Wedding planner isn't responding but there's still time

I could understand maybe taking 2-3 days to respond if she's busy. Shoot, maybe even 5 but almost 2 weeks? Its still her job so she should get back to you as soon as possible. Unless something personal has happened. But I would try and reach out again and mention not hearing from her

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It's funny that you mention that because I've had issues with communication with her before. But she would tell me that her dad was in the hospital or that she was moving. Once when I texted her to see if she was okay because I hadn't heard back from her, she said that she had gone to the ER and even sent me a picture of her in her gown with her hospital bracelet! Not once was I ever not understanding. I told her to take care of her family or herself because they are priority. I also knew that back then we still had a lot of time.

So what's the timeline that I should wait if something personal did happen? I'm just curious because I know she has some family and health stuff going on. But I'm also wondering that if that's the case, if I should just contact those companies myself. I also don't want to bypass the process, though.

I take it this is a full service wedding planner and not just a DOC, right? If so, she's doing a poor job and I would express my concerns to her. If she's just a DOC, it's not really her job to find vendors and negotiate contracts.

If she is dropping the ball now, missing things and not responding, just imagine if this happened on your wedding day. The multiple mistakes would be enough for be to say thank you for your services but we no longer need them. This day is so important to a bride so why someone wouldn't take it serious when they are the glue that is supposed to hold everything together?

I would speak to your planner. Between the number of errors they have overlooked and the time it has taken to respond to you, it is important that you clearly express your expectations. You are not too near your date to find a more suitable planner. Best of luck!

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She is a partial planner but her services contract definitely says that this is part of her responsibility. She was supposed to actually find me a list of vendors and I tell her who I was interested in and she contacts them for me. With all but these last two (rental and transportation) I actually found my own vendors because she either never gave her list to me or I didn't like who she listed. She is assuring me that none of the rentals will be lost if I don't put the deposit now so I guess to her that means it's no rush??

ETA: she's not really negotiating contracts, either. The company is putting in information supposedly given by her of what I need (so she's giving them wrong info) and not making sure it's properly corrected (or not telling them to correct it) when she goes back to have it revised.

View Quoted Comment Maybe your next message could say that you hope everything is ok with her and nothing is wrong but if you don't hear back soon you would like to contact the venders just incase

Thanks for all of your responses. So should I take it that it doesn't matter what my timeline is but that the root of the problem is not getting a response? I just want to make sure that I'm not overreacting because I "still have time."

View Quoted Comment I dont think you are overreacting at all. I dont think that quotes mean they are holding them for you either. If someone comes to them with cash I doubt they will turn them down for someone who hasn’t committed. And if the quantities are wrong, it doesnt matter if they will hold it for you. They may rent out the rest of their equipment, other cars/limos/ etc hinking you dont need it when you do.

So I don't think you're in the wrong here. I totally get wanting to make an official deposit because I've seen on WW that people try to rent things too late and they're not available!
I always think it's super unprofessional to not respond, regardless of things that are going on in life. I mean, a sudden death is one thing, but a move? People need to be like everyone else in the world and create an automatic email reply if they know they'll be slow to respond or out of the office.

I know you're a few months out, but I think it would be a good idea to ask about when you need final counts of things for rentals and vendors and whatnot. I just had a meeting with my venue coordinators/designers (they handle all rentals and are decorating everything for our wedding, basically they're planners but only for rentals and designing/setting up/being a DOC for venue things), and I said "I definitely want xyz, but I'm not positve how many I'll need. When do I need a final count by?" And they were great! They were like "We'll set everything up and you'll need final counts of rentals a month before."

Ultimately most contracts will say it's on you at the end of the day to make sure quotes and contracts are correct- HOWEVER, a planner's job is to fix glaring errors and review these things and make sure they're correct. So that's a big red flag for me.

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this!

View Quoted Comment I don’t think it would hurt to contact the companies yourself. If you’re paying for it you have every right to be reassured that your day is being planned correctly.

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Thank you. I know when the rental company needs final counts by. My problem is getting them reserved in the first place! She gave me the quote but the dang TENT was missing! I asked her to get it revised along with other items that I found (no joke, I gave her an easy-to-read numbered list of what needed to be changed and why). She didn't respond right away so I followed up saying that I was worried that we'd lose the tent because I didn't have a deposit down. She then sent me a revised quote with the tent on and reassured me that, because it was HER, they weren't going to give away any of the items even though I didn't put a deposit... but none of the other stuff was changed on that revised quote! So I had to send it back AGAIN. That's the revision that I'm waiting on now. So it's 4 months out, she told me that I don't have to worry, but I'm over here worrying! Haha!

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Yeah, the entire point of a planner is to plan things and make sure your wedding day goes off without a hitch - that literally any issues about your wedding you don't worry about, because you don't know about, because you don't handle. She's being super unprofessional and needs to step up her game. At this point it's almost like she's just a middle man who's hardly doing anything.

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So I just contacted the rental company and asked if my planner had contacted them regarding my changes. They said that she did but THEY'RE still catching up on emails!

Wow! Now what? I should also mention that there aren't that many rental companies here on island (Oahu) and my planner gets me 15% discount with them. I've priced around with the other, more reputable rental companies and this one we're going with is definitely the most cost efficient, well known ones (which is important to me because I'm thinking "insured").

I almost feel silly because it's not her fault... with the rental company. But she still has no excuse for the incorrect quotes with the transportation company!

View Quoted Comment Don’t feel silly it never hurts to follow up on things. It’s not like you set out to catch your wedding planner in a lie. Sometimes you just need reassurance to help calm your nerves that everything is on track.

Definitely say something, if she is unresponsive now and not catching those mistakes, you need her to either step up or find someone else. It sounds like she is causing you more hassle than help.

Do you need her to get these things corrected with the vendors? I would go around her and get the invoices corrected and put down the deposited and do what's comfortable for you

Have you called her, or just emailed? I'd try calling. If you're paying her and she hasn't given you notice for why she isn't responding, that is not okay. My month of coordinator never takes longer than 2 days to respond and she usually responds the same day. I also don't think people would hold equipment without a deposit?

So my coordinator FINALLY responded back to me. She thanked me for following up as all the business listed (rental and transportation companies) have been extremely busy and my emails might get "overlooked and buried." That kind of pissed me off!

However, I did call the rental company who told me that they're still catching up on emails so it's not like she's lying. I was ready to tell my planner that if my wedding is too much for her to take on, I can go look elsewhere. Is that too much? Or should I just explain that they are business and should be able to accommodate the amount of business they advertise to be able to?

She sounds like she's supposed to help with the wedding but she's continually dropped the ball on responding to you, even if the rental company is backed up she can respond to at least acknowledge your email. I have a coordinator (included in my wedding package - DW) so I know she has several other weddings and a lot will be before me but she's always excellent in responding to me (usually same day) that she has received my email even if the answer will take some time (ie: my bouquet is included but I wanted to get pricing on a specific style I saw so she has to send it off for quotes but at least I know she's working on it). I would suggest maybe finding someone else? I worry if she's doing this now how will she be the weeks just before when you really need her or worse day before and day of?