If you are anything like me, your wedding industry colleagues have become great friends of yours, besides just people you do business with. I love this about our industry, that we can become a tight-knit circle and create a family of sorts in the wedding industry. The tricky part about this is balancing the business and friendship aspect of the relationship. For example, as a Wedding Planner if I become best friends with an invitation designer and end up only referring all of my clients only to her – that is not always ideal and here is why:

1. You’re putting all your eggs in one basket. What if your best friend’s business goes under? What if your best friend’s customer service goes down hill? What if your best friend’s price point isn’t a match for everyone?
2. You’re potentially cutting off new wedding pros from getting to know you and having them refer clients to you.  If you’re only sending all of your referrals to your best friend, your colleagues will notice that and may not bother sending biz your way.
3. The tendency that all of your weddings will look the same – hence, ‘the wedding in a box’ phenomenon.  It may be easy and fun for you to work with your BFF, but people will start to recognize that every event you post looks the same and they may notice a lack of creativity in the end product or service you’re producing.

I know that it’s a natural human desire to want to work with your friends. I personally love working with my favorite wedding pros who are also some of my best friends now. However, I find that as a wedding professional it’s important to step outside your comfort zone and truly get to know other wedding pros. For one, it expands your circle of potential referrals that you will receive from other colleagues. More importantly, your clients will experience a one-of-a-kind wedding because each wedding pro has been carefully selected based on who is the best fit for your client, and not just because you are friends with them.

Think about the wedding pros you are working with this coming year.  Is it the same group of colleagues for every event?  Do you need to expand your circle of influence? If so, what is your plan for doing that?