Finding vendors

Every vendor search you have started, open or closed, so you can see your matches and tell us when you have booked.

1. Open My searches from the sidebar.
2. The Current tab holds searches that are still open or engaged; Past holds filled, expired, and canceled ones.
3. Each card shows the event type, date, location, how many vendor categories you asked for, and where the search stands.
4. A search that notified vendors shows how many applied out of how many were told, or "No vendors notified" if nobody nearby matched. A browse search shows how many vendors you inquired with.
5. Click a search to reopen it and review your matches.
6. A browse search closes on its own after 30 days. Open it and click "Keep looking for 30 more days" to reopen it.
7. When a search asks "Did you book?", answer "Yes, I booked", "Still looking", or "Don't need them" so we stop or keep looking.
8. Click "New search" to start another one.

Every vendor you bookmark lands here, ready to compare when you plan an event.

1. Open Saved vendors from the sidebar.
2. Search by name, or sort by most recently saved.
3. Each card shows the vendor’s services and whether you have already inquired with them.
4. Use the "..." menu on a card to view the profile, start an inquiry, copy a share link, or unsave.
5. To ask several at once, select up to 5 and choose "Ask these N". Pick the event it is for, and each vendor's own form opens in turn with your date, venue and contact details already filled in. The last screen says who it was sent to.
6. To add one, click "Save" (the star) on any vendor's profile.

Search vendors by service, location, price.

1. Open Find vendors from the sidebar.
2. Describe your event in the box at the top and we fill the form in for you, or skip it and fill it in yourself.
3. Choose how you want to search: "Notify matching vendors" (the default) tells the best-matched vendors near your event, or "Just browse" gives you a ranked list and nobody is notified.
4. Set the event type, the vendor categories you need, the date, and the location. Headcount, style tags, and a budget per category are optional but sharpen the match.
5. Click "Notify matching vendors" to send it out, or "Find vendors" to see your matches.
6. No matches nearby? Click "Search within 100 miles" to look wider.
7. The search is saved in My searches. A browse search closes after 30 days unless you keep it open.

Describe your event in plain language and let Bazaar build the search.

1. Open My searches from the sidebar and click "New search".
2. Under "How would you like to find vendors?", keep "Notify matching vendors" (the default) or pick "Just browse".
3. In "Tell us about your upcoming event", describe it in your own words: the kind of event, when and where, the vendors you need, guest count, budget and the vibe.
4. Click "Auto-fill the form". It turns on once you have written a sentence or two. To skip the description, use "enter your details manually" instead.
5. Review what was filled in. Anything Bazaar was unsure of has a dotted outline and says "Auto-filled, confirm this looks right." when you click into it. Click "Describe again" to rewrite.
6. Click "Notify matching vendors →", or "Find vendors →" if you chose to just browse.

Tell the best-matched vendors near your event, so interested ones reply to you.

1. Open My searches from the sidebar and click "New search".
2. Under "How would you like to find vendors?", "Notify matching vendors" is already chosen.
3. Describe your event or fill in the form. "Event type", "Vendor types needed" and the event location are required, because vendors are matched near it.
4. Under "How should we run the queue?", set the "Vendor cap per role", the "Time limit", and the "Min responses" you want before you review.
5. Click "Notify matching vendors →". Up to 10 of the best-matched vendors per category are told, and interested ones join a queue you review when you are ready. Other vendors in that category near you can also find your post and join.
6. Each vendor who joins shows their note and, if they gave one, a starting quote ("Quoted $1,200 when applying"). Their offering pricing applies once you inquire. A busy post sends you one notice that counts the joins rather than one per vendor.
7. If a category has fewer than 5 matching vendors, Bazaar says so first. Choose "Adjust" to widen the search, or "Post" to go ahead anyway.
8. If nobody within 50 miles was notified, the category says so on the search page. Click "Search within 100 miles" to tell vendors farther out, or "Edit search" to change it.
9. You can switch between modes any time before someone responds.

Give each vendor category its own budget range instead of one number covering the whole search.

1. Start a vendor search and pick your vendor categories first. The budget fields only appear once something is selected, one range per category.
2. Enter a minimum, a maximum, or both for a category. A photographer and a decorator rarely share a range, which is why they are asked for separately.
3. Leave a category blank to say you are flexible. A blank range applies no budget filter for that category rather than defaulting to zero.
4. The ranges are saved with the search, so vendors matched for one category are never filtered against another category’s budget.

Send an inquiry to a vendor you found.

1. In your search results, click "Inquire" on a vendor. On a vendor's profile page, the button reads "Send Inquiry". If you have upcoming events, it first asks "Inquiring for…": pick one to fill the form from that event (the form then shows "For <event> · Change"), or "Not for an event yet".
2. If the vendor matches more than one category you searched for, tick the ones this inquiry covers, then click "Send".
3. The vendor's own inquiry form opens. Work through it with "Next". The steps depend on the vendor and can include packages, add-ons and their questions.
4. If an offering is priced by the hour, or its package covers a set number of hours, "How many hours?" asks for the length of your event. The estimate updates as you change it, including any extra hours.
5. Click "Review" to check your answers, then "Submit".
6. The card then shows "Inquiry sent". Your event details carry over, so the next inquiry from the same search starts filled in.
7. To read a vendor's full profile first, click "View". Its "Inquire" button starts the same form.

Pick a time on a vendor's calendar for an intro call or a tasting.

1. Open the vendor's profile and click "Book a consultation". It only shows when the vendor takes bookings.
2. If the vendor offers more than one kind of call, pick one.
3. Choose a day on the calendar, then one of that day's times.
4. Add your name and how to reach you, then confirm. The call lands on both calendars, and if you came from one of your events it is linked to that event.

Bookmark a vendor so it lands in your saved list.

1. Open the vendor's profile page. The profile preview inside your search results is view-only and has no Save.
2. Click "Save", the star button. On a narrow screen it shows as the star alone.
3. Sign in if asked. Saving a vendor needs an account.
4. In "Save Vendor", you can turn on "Allow this vendor to contact me?", then pick a "Contact preference" and "Follow-up timing" for a one-time follow-up. A phone number has to be verified first.
5. Click "Save". The button now reads "Saved", and the vendor appears in Saved vendors in the sidebar.
6. To unsave, click "Saved" and choose "Remove".

Turn a search you are browsing into one that tells matching vendors.

1. Open My searches from the sidebar and click a search on the "Current" tab that you are browsing yourself.
2. At the top of the search, click "Notify vendors". It is only offered while the search is open.
3. Read "Notify matching vendors?" and click "Notify", or "Not now" to back out. The search needs an event location first. A search started while signed out asks for your email here first, so vendors' replies can reach you.
4. Up to 10 of the best-matched vendors per category are invited to join a queue you review, and other vendors nearby can find the post and join too. Your existing inquiries stay as they are, and vendors you already contacted are not messaged again.
5. It runs for 48 hours by default, and the page switches to the vendors you notified.