Option One
Hire a professional and rely on her to get it done!

Option Two
​Get the girls to do the dirty work or if your parents are paying,  they're more likely to have an investment to protect and can contact vendors to negotiate on your behalf

Option Three
This should he number ONE because it truly is the best plan.
Listen, intently to your vendors. 
Each one of them have a "business practice" or policy in place that makes them different from other vendors. Your request or plan should, therefore, also be unique. There is no simple answer for option three, except really try to understand what your vendor needs from you to serve you best. Once you know that, express what concerns and limitations you have. The vendor will appreciate your honestly and will be more willing to discuss options and perhaps even discounts.
​

Realistically you will never be able to fully research, each vendor and must rely on reviews and advice. Despite your first impression and "good feelings", you may end up hiring one that you find particularly hard to deal with over time.
What do you do? Refer to the Chinese proverb  “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” 
Since you cannot go back in time, look closely at the terms and conditions portion of the contract you signed, typically there is a non refundable portion. Here is where you have to decide, is it worth being out $200-$1000 to preserve your sanity..or is the loss too large for you?
Don't put this off because as more time lapses you could enter into the cancellation period, where excessive fees come into play.
Like I always say...{don't shoot me} DO YOUR HOMEWORK. The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago...well we aren't planting a tree but we ARE planning a wedding. It is already too late to do more research, you are now in damage control. This may very well be the first financial crisis that you both can tackle together. Make a list of pros and cons. Decide together,  is the "loss" really a loss or a small fee for a valuable lesson.

I am writing this as a result of receiving my FIRST one star review since opening our doors, It was like a knife in my chest! I read it over 10 times trying to make sense of the incident. We believe bad reviews are a teachable opportunity, so we take them seriously, but this was a total bash fest.

How do you know when a review is biased? The honest answer is, we never really will. The best advice I can give, is to do your homework. I know I say that ALL the time. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it.

If you're like me, when deciding where to eat, see a show, find a place to crash... {especially when traveling} I look to yelp, the bbb, trip advisor and other sites dedicated to business reviews. For the most part, I look at the pictures and the first 3 or 4 reviews. If a review intrigues me, I dig in, so to speak, Narrowing down my choices to 3 or 4 helps me decide. Then all that's left is to experience it myself.

Testing the waters is not an option when it's your wedding. Reviews become our window into a company's soul. Having said that, reviews tell us three things, 1-who the consumer is, 2-who the business is and 3-what customers SAY they have experienced. It is your job to find out if the gripe is real, perceived or was handled satisfactorily.

I say... TRUST that you can find intel from reviews. Prepare your questions and contact the business. Express your concern over negative reviews and listen to what they have to say. Sometimes a business won't even know the review exists until you tell them about it. Like in my case. 

For the record I disputed that review and it was subsequently taken down by the blog it was submitted to. It was determined that the reviewer was never a customer of ours, nor did they have proof they ever contacted us. They also mentioned in their review how wonderful our competitor was and that everyone should go to them instead. OUCH!