Big Fat Disappointments

I'm really kinda pissed off tonight. Most of you that were at my sister's wedding heard about the drama that went down with the "wedding planners". Yes, the quotes are appropriate because although they called themselves "wedding planners" they were really only big fat disappointments with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths.

I'm gonna break it down for you. Lindsey felt like she needed someone, a professional, to help out with her wedding. Someone who would help set up the ceremony and reception sites, someone who would coordinate all the other vendors, someone who would take charge of the rehearsal, the ceremony, and all the events at the reception. When we first met these women they were very accommodating. They pretty much said they would do anything we needed them to do. I noted at that first meeting that they weren't very "take charge" but they were nice and seemed like they would be really helpful. Fast forward to about a week before the wedding. They weren't returning phone calls, they showed up late to meetings in sweat pants with their children in tow, they hadn't called any of the other vendors or bridal party to confirm or give any kind of direction. By this point the bride to be was getting a little worried.

The day before the wedding we all met at the reception site to help set up. Those two "wedding planners" sat on their fat butts and didn't help us do anything! The bridesmaids, bride, mother of the bride, and a few family members did everything. Actually, you know what, to be fair the planners did alphabetize about half of the place cards, and one of them made a phone call to UPS about some missing linens but hung up before getting any valuable information and only called back after my urging to call back and speak with the UPS driver. Even when it was clear we were having trouble figuring out how to gather the linens on the head table they never stepped in to help and only got out of the chair when my mom specifically asked them if they had any suggestions. After we set up we all left a little concerned with their abilities to help us out.

The rehearsal that evening didn't go much better. The planners didn't even know the groom's name. Hello... he's one of the main people in the event, I think it's important to know his name! They set the groomsmen up wrong even after they were given a list of how they were supposed to be lined up. They didn't know what order the mother and father of the groom were supposed to go down the aisle. The poor bride-to-be was running the whole rehearsal. Not once did they step in to take charge of anything. Remember, they are calling themselves WEDDING PLANNERS and they didn't even know how a wedding ceremony was supposed to go. We had pretty much reached the boiling point with them that night.

But then the wedding day came. The tipping point was when the bride-to-be showed up to get ready, bawling and saying her wedding was turning into a nightmare. The planners set up her floral vases wrong even after they had been given specific instructions on how to do it and were even shown how to do it. Even after they were told to re-do them they didn't. At the wedding they called the groom's mother Mrs. Smith... and that's not her name. They didn't set up the ceremony site and the mother of the bride had to do it when she arrived. They didn't reserve seats in the front row for the groom's parents to sit and after being told they needed to make room for them, they made two full rows of people get up and go and stand in the back of the ceremony! To top it off, they left the ceremony before cleaning up the site like they were supposed to do leaving the bridal party to take up all the decorations and get on our hands and knees to pick up rose petals off of the grass.

The reception wasn't much better. Since they never called any of the other vendors to confirm or go over anything there was a lot of confusion on the time line they created for the event. No one knew when any of the events were supposed to happen. They did not help coordinate any of the big "moments" at the reception or help to get people in position for what was about to happen. They pretty much sat outside the reception site at a table in the corner eating and smoking cigarettes. They were outside when it was time for the bride and groom to cut the cake. Noticing that there were no plates on the table to put the cake on after it was cut one of the bridesmaids ran outside to let them know this. The planner turned to the bridesmaid and asked, "well where is the caterer". Um... I have no fucking idea... you're the planner, get off your fat ass and go find out. After the cake cutting the planners left without saying goodbye, without asking if we needed anything else, without making sure that we were ok to handle the cleanup... which, by the way, they said they would help with.

I'm writing all this out because, number one, it makes me feel better to get it all out and, number two, the drama is still ongoing. My mom cancelled payment on her check for the balance of their services ($250). We all felt it was the right thing to do as these women not only didn't do their jobs but made the wedding and reception much more stressful and disorganized than it needed to be. I think if we would've just handled things on our own everything would have gone much smoother. The reason I'm pissed off tonight, though, is that my mom got a letter in the mail today saying that these women were going to sue for the $250 if my mom didn't pay it. Seriously. It is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a long time. I don't know what world they live in that they think they can do a terrible job and still get paid. I know if I sucked that hard at my job that I would surely be fired. But, what are our options? Take it to small claims court, hire an attorney, pay thousands of dollars and spend months of our time fighting over this? I think we've all decided that the best way to handle this is to go ahead and pay the money but also to do our best to let other people know how awful these women were. We will definitely be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the Space Coast Wedding Association.

When running a small business all you really have is your reputation and word of mouth. Those two women have really ruined that for themselves. Now, not only did they disappoint one bride but they have 166 people who would not recommend them to anyone else. I think that's the best way we can answer their ridiculous law suit. So, for anyone who is getting married or knows someone else who is getting married let me just warn you that the women who run Love Forever Weddings in Titusville, Florida are horrible at what they do and I wouldn't recommend them to plan a backyard barbecue let alone an event the magnitude of a wedding. Save yourself a lot of aggravation and look elsewhere for a planner.

It really just makes me mad that my sister's day is clouded with this nonsense. I think after this, I need to just let it go. I need to keep all the good memories of the day and get rid of the bad one. Because it was a beautiful day and my sister looked gorgeous and married the man that she loves and I did have a good time with her and with my family. And isn't that the most important thing?