by Maureen Thomson of Lyssabeth's Wedding Officiants

As one who chats with many brides to be, one of the biggest (well justified) rants I hear from them is about wedding vendors who don’t return phone calls and emails promptly--if at all. This is something I hear all too frequently. In fact, the majority of brides write back to me after I've responded to their initial inquiry with words to the effect of "thank you for your timely response" or "wow! that was fast!" It appears that people have been conditioned to expect non-responsiveness and they are surprised when a vendor breaks this trend.

It occurs to me that there are three kinds of communication styles with wedding vendors. I've taken the liberty of labeling them.

Consummate professionals. Vendors who communicate promptly, courteously, with helpful information and in consideration of the couple's time constraints and wishes.

Stalkers. Vendors who email and call incessantly, send junk mail, text, Tweet, friend brides on Facebook and generally stalk and harass couples until they either book their services or call the cops. Think used car salesmen on steroids. (We're not addressing this type of vendor in this post, but you really ought to run like a headless chicken if approached by a vendor of this type. They are not passionate; they are desperate.)

Elusives. These are the vendors that plague brides by simply not responding. They are more than likely part-timers in the wedding industry, or they have a spouse who supports them with a regular income. That's the only reason I can come up why these folks wouldn't return a bride's calls and emails within 24 hours (and even that's a stretch in some cases).

Clearly, if you expect your wedding day as well as the months leading up to it to be as stress-free as possible, you will want to steer yourself in the direction of the consummate pros. My advice to brides is to adopt a take no prisoners mentality. If your inquiry goes unanswered within 24 hours, hit the "next" button and move on. Trust me, vendors who are in this for keeps will not allow your emails to get lost in junk folders or phone messages to get erased before they listen to them. They won't be away from their desks for more than a day without checking for communication, either. If they take the rare vacation, there will be a backup plan in place, or at the very least, an auto responder telling couples that they are out of the office.

In short, a pro won't leave you hanging.

And rest assured that if you do finally pin an elusive vendor down and beg and plead with them to accept your money, it will only go downhill from there. If it's that hard to get a vendor to be responsive before you are their client, think about what it will be like after you've signed on the dotted line and given them a deposit.

If you're in the wedding planning stage, resolve today. Take no prisoners. 24 hours tops. Then move on.

You'll be a happier bride come the wedding day for sure.