We just had our wedding last Saturday and I must say that I was delightfully surprised by other vendors yet and appalled by the service given by others. I had some problems with vendors who gave me a list of requirements on the last minute. They should have informed us that they needed certain items so that we could prepare for it. I had the impression that they were not prepared and were simply rushing. I was dreading seeing the end result however their results were amazing.
My wedding coordinator finally managed to make me cry during the reception. We had an initial meeting where I already outline the list of items I needed. I had fixed all issues with the other suppliers and turned over a list of vendors, contact numbers, things to do and check which I gave her 2-3 days before the wedding.
She had failed to call all our suppliers to inform them about the hotel room number and the wedding gown designer had to call my fiance at on the night before the wedding to arrange for the delivery. She had informed us that she would call all the vendors 1-2 days before the weddign to coordinate everything. We ended up texting and calling all our suppliers at the wee hours of the morning just to make sure that they know where to find us on the next day.
I wanted to arrange a briefing the day before which she had declined since she mentioned that she had a debut to prepare for. She had mentioned that she was an obsessive compulsive (OC) which I thought was a good trait for a coordinator to have. She was not so many of the things she mentioned during her sales talk but what she was: overbooked, under prepared, had no back-up staff, did not arrange for the transport with the band even though we provided her a vehicle her disposal, was late in coming to the hotel during the wedding day, dismissed the fact that we were upset, denied that some items were not part of the agreement and blamed us for 1-2 things that went wrong. She even kept mentioning how we onl booked her the week before the wedding.
Yes, its true that we did book her the week before the wedding. Why? Because we only needed a few things done. It is not our fault that for the items turned over to her she could not comprehend the requirements after it was explained and written down for her. As a professional coordinator she should know her capabilities and limitations. She should provide a level of service that is satsifactory or at least sufficient for her rate. As a QA, I have to say that her service level and process flow sucks big time.
My mom, sisters and husband had to console me after I sat down for dinner since I was so upset by all the things she managed to ruin. I had hired a coordinator for the specific purpose of having them make sure that everything was smooth.
Here are some of the items we expected the coordinators to do:
- Brief the Host regarding the program – done well
- Send a copy of the program to the Host – we had to call her the day before the wedding since she did not send it after the meeting and out host was already looking for it.
- Announce the line-up for the pictorial – done
- Coordinate the choir in the church – they were placed at the back and the choir sounded awful
- Coordinate transport for the band – denied that this was part of the agreement. My sister actually wanted to go pick a fight with her because she was there to witness that this was a requirement from day one. The band had to haul their equipment and had to do sound check during the reception.
- Buy food for the wedding party and vendors while at the hotel – done well
- Manage the wedding tree – people were not guided on create a proper impression. This was to be our decor in our room.
- Manage the scrapbook and extra photos – not a single extra photo was placed in the box
- Match the numbered cake stands to the table numbers – you would think that this was simple enough hahahaha
- Put the chocolate cake as the cake we will use for cutting – we got carrot go figure
- Buy wines for the sponsors at the last minute – done after being forced to since she would not honor my husbands request
I had been preparing the seating plan up to the last 3 hours of the wedding so that the guests would be seated among people they know. People had no idea where to sit since she was not at the reception on time. She mentioned that they were caught y the traffic police since the driver did a u turn violation.
She had managed to ruin all the projects that I was very particular on and the only ones that turned out so well in the wedding were the ones not handled by her. I had some DIY projects that I had been preparing for months before. She had managed to ruin all my projects. I had made a wedding tree, scrap book corner, place settings and cake centerpieces.
I had finished briefing the coordinator’s staff before she finally appeared at the hotel. She was late and did not even bother to explain why. I was lucky that she had an assistant who was very capable and resourceful. She ingeniously fixed the issue with the flower girls shoes by tying ribbons on the slippers so they won’t fall off. I wish the very best to this capable assistant. My wedding coordinator on the other hand provided a service that I would not wish her service on my worst enemy.
Her rate for on the day coordination was cheap compared to the coordinators that my suppliers mentioned however the headache and heartache she caused ruined part of my wedding day. I now wish that I went for the high end coordinators which some of my suppliers recommended.
So why did I even bother to write this review? Well I tried to put the events that happened out of mind after the reception. We drove back to the hotel with our family to upgrade our standard room to a suite. We occupied a suite the night with the entourage to make logistics easier, While at the front desk we found out that the family suite we occupied the day before was not checked out since there was luggage left behind.
Before leaving the hotel for the reception, the coordinator insisted that we wait by the lobby as she checked out the family suite and get things moved to the standard room. So imagine my horror when I found out that we were being charged for the family suite and the standard room. The hotel was understanding and empathetic to our situation and charged us only for the family suite and waived the fee for the standard room.
Our wedding was great because almost all our vendors delivered excellent service except one. One vendor who managed to make the bride cry and upset the groom.
