My husband and I began planning our destination wedding in Hawaii in 2023 for our September 2025 celebration. We selected the full planning service and hired Naoko from Wedding Scenes Inc., which unfortunately turned out to be a terrible mistake.

We initially gave her the benefit of the doubt — she seemed hardworking, her pricing was affordable, and we understood there could be a language barrier — but as time went on, we encountered serious issues with professionalism, transparency, and communication.

As Canadians, we wired payments to Naoko so she could pay our vendors on our behalf (since we couldn’t use services like Venmo). She claimed to have over 10 years of wedding planning experience, but it quickly became clear that she lacked organization, reliability, and integrity.

1. Poor communication:
Naoko frequently took a week or more to respond, often ignoring questions entirely. When we followed up, we’d receive excuses such as her laptop breaking or having medical emergencies — this became a recurring pattern. We were repeatedly told, “I have other weddings,” which made us feel like we weren’t a priority.

2. Broken commitments:
When my husband visited Hawaii to meet her and tour venues (something she agreed to coordinate and drive us to), she canceled last minute on the day of, claiming her car had broken down. This was especially frustrating because our main purpose for traveling was to book our venue.

3. Lack of transparency with funds:
The most serious concern arose when we requested invoices and original contracts to confirm vendor payments. We discovered that a florist contract had been altered, and only $300 was paid instead of the $3,000 we had sent Naoko to forward. It became clear that several vendors had not been paid in full, and she had withheld a portion of our funds. When we confronted her about these concerns, she completely stopped responding to us.

We eventually terminated our contract with her four months before our wedding and had to work with vendors directly to recover our money. Several vendors even mentioned having negative experiences with her in the past.
Naoko’s communication was unreliable, her planning was disorganized, and her handling of funds was deeply concerning. We had to take over almost every aspect of coordination ourselves despite paying for a full-service package.

Brides and grooms — please take this as a warning. Your wedding should be joyful and stress-free. Save yourself the heartache and avoid Naoko, from Wedding Scenes Inc. at all costs.

We hired Wedding Scenes Inc., a planner who promotes 20+ years of experience in Hawaii, Japan, and Paris. In December 2024, we signed a $4,500 full-service wedding planning contract for a Hawaii oceanfront wedding and paid a $2,000 deposit.

From the beginning, we clearly stated our total budget of $30,000–$35,000, and the planner said it is doable.Based on that, we signed the contract and trusted her professional judgment.

But what we actually received was deeply disappointing:

Only one official quote, which was close to $50,000

No breakdown, no vendor names — just a lump-sum estimate

Only two Zoom meetings across the entire process, both arranged after multiple follow-ups

Then, weeks of no response, even though she remained active on Instagram

Venue suggestions that did not reflect our preferences or requests

Eventually, she told us that due to inflation, a Hawaii wedding may be too expensive and suggested we consider Japan instead.
Even though we were heartbroken to let go of our dream Hawaii wedding, we still tried to stay positive and followed her suggestion. We agreed to change our wedding destination to Osaka, Japan.

We had clear and simple requests:

A venue near Tokyo or Osaka airport (as many guests were flying in from the U.S.)

With a city or ocean view, easily accessible for guests

But instead, she recommended:

An indoor restaurant affiliated with her

And venues 2–3 hours away in the countryside, completely disconnected from our original vision

When we expressed our concerns, she ignored us for weeks — no emails, no messages answered.

Later, we independently found a wedding venue in Japan that already came with its own full-service planning package.
Since Wedding Scenes Inc. also advertises a Half Service plan, we respectfully asked her to scale down her involvement and adjust the contract accordingly.

She refused.
She insisted that despite the venue already offering full planning services, she still had “a lot of work to do” and would charge the full $4,500 as originally planned.

At that point, our trust had completely broken down.
We requested to cancel the contract and asked for a refund of our deposit.

She only offered a $500 refund, stating she had already spent time on “research.”

We have filed a formal complaint with the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA), including all documentation: contracts, messages, meeting records, and screenshots.

This was not only frustrating it was disheartening. We entered this agreement in good faith and were met with silence, inflexibility, and disregard.

If you're planning a destination wedding and want a planner who is professional, responsive, and truly listens to your needs,
we cannot recommend Wedding Scenes Inc. based on our experience.