The Knot Best of Weddings is an annual award representing the best event professionals (like you!) across the country, as reviewed by real couples, their families and wedding guests on TheKnot.com. Winning is the ultimate stamp of approval from couples and lets future clients know that they can depend on you to pull off their big day. Not only that, it can help you connect with more couples and book more business!
Best of Weddings Eligibility Guidelines
The following conditions need to occur in order to become eligible for a Best of Weddings award:
- The event professional must obtain a minimum of 7 reviews with an average rating of 4.5+ across these reviews between January 1st and December 31st. Keep in mind, this is the minimum requirement to make sure you are being considered for the award. There are other factors that are considered before the final determination is made. This minimum requirement remains if a vendor has multiple Storefronts.
- Both paid members and unpaid members of The Knot are eligible for Best of Weddings consideration.
Hall of Fame Eligibility Guidelines
- The Knot Hall of Fame recognizes event professionals who win Best of Weddings a minimum of four times (not necessarily consecutively).
Review Eligibility Guidelines
- Our reviews platforms are designed to encourage honest opinions about the events leading up to, surrounding, and after a wedding in order to represent the wedding professional's interactions with their clients. Reviewers can leave their opinions however the review must remain free of accusations, assumptions, and hearsay. We also require that statements of fact must be accurate. Reviewers are required to have an actual first-hand wedding-event related experience to share. All reviews and review replies give wedding professionals an opportunity to showcase their professionalism and empathy.
- Clients are defined as the individual who pays for the services but also includes the couple getting married as long as their names are on the contract. Regardless if services are terminated prior to the event date, if business interactions took place, then that client will still be permitted to post a review. The client experience begins with the first contact and we recognize that the services they may or may not provide on the day of the event are only a portion of a client's overall interaction with a wedding professional . That is also why a review is allowed at any point before or after the wedding has taken place.
- All feedback is allowed regardless if it is negative, positive, or neutral.
Review Policy Violations
- The Knot does not edit reviews or star ratings. If a review is disputed or reported for violations to our Review Policy, The Reviews Department will determine if the offense and/or associated documentation provided by the disputer is a violation. If the review appears to violate Review Policy, the reviewer will be contacted by the Reviews Department and asked to remove or edit the review. If there is no response or the reviewer fails to comply, the Reviews Department will determine if removal is necessary in accordance with its reviews process.
- Review Policy violations that can result in edits or removals include but are not limited to: factually inaccurate statements, explicit content, unverifiable reviews added to an event professional's Storefront and spam.
- If a review is removed, it can have an impact on an event professional's average rating and review total.
- If a reviewer edits the star rating on their review, it may impact an event professional’s average rating.
Disqualification
Best of Weddings award eligibility can be revoked if an event professional does not conduct himself or herself properly or does not “act in the spirit of the award.” Examples of actions that can result in disqualification include, but are not limited to:
- Withholding goods, services, or money in exchange for review removal from their Storefront.
- Abusive, threatening, hostile, or otherwise unacceptable behavior directed at reviewers for any reason.
- Offering a gift or reward for posting a positive review. Any offer should specify that it is for “A” or “Any” review, not just good reviews.
- Offering a gift or reward for removing a negative review. This includes threatening or requiring a reviewer to either remove or refrain from posting a negative review.
- Posting false reviews on their own Storefront or other event professionals’ Storefronts in order to manipulate scores or “stack the deck.”
- Having a non-disparagement clause or otherwise contractually prevented a couple from leaving an honest review
- All accounts are subject to random audits for review authenticity and accuracy. If reviews in your account fail to be verified (i.e. email address is not connected to the member directly; undeliverable email/bounce back verification; email domains all come from the same provider or from the event professional's business account; etc.), you may be disqualified.
If an event professional is ineligible to win an award for any part of the year, the event professional is ineligible to receive an award for the whole year. Any event professional that is added to the Best of Weddings disqualification list may correct any reasons for getting onto the list, but they will not be considered for an award until the next Best of Weddings season. An event professional’s ability to be removed from the list is up to the discretion of the Client Policy and Reviews Team.
In the case an event professional is added to the disqualification list, it is possible for them to be stripped of previous Best of Weddings winnings if it is proven that their behavior persisted throughout previous years. If an event professional has been disqualified from Best of Weddings on more than one occasion, they will not be eligible to earn the award at any time in the future.
Dispute Guidelines
The following are guidelines for disputing reviews in regards to Best of Weddings:
- Event professionals can dispute reviews year round. It is not necessary to wait until the end of the qualifying season in December to file disputes.
- The cutoff for reviews is December 31st. Any reviews received prior to this cutoff can be disputed. They will be factored in for the Best of Weddings contest year, even if the dispute is resolved after December 31st.
- All disputes are handled according to standard procedure. Reviews are not removed simply because they are negative or because we are asked to. A formal dispute must be filed, which includes proper documentation to support the dispute.
- To support the dispute in regards to false statements being made by the reviewer, the event professional will need to provide documentation that proves the statements to be false. Disputing a review is not a guarantee that the review is removed. The Reviews Department will work with both parties to ensure that the review does not violate our Review Policy. If an event professional provides clear and indisputable documentation, the reviewer will be given the option to edit their review for accuracy.
- If the removal of a review or reviews results in an event professional’s yearly review total to fall below the minimum of 7, the event professional will no longer be eligible for Best of Weddings consideration.
- You may report a review from within your The Knot account dashboard under “Manage Reviews.” Simply scroll to the review that you would like to dispute and click “Dispute.” Include your company name, the reason for the dispute, the review that you are disputing, and if possible, a link to your Storefront/listing. If you are not currently able to access your dashboard, please email the WeddingPro Support Team at support@weddingpro.com
Disclaimer
Please note that The Knot reserves the right, at any time, under its sole discretion, to change its policies, and/or to cancel, modify, or suspend the Best of Weddings award or program, or the eligibility, qualifications, criteria, or method for determining winners, to preserve our reputation and the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper participation of or in the Best of Weddings awards.
Reviews House Rules
The Knot is committed to hosting a true representation of the experiences our couples have with event professionals. Our reviews platform is designed to encourage honest opinions about the events and experiences that couples have and to show the event professional's interactions with each couple. Couples can leave their opinions, but need to keep the facts true. All reviews give event professionals an opportunity to showcase their professionalism and empathy.
The function of the Reviews Department at The Knot is not to determine who is right or who is wrong but rather to moderate each situation individually. We maintain a reviews platform that is unbiased and keeps the integrity of each review. The Knot always reserves the right to keep or remove any content from our site.
General Information
Reviews Guidelines
Who can leave a review?
Reviewers are required to have an actual first-hand wedding-event related experience to share. Clients are defined as the individual who pays for the services but also includes the couple getting married as long as their names are on the contract. Reviewers do not need to log in to The Knot to leave a review. We will not use their contact information to solicit them so long as their wedding date indicates that their wedding was in the past. Event professionals can write reviews for another professional if they used them for their own event and are sharing their firsthand, specific experience. However, we do not allow pros to review other pros that they’ve worked with in a professional capacity. Any reviews left for businesses (not pertaining to their own event) wil be removed.
Who can be reviewed?
Valid reviewers are defined as the individual who pays for the services but also includes the couple getting married as long as their names are on the contract.
Who can see reviews?
Everyone who visits TheKnot.com can visit our Marketplace and read all reviews left by our members.
What types of events/experiences can be reviewed?
The Knot will allow a review on an event professional's Storefront for any wedding related event. Examples of the wedding experience could be but not limited to: engagement photo shoot, food tasting, and the wedding itself.
Who decides which reviews stay on the site and which ones are removed?
Our Reviews Department is a neutral third party between our couples, their families and our event professionals. This team audits all review inquiries as a group. Based on our Review Policy, the team determines which reviews should be edited, remain on the site as they are, and deleted. The outcome of all dispute inquiries rests with the Reviews Department. Because this team follows the Review Policy our Legal department has previously published, Legal will always defer to these rules as stated, on the end result of a dispute.
For Wedding Pros
How am I able to identify who left a review?
When someone registers on our site, they’re able to choose a screen name and wedding date (if the reviewer did not choose their wedding date, one will be auto assigned to them 14 months into the future). In some cases, it will include their first and/or last name which makes it easy to know who they are. However, some users will knowingly use an alias false name/date in order to remain anonymous (which is allowed on our site). The wedding date could’ve also changed during the planning process, and the user may have forgotten to update this in their account. Due to our privacy policy with our members, we are unable to share any of their personal information with you. If you request this information from us, we can, at our discretion, reach out to the user for permission to share it with you at that time.
Which reviews will be audited?
Our Reviews Department will audit all reviews as requested through our Review Inquiry process. We also may audit past reviews from any event professional as we feel is needed. We may conduct random review audits to maintain the integrity of our Reviews platform.
Who can dispute a review?
An event professional that does not recognize the name of the reviewer or thinks that the event review may have been left on the wrong Storefront.
How can I start a review dispute?
To open a dispute, please email the Reviews Department at reviewinquiry@weddingpro.com. Include your company name, the reason for the dispute, the review that you are disputing, and if possible, a link to your Storefront/listing. You may also report a review from within your The Knot dashboard under “Manage Reviews.” Simply scroll to the review that you would like to dispute and click “Dispute.”
For Reviewers
What should I include in my review?
When you’ve had a great experience with a vendor, leave a review! Sharing your positive experience will help other couples find their own wedding vendors - and your vendor will appreciate you sharing the love.
When leaving your review, keep it:
- Concise
- Specific
- Accurate
- Feel free to share your opinion, but keep the facts true
Sometimes, you may have a negative experience with a vendor. Here’s what we recommend:
- Overall, remember that The Knot's reviews exist to help couples better assess and book their vendors, so please make sure to keep your reviews concise, specific, honest and accurate.
- If you're recently married and believe that the terms of your contract were violated, we recommend that you keep proof that the terms of your contract were violated before leaving a negative review. If a vendor can prove that a review is false, we ask the reviewer to edit the feedback to address that proof (and we could potentially remove the review).
How soon is my review made public?
Each review is posted within 24 hours, and many times within just a few hours. If you are not a member of The Knot, you will need to validate your email address in order for your review to post and must start a free membership in order to edit your review.
How can I edit my review?
You can visit this link after logging into your account: https://www.theknot.com/review-wedding-vendors
Who is eligible to make edits to my review?
Each member that writes a review owns the content of that review. The Knot's Reviews Department will never edit a review on your behalf. You are the only one who can log in and make edits to a review. If a review is proven to be factually inaccurate, is explicit or goes against our Terms of Use, we may ask you to make specific edits so your review is eligible to stay on our site.
What if I want my review removed?
As a reviewer, if you want to have your review removed, please email us at reviewinquiry@weddingpro.com. Please include a brief description of the reason you want to remove your review. Our event professionals count on all reviews staying on their Storefront; the reason for removal will give us and the event professionals an understanding as we move forward. If you are an event professional and would like to request that a review is removed, please log in to your account to start a Review Dispute Inquiry.
Who can reply to my review?
The event professional can reply to your review with a publicly posted response. This allows them to comment back, add additional details they feel may be relevant or just thank you for taking the time to leave a review. An event professional can only respond once, and only your review and their response will be visible to couples on our site. We encourage event pros to start a conversation with the reviewer offline if they need to further discuss a review and its content.
What can I expect during a dispute process?
If you have written a review that is under dispute, you will receive an email from our Reviews Department. It will give you an overview of our dispute process and may ask for clarification about your review, requests to remove/rewrite specific sections under dispute, or requests for verification documentation. This may include, but is not limited to, copies of your contract with the event professional, photos of your event, emails or texts showing communication with the vendor, etc. All of these documents allow our Reviews Department to determine the facts as outlined by the documentation when determining the outcome of the dispute. Each review will remain visible during the dispute process and will only be removed if it is in violation of our policies or the reviewer makes a removal request.
Why is my review under dispute?
A review may be under dispute if the event professional does not recognize the member, or the event mentioned is not familiar to them; if any statements appear to be false or misleading; contains some statements of personal attacks and/or strong accusations against the pro; slander; profanity is included in the written review; review is not sharing a firsthand experience and/or was not written by someone currently allowed to leave a review; is in violation of any of our Terms of Use published by TheKnot.com; is a duplicate review left for the same pro, or left for multiple pros using the same content. There may be other reasons for a review dispute and we welcome any questions on a specific scenario.
Why am I being asked to edit my review?
If your review is under dispute and is not in compliance with our Review Policy, or if the review needs clarification, you will be required to edit the review. You will be given at least two full business days to edit your review. If you do not comply, we will remove the review. You will be allowed to submit a new review as long as previous requests from the Reviews Department are met at any time.
Why was my review removed? Why was I asked to edit my review?
Typically, we will ask a reviewer to edit their review if it contains one or more areas of violation or concern that do not fall within our guidelines. There are some instances when a review will be removed immediately, and the reviewer will then be eligible to leave a new review that is compliant. Here is a quick list of reasons that a review may be removed from our site.
- The review is a duplicate of another review
- The reviewer did not respond to our inquiry
- The reviewer did not edit their review as requested
- The reviewer did not validate their review
- The reviewer requested that the review be removed
- The review is not an actual review
- The review is not a firsthand experience, or is secondhand information
- The review contains personal attacks and/or strong accusations
- The review contains inappropriate language or racial slurs
- The reviewer is another wedding professional in attendance
- The reviewer is a past or disgruntled employee
- The review is considered spam
- The review contains personal information about themselves or the vendor that should be in a public setting
- The reviewer posted on the incorrect Storefront
Why am I being asked to prove I had an experience with an event professional?
Your Review is a very important part of each Storefront page. By showing the integrity of our reviews to other couples, we help them make an informed decision on which event pro to contract with; this also allows our pros to use these pages to market to future clients. When we ask for proof of your event and/or experience with the pro, we are confirming that the reviews left on our site are legitimate, factual and fair.
What kind of documentation could be collected during a review dispute?
We may ask for copies of your contract with the event professional, proof of payment for services rendered, photos of your event, copies of emails, phone logs, texts that show your communication with the pro, or other documents that will help show your experience is valid and with merit. All documentation shared with the Reviews Department by either the reviewer or the pro remain solely with the Reviews Department at The Knot. This information is not shared with any other parties or internal departments.
Is my event professional allowed to withhold product until I leave a positive review? Is it okay for them to offer me something in exchange for leaving a good review on your site?
Event professionals may choose to indicate in their contract or other documentation that their finished product will not be released until a review is left on a Storefront. The Knot does not consider this as acting in the spirit of the reviews process. With this in mind, any pro that has this type of clause in their contract or any other documentation may not be eligible for our Best of Weddings awards and/or we may revoke past and future awards.
Are Best of Weddings from The Knot and the Couples’ Choice Awards® from WeddingWire the same award?
Best of Weddings and Couples’ Choice Awards® are separate awards programs that recognize vendors for their hard work and commitment to excellence. Both programs honor the top wedding professionals on The Knot or WeddingWire and provide similar resources to winners to share. Winners of each award are selected through a variety of criteria from the eligible pool of vendors and reviews from either site.