This is the headline that I see all too often.  Oh, the headline may not be verbatim, but in essence, this is what it means when you cut to the chase. 

 This week alone, I have heard two wedding stories of disasters because the bride elected to go without a planner and/or use a service provided by someone they knew who was cheap. 

First Story:  One of our photographers met with a bride around February or so, who contracted their services.  They encouraged the bride to contact us for coordinating and other services we offer.  The bride’s response was that they were paying for their own wedding and could not afford to do so.  They went ahead, on their own, to plan their wedding.  They chose a venue that was over-priced, did not provide anything other than tables and chairs, and was an outside venue for the ceremony.  They did not look into what the alternatives might be if there was inclement weather or whether those alternatives were acceptable to them before signing the contract.  Hence, here comes Hurricane Irene.  The venue is being unreasonable, even in view of the weather predictions about the pending storm.  They will not give the bride a definitive answer on bringing her ceremony inside.  My photographer calls me and asks if I can help out by maybe calling the venue which I agree to do.  After a conversation with the venue, they agree to pull the ceremony inside.  However, because the inside area at the venue has no lights by the wedding day due to the storm, they move everything to another venue down the road.  This venue is pretty much a dump compared to the venue she paid $3,500 for and eventually the lights went out there as well.  Well, the bride ended up just accepting the situation and making the best of it.  However, it was stressful for her, inconvenient for her guests and not at all how her day was envisioned I am sure.  Now, certainly, the venue had no control over the storm or the power going out.  However, they could have come up with a better plan and not on the day of the wedding.  Also, in the interest of customer service, it should not have taken a phone call from me to get them to take better care of their client.  She was not even my client and I was concerned about her situation.

 Second Story:  Bride needs invitations for her wedding and goes with someone who does it as a hobby.  The final version of the invitations has all the names spelled incorrectly, directions are incorrect, as well as inappropriate information – this even after the bride asked for corrections.  These were mailed to the guests by the person who made the invitations.  Needless to say, the bride was beyond embarrassed when she discovered what had been done and did not know what to do.  My suggestion was to get her money back and have us do something inexpensive but nice and resend the invitations with a note to ignore what was sent previously in error. 

We never print invitations unless the bride has reviewed them fully and until we have proofed them at least 3 to 4 times ourselves.  Every correction/edit requires another review from the bride.  We would certainly not mail them without the bride seeing them and approving them before mailing. 

Just food for thought, be careful about the decisions you make for your wedding.  Seek professional vendors and expert advice for your wedding planning services and products.  Don’t accept a favor on something because it will save you money.  You may be very sorry and/or embarrassed and by the time you realize you have a mess, it could be too late!