Wedding planner?

Their response could definitely have been phrased a little nicer, but I think I partly understand where they are coming from. It seems that you and the company are too far apart in pricing for that particular decor, and they likely don't want to waste your time if they know they can't accomplish what you want in your price range. Are you open to them suggesting other ideas that would be in your budget? If so, I would let them know that you're open to exploring other decor that would fit your price range, and see what they can come up with. Otherwise, if you're set on the particular decor style that you saw, I would keep looking for other planners who can help make your vision a reality in budget. In either case, I honestly would probably move on to a different planner, since just based on the response they gave, they don't seem ideal to work with.

They definitely could've phrased that nicer lol. So, I completely understand why you are shocked because I would be too!
If that's how they came off then I would just move on because that already seemed like a red flag to me.
Since you are getting married next year they are probably booking up like crazy as all other venues are as well. Therefore, they are probably looking only for those certain clients that can make up their minimum which could very much be the 45k? Certain venues have a minimum that you have to spend due to their tax purposes. The venue my husband and I were originally looking into was about 15k minimum which was not bad at all, but we REALLY wanted to save what we could because we had other plans such as paying off our vehicles, funding our honeymoon, doing house projects, etc.

We're planning a 40p wedding in southern California and we're budgeting around 20k, so I think your price is totally reasonable! I would recommend looking for venues that have decor items available or packages with a lot of things included rather than going through a separate design service!

Thanks for your advise!

My main issue is the long distance, I'm not in Austin to have everything done myself, therefore I have no other option than hiring somebody.

Thanks to you all, I checked on other planning services and I'm excited to see a price range I think we can afford.

I get that! We're doing everything from Kansas for a California wedding so I actually worked with the DOC I hired to adjust her package a bit to better suit our needs! She's going to go walk the venues for me and she's actually working out some of the logistics with the vendors and contacting them directly, which isn't usually something a DOC does. Just be open with everyone you chat with and see what they can tailor to your needs!

You're not wrong at all!! That's a lot of money you are willing to spend for a small number of people. Look for planners here or google other people. I would not give that company my business.