagram this is gonna go everywhere and then now other other couples are gonna be like hey I saw this on you know ABC photography's web their Instagram why can't I do it you know kind of thing and now you're just causing more stress for the venue

Hey, I saw this on, you know, ABC photography, web or Instagram. Why can't I do it? You it's causing more traffic for the venue. That's a great point because we did have a vendor that did that last year. Our property is a hundred and fourteen year old building and you cannot go on the rooftop or the, you know, the veranda, if you will. And it's clearly says you can't go there.

Mm-hmm.

There is one section that we do allow and you know, it's just for the bride and groom and stuff. But we got the pictures back again, it was a photographer not in from the area. And I saw the pictures and I'm like, the whole wedding party is you know, they're getting ready in the morning, they're in there in the PJs, the matching PJs, super cute, super cute photo. But there's like eight girls in the wedding party. And to be polite, they were not petite. And

Oh, geez. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

eight people on the corner of the roof. Not only is it not safe, but they could have done some potential damage. And when I called the photographer, she's like, well, I didn't know, which again, we know that that is not the answer that I like. said, but there was a sign that everybody had to step over to get to where you took the picture. So don't tell me nobody knew, you know, and it says there's a $500 fine.

Not only is it not safe, but they could have done some defensive damage.

Kevin Dennis (35:7.822)

Read that Yeah.

Oh geez.

And I said, here's the deal. I just don't put that particular picture online, right? And the photographer, the telephone game went back to the bride and it got to the bride like, you can't use your pictures at all. And she's like, I'm gonna use my pictures. And I'm like, no, no, no, no. I think there was a misunderstanding. You absolutely can use your pictures. They're beautiful. I love them. You're gorgeous. It was a beautiful day. I'm just saying don't tag the lighthouse.

Yeah.

in well at that point they're not tagging him in any of them which is fine but i was like the corner that you guys took a photo that you weren't supposed to i please don't tag us in that because to your point i don't want people to see because you can clearly tell it's not the area where we do allow right um and you know they got 500 dollars taken from their security deposit and we got a really crappy review because they were not happy about that

Kevin Dennis (36:3.884)

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

But it's funny because in the review, they did not mention that that was why we took the $500 security deposit at all. And they didn't mention all of the other rules that they broke, but because I could have kept all of their security deposit. So it's, it's hard when you have a vendor and I tell this to couples, said, honestly, the only times we've had issues and where people didn't have a great experience or we've gotten a bad review is when people don't go off of our list.

Yeah, and it's funny, there's, I, about an experience that I had with a photographer that wasn't on the list was from Southern California, and this gentleman knew the rules, came in, and it was fabulous. It was amazing, it was fun, the staff loved him, and they added him to the preferred vendor list after they saw that, you know, because it was like,

Thinking about an experience.

And this gentleman knew the rules came in

Right. Right.

this guy got and this guy and they reached out to him like, hey, I know you're in Southern California. Would you want to be out? He's like, I love your venue. I would love to fly up and do weddings up there. and we worked the gentleman retired partway or stop doing photography, you know, during COVID and all that. But we were working with this gentleman pretty regularly and he was from Southern California and we're up here in Northern California, you know, because he provided a great experience. So, you know.

Great experience, great performance and respect. And I think those are all three key words to take away if you want to be on a preferred list. And to your point, it takes a while. You don't just say, hey, I want to be on your list. Like, it's almost like a first date kind of thing, right? Like, who are you? Who are you? You know?

Yeah.

Yeah, know. Well, yeah, it's exactly the analogy I use. Yeah, exactly. Get to know. It's a two to three year process. yeah, and it's funny. I was thinking too, it's like I did a wedding in Houston for one of my former staff members and they brought me in and I read the venues, know, list and I did everything right. And they were the same thing. Do you want to do weddings here? love you. You're the one of the our our vendors don't even read the rules, you know? And I was like, no, I'm

Maggie (38:5.242)

Yeah, and it's funny, I was thinking too, it's like I did a wedding in Houston.

and they brought me in and I read the venue's list and I did everything right and they were the same thing. You want to do weddings here? want to weddings Our vendors don't even read the rules.

be a little hard for me to come to Houston every weekend, but I appreciate it. But you know, it's that kind of stuff. It's simple. Yeah, exactly. No kidding. But it's just like, just follow the rules. That's what it comes down to. You may not agree with them. Follow the rules.

me to come to Houston every weekend, I appreciate it. Pay for a first class flight. I'll come.

But it's just like, just follow the rules. That's what comes down to it. You may not agree with them, follow the rules. And to that point on rules, I really appreciate and respect our vendors and even a new potential planner or something that asks me a question about a potential rule. hey, I see you have this rule, like for instance, no confetti. I have that in there because...

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Maggie (39:0.207)

you know, we're an outdoor venue as well and things need to be biodegradable. But I always say, like, ask me about what, let's talk about what you want to do. And let's see if we can still make it happen. Right? So for instance, confetti, great. Well, now they have this new biodegradable confetti. And one of the brides, she got this and it was like rice paper, like you could actually eat it. But as soon as you hit it with water, it just dissolved.

if we could still make it happen. So for instance, confetti. Great. Now they have this new bio-degradable confetti, and one of the brides, she got this, and it was like rice paper. Like you could actually eat it. And she hit it with water. And was, it And I'm like, absolutely. I love that. that. Like when they, you know.

And I'm like, absolutely. I love that. Let's do that. Like when they, you know, announced the couple that was the confetti and it was great. There was no cleanup, right? But like, I always try to explain people, there's a reason we have the rules we have like inside glitter, confetti, those types of things. They go into the AC ducts and stuff like that and we have to vacuum them out. And it's a whole thing. But if we can do something to mitigate and achieve the effect that you want,

But if you can do something to mitigate and achieve the effect that you want, we will try to make that happen. And hey, you want to do Star Trek? OK, we're in California.

we will try to make that happen, right? Okay, you wanna do sparklers. Okay, we're in California. It's not allowed. Oh, but this venue over here out here does it. I'm like, that is great. You can go book with them. We cannot here. I have interviewed three fire chiefs and it is illegal. I live in a residential area. If I see, if any of our neighbors see that they will call the fire department. Do you want the fire department at you? You know what I mean?

I live in a residential area.

Yeah.

There are other really fun ways to get that sparkler effect without using sparklers, not to mention they're dangerous and you can like burn somebody with them.

It's funny you bring up the I have yet to ever invest in those because they're one, you know, no one wants them at their venue, you know, and it was and I think it's more of a fad, you know, not it's not a trend, you know, it just it came and gone and all the other venues. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So anyway. All right. We're wrapping up. So tip.

more of a fad, know, not a trend, you know.

Cold Spark's another one too, yeah.

Anyway, all right, we're wrapping up. So tip.

Kevin Dennis (41:2.892)

We're hitting our number here that we got to move on. So tips, a couple tips that you can leave us with.

Maggie (41:5.732)

Okay. think for vendors, developing a relationship, you know, offering certainly to, you know, if you bring an event or bring a client to that venue, I think goes a long way. And then just keeping that line of communication open and getting feedback after events, you know, and to your point, two or three years to develop a relationship.

Yeah.

Yeah, and that's what I was going to say is like Rome wasn't built in a day. It takes time, you know, so it just you got to be in it for the long haul. It's not there's no short game in what we do. It's a long, you know, and you got to imagine, you know what you're doing and you're only as good as your last event. anyway, Maggie, thank you. Oh.

like Rome wasn't built in today, it takes time. So it just, you gotta be in it for the long haul. There's no short game in what we do. It's a long.

I also say if you're in this if you're in this industry to make a lot of money you're in the wrong industry you need to be in hospitality and customer service and like what you're doing otherwise you know go into finance or something yes exactly yeah all right well thank you for being here but before we wrap up I always like to ask my guests what's your favorite app?

Kevin Dennis (42:0.108)

Hahaha!

Kevin Dennis (42:5.356)

And then the money will come. Yeah, no, then the money will come. Yeah, no, for sure. So all right, well, thank you for being here. But before we wrap up, always like to ask my guests, what's your favorite app right now that you're using?

Currently, I have to say it's chat GPT to just sort of curate better, softer answers, because I can kind of be blunt sometimes. And so I just try to use chat GPT to kind of soften some type of explanations or things like that.

Hehehehehe

No, yeah, no, it makes your emails a little softer. I think you and I, that's why I think we get along. So we were blunt. We call a spade a spade. We call it how we see it. Yep. you know, so it would be nice if we could have a chat GPT filter for our mouth sometimes. So yeah, I agree. So all right, folks. Well, Maggie, how will we get in touch with you?

you and

it would be nice if we could have a chat GBT filter for our mouth sometimes.

Maggie (43:3.836)

right, well, Maggie, how will we get in touch with you? So we can be reached at thelighthousegcm at gmail.com. All of our pricing, facility use policies, frequently asked questions, and video are all on our website. We try to be totally transparent and reach out to us if you have any questions or want to tour.

Well, Maggie, we thank you, and we appreciate you being here talking about the controversial topic of preferred vendor lists. I felt like we could have gone on another 45 minutes, but yeah. Yeah, we totally could have. So anyway, all right, Maggie, thank you for being here. Thank you for being my 25th guest on the wonderful 25th anniversary of Mind Your Wedding Business. All right, thanks, folks. Bye.

topic of.

like we could have gone on another 45 minutes. Oh, for sure.

Anyway, all right, Maggie, thank you for being here. All right, thank you. 25th guest. Yes.

Awesome. All right. All right. Thank you all. Bye.