Skip to main content

Post content has been hidden

To unblock this content, please click here

drmariner
Devoted July 2016

Wedding Planner Hell - not doing her job - advice?

drmariner, on April 2, 2016 at 9:39 PM Posted in Etiquette and Advice 0 22

I'm an American, FH is Colombian. We need to marry in Colombia for his family to attend. I don't speak Spanish so we hired a bilingual wedding planner. She simply isn't doing her job and blames language/cultural differences.

1) She suggested a "priestess" officiant who believes in a "positive vortex" with Mother Earth. Not our style. We asked for more options, even relaxing our wish for someone who speaks English. Three months later, not a single officiant option from her.

2) I have a medical condition and cannot eat meat. All 3 caterers she sent don't have a single vegetarian or sea food entree. When I pointed this out she said "It's Colombia" and suggested I eat the single appetizer option. Yet, I eat well at local restaurants.

3) She promised to provide hotel options for our guests near our venue. Now she says that was "help" and not actually her job and flat out lied saying I waited too long to ask her despite earlier e-mail requests.

Do we fire her? Cancel our wedding?

22 Comments

Latest activity by Original VC, on April 4, 2016 at 4:33 PM
  • Jenny92
    VIP May 2017
    Jenny92 ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    When is your wedding?

    • Reply
  • Mrs. RATR
    Master September 2016
    Mrs. RATR ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Fire her, but I don't know that you need to cancel the whole thing???

    • Reply
  • Melanie
    Dedicated March 2017
    Melanie ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Agreed. Fire her if you're not happy. Find a replacement or do it yourself. It's not necessary to cancel the entire wedding.

    • Reply
  • Christa
    Devoted October 2017
    Christa ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Do you have a contract?

    • Reply
  • Mrswelch
    Master December 2017
    Mrswelch ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Definitely agreed to start looking for a new planner and fire this one. When is your wedding that canceling should be a concern?

    • Reply
  • K
    Super October 2016
    kphmitten ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Definitely fire her. She sounds awful.

    • Reply
  • Soon2BMrsB
    VIP October 2016
    Soon2BMrsB ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    I would be letting her go... I'm not sure your time frame and if it's worth finding someone else, but even if you have a contract with her I think it's worth breaking it and losing a deposit rather than dealing with this right up to the wedding.

    Your requests don't seem unreasonable. You may want to review your contract with her to see if she has broken it in any way.

    • Reply
  • Rebecca
    VIP June 2016
    Rebecca ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    I'd fire her and start researching myself until you're able to replace her with a new planner.

    • Reply
  • Sydney
    Expert April 2016
    Sydney ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Fire her for sure. if she is not meeting your expectations and given her plenty of chances then she needs to hit the road.

    • Reply
  • Alison
    Dedicated April 2016
    Alison ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Fire her. Also, if you paid her the entire fee upfront with a credit card, try to work through your card company to get at least some of that money back.

    • Reply
  • RiddellMeThis
    VIP June 2016
    RiddellMeThis ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Absolutely fire her. I don't see anything unreasonable about your requests.

    • Reply
  • Celia Milton
    Celia Milton ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Fire her. Tell her your new spiritual advisor (me;-) told you the priestess thing isn't going to work with your aura.

    She sounds awful.

    • Reply
  • kimmyinjapan
    VIP September 2016
    kimmyinjapan ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Same answer. I would email her and explain your expectations and needs and see if she can follow through. However, if you don't have long before the wedding, then I would just tell her you think you can find a better fit with another wedding planner.

    • Reply
  • Lauren Ashley
    Expert December 2016
    Lauren Ashley ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Get rid of her

    • Reply
  • Original VC
    Master July 2015
    Original VC ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Fire her. Fire her. Fire her.

    When is your wedding? Would you have time to get another wedding planner? I'm not super familiar with Colombia but I'm almost certain that non-"positive vortex" officiants should be easy to find. And here's a webpage with a few restaurants that offer vegetarian dishes in Colombia, maybe one of those also does catering:

    http://micocinavegetariana.com/alternativas-vegetarianas-en-colombia/

    • Reply
  • I am Mrs. rjd
    Super September 2016
    I am Mrs. rjd ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Would a member of your FH's family in Colombia be able to help a bit in recommending hotels or finding an officiant? I agree with the others, you need to fire her!

    • Reply
  • drmariner
    Devoted July 2016
    drmariner ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    I was running out of characters in the original post.

    - Wedding is July 23.

    - We've been e-mailing back and forth trying to express our expectations and needs and she's just making excuses and honestly, just flat out lying. (Like saying I didn't contact her before two weeks ago about the hotels and then later saying we did contact her but it was "help" not her "job" so it wasn't a priority.)

    - Luckily, we've only paid her 30%. My FH is a lawyer (than goodness). I guess she technically doesn't violate the contract until the day of the wedding (what???) but we should be able to avoid paying her any more.

    - The big concern with replacing her finding someone else. She's pretty much the only English speaking option in the region. So if we hire someone else my fiance has to act as translator. (Or it just occurred to me we could hire a translator.) The problem with that, depending on his work, sometimes it can take him a few days to translate long things. Then I read them, we discuss, and, well, if can take forever.

    - I fear we can't do it on our own and that's why I think of canceling.

    - As for FH's family - again, I was running out of characters in the original post - we are marrying 8 hours north of where he lives because of security concerns for foreign guests in our town. (Seriously - I never thought guerillas, bombs, paramilitaries, and peace talks would influence my wedding - we are so lucky in the USA.) Luckily he does have a friend in the area and his wife is now sending us restaurant menus and trying to help.

    - I think we could hand photographers and caterers - it's things like decorations and hiring buses/local transport that I just don't even know where to start.

    My family has already booked their plane tickets and we have paid a deposit on our venue - a 13 room coffee finca (think rural B&B) - so when I say "cancel" I really mean, forget flowers, ceremony, decorations, etc., elope, and then bring our families together for a weekend celebration with the venue we have booked.

    Sorry not to provide all the info...it's such a long story.

    • Reply
  • kahlcara
    Master August 2013
    kahlcara ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Can your venue help you with things like flowers and decorations and transportation? I would think they would at least be able to give you a list of what's in the area. Is there a tourist bureau/office in the area that could direct you?

    • Reply
  • drmariner
    Devoted July 2016
    drmariner ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    @kahlcara - we've asked the venue...two weeks ago and they haven't responded yet. (Very Colombian.) Fingers crossed! The tourist office is pretty useless though I did contact a few travel agencies last week. Again, fingers crossed.

    • Reply
  • KDS
    Super July 2016
    KDS ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Is there a reason why your husband can't help out more? He could do some of the research and then present you with options. Yes he's busy, but your wedding day is important!

    Also I'm confused. At the beginning you say that you speak Spanish, but then you need a translator? Did you mean that you don't speak Spanish? There are online translation services if you want to go that route.

    • Reply

You voted for . Add a comment 👇

×
WeddingWire celebrates love ...and so does everyone on our site! Explore how we embrace diversity

Groups

WeddingWire article topics