Credit where credit is due

Everyone has heard that saying, but I'm guessing not a lot of people (including myself) exercise it. I wanted to write this because I think that it's really important, and not nearly as emphasized as it should be.

 

Yesterday I decided to sit down on my lunch break and write some reviews for the vendors we used for our wedding. It's one of those things that for some reason is really hard to make yourself do, and I am not sure why. It seems like a waste of time, do people actually read them, I could be taking a nap and etc... These were the things I was initially thinking, but I did make myself write them and here's why. I looked at reviews and based a lot of my decisions for the wedding on the words of random people, and simply put I felt like I needed to pay it forward and do my part to contribute. If you have read any of my earlier posts you will know that I am a die-hard planner/researcher/need to know 8 days ago type of person, spontaneity is just another foul word that I am trying resolutely to banish from my vocabulary (yes that's sarcasm) But seriously I relied heavily on these reviews and comments made by others who had already taken the plunge and put trust in these people. So off I was to add my own two cents to the random community of review-leavers. After I wrote a few I realized that a big part of why I think people don't leave them is because we are a people that love instant gratification and positive feedback and being the one leaving the feedback, you don't get any of that, usually. Here's where the inspiration for this post comes in.

 

I wrote a review for Frank Lebano & Co, which was our DJ and the review was sparkling because he was a fantastic DJ and person to work with in general. I didn't write the review on his website I did it on Wedding Wire mainly because it's where I read most of mine. Well, somehow Frank saw the review and emailed me yesterday afternoon. The email basically said that he had been having a rough few days and that it lifted his spirits to read it and thank you. I am not posting this to toot my own horn, but to say that we have no idea how seemingly insignificant things like wedding reviews can affect someone. I would be lying if I said it didn't feel good to get feedback on my feedback (head trip) and most times you don't get it, but it just reiterated to me that it's so important to "pay things forward" and give credit where credit is due. It may be a hell of a lot easier, and let's face it more fun to write a terrible review, but I think writing the positive ones that thank and show appreciation to the people who provide services for us hold so much more weight in the long run. Hump day service commenced!

A.