I’m getting married in four months! While recently planning my summer wedding, as I confirmed with my vendors, I realized they are all now on Twitter. Photographers, DJs, caterers, wedding planners are all taking advantage of the site.

And why not? Here are a few key reasons I can see why their business model fits so well into social media- Twitter, Facebook, blogs.

First, they are usually smaller companies with tight marketing and advertising budgets. They use to be confined to bridal magazines but now they have all these social outlets that are free and easy for one person to manage. For example, instead of hiring a web designer- they are setting up their own blog.

Weddings have always been all about word-of-mouth, even before social media. The wedding industry runs on recommendations and preferred vendors. This is the biggest day of a bride and groom’s life- they want to be confident about their decisions. The majority of referrals come from friends, family, coworkers and friends-of-friends. For example, my caterer came recommended by a venue, my invitations from a sister, my DJ from another sister’s coworker, my hairdresser from a friend’s aunt… okay, you get the picture. Now with social media, these vendors are able to extend that priceless group of friends and family exponentially online.

Their business is driven by one personality. With most wedding vendors, they own and run the business. There is no mascot, CEO or major brand profile that would take on their Twitter persona. This makes it easier for them to settle into sites like Twitter, build a network and be authentic. They only have to worry about speaking for themselves, not a greater body of employees.

The audience is already there. It makes perfect sense for wedding vendors to join sites like Facebook. I joined the site in its first year, and now my fellow college students and I seem to be spending a lot of time and energy (and money) getting married. Facebook is a part of our everyday lives and has been for quite some time. As long as vendors approach the site in a personable manner, where they aren’t trying to simply advertise, Facebook’s core and long-time audience is bound to listen.

Weddings are a giant industry in the U.S. consisting of television shows, magazines, dresses, photographers, caterers, bakeries, musicians, florists and venues. This industry is just another sign of how social media sites are becoming mainstream business tools–especially for small and self-owned businesses.

I look forward to hearing from my vendors about the benefits they see from social media in the coming months.