Wedding wire, a wedding night mare....

Hi...you would definitely be best to use vendors that you find word of mouth. I recently read a book about planning for your wedding and most sites (The Knot, Wedding Channel, etc) have agreements with many of the vendors listed. For example the ones on The Knot listed as Knot Picks actually pay to be listed as a Knot Pick. Wedding Wire still should have let you write the review - that isn't fair that you weren't able to. We all need to be careful when planning and finding vendors online that we are researching. the ones I've found on these sites I have actually checked with the Better Business Bureau to see how reputable they are. You can go to www.bbb.org it is a big help!

Jinxed, we are sorry to hear about the unfortunate experience with your wedding vendor, however, we feel we need to clear up what you have posted about WeddingWire.

WeddingWire does not have an agreement, of any kind, with wedding vendors regarding newlywed reviews. As stated clearly in our Terms of Use, WeddingWire is a neutral venue. We offer a fair platform for all parties involved - engaged, newlywed, and vendor users. We take the proper precautions to ensure only valid reviews, both positive and negative, are posted on our site. When users inform us of potential problems with a specific review, we take the necessary steps to maintain the integrity of our site.

We encourage any and all WeddingWire members to use the reviews as yet another tool in your wedding vendor search process.

Please feel free to read through WeddingWire's Terms of Use for more information.

It's so good to know that since I just posted some advice in my bio about a ceremony/reception venue that I had an awful experience with. It comforts me to know that someone else is trying to get the word out there about the poor experiences of these places instead of doing nothing but praise them and leave unsuspecting brides to have horrific events occur at no fault to them! I just posted my complaint on The Knot several times and they are slowly being deleted one by one. It's a shame that we can't even speak the truth about our experiences even if we leave out all feeling and just relay what happened.

I wish the best to you and I hope all went well afterall! God bless!

Thanks for the heads up! I wont be using a site that doesnt allow the truth to be spoken about a vendor. Fortunately I have found most of my vendors, but I am still looking for 2 more. I wont be using this site or The Knot for valid information about these vendors.

This site needs to be more like E Bay and how sellers are rated over there. I am a seller as well as a buyer on E bay and even though they have some policies that need to be changed it is still better than not allowing people to speak the trueth about their experiences.

Not all vendors have an agreement with Wedding Wire. This site is free to use for vendors. You can pay to upgrade your listing.

I am a wedding vendor who is utilizing it for free. The vendors on the first couple pages of any vendor category are the ones paying for the "premier" spots.

Given all of the above, I think it'd be very helpful for for WeddingWire to somehow make it clear which vendors have the for-pay relationships and which ones don't!

Please allow me to reiterate, WeddingWire does not have agreements with any vendors regarding newlywed reviews. ALL reviews submitted are validated by our team, regardless of whether the vendor being reviewed appears on the first page of our catalog or the fourth page. We handle the review process equally for all WeddingWire vendors.

That sucks. Of course no vendor wants a bad review so they will do everything they can to get it removed so I doubt any site is safe.

I am sorry about that, yikes. But here is my take...

Any vendor I find on here, OR by word of mouth, I determine their abilities & professionalism the best I can via PERSONAL MEETINGS.

I found 5 photographers on Wedding Wire, met with all 5 & LOVED 1 of them immediately. Thru conversation & having their work in front of me, I can see their personality & professionalism. I remember meeting w/ 1 guy that got great reviews & his work was wonderful, but when I met with him/chatted with him, I thought NO. He was not warm & lacked personality. In the end, I love the photog. I chose & I am booking her this week

As for word of mouth---a family friend recomm. a florist she used for her 2 daughters weddings. I met with her 2 weeks ago & I thought she was scatterbrained & she never even sent me a proposal. So, NO for her. My fiance's cousin recommended her florist she used for her Jun08 wedding. I met with them yesterday and LOVED THEM! If we can get the price I want, I am booking w/ them!

I am sorry that you had that experience, I feel that you should be able to express your opinion good or bad, advertiser or not.

Our company is on Wedding Wire as well as many wonderful Vendors that we work with in Sarasota, Bradenton, Tampa area. We are not paying advertisers but are still extremely reputable.

Don't let one bad apple spoil the bunch.

We are so sorry that you had a bad experience...It can really put a damper on the day and the days leading up to it. However, our company is new and Wedding Wire has been a great resource for us. We don't have an agreement with them. We don't even pay for the services. It is really hard to start a buisness in these times and there are great people on here. So all you future brides, I think you should consider some of the vendors on here. I am bride to be for next year myself and I will not hesitate to do so. All my vendors I meet in person before I evaluate their services. Thanks!

Another insight that may be helpful to couples.

We live in a lawsuit happy time. Vendors who get a review that includes wording that could be harmful to business often threaten to sue the website for slander. Whether or not it is a valid claim nobody wants to go to court.

Be factual in your review, just the facts, ie "they were 20 minutes late" and the post shouldn't get pulled. If you are so miffed that you want the opportunity to elaborate, offer to give the details off the public forum.

Remember it's not a matter of yes or no, only how.

Hope this helps.

L&L, Pastor April

http://www.churchofancientways.org

I don't know about the agreement, but I do agree that I wouldn't trust the reviews to be fully honest. I had a not so great experience with my cake baker, and I posted and honest review. It wasn't nasty or harsh, it was just honest "this is what happened" and she has challenged it. So for the moment, the review is unavailable, and might be pulled. I received an email from Weddingwire saying they might ask to view my contract to validate, etc. I don't think she is disputing that I was a client. I feel like I might get a nasty message from her and it really makes me wonder about all the reviews on here. If only the good reviews stick, whats the point?

As someone previously said that they would never base their choice off of word of mouth or reeviews but off of a personal meeting, I'd say a word of caution. Yes, you should meet them and ask questions. But you should also speak to past clients and hear their opinions.

Well, I was right! I did get a nasty message from the cake baker. I just received a phone call from my mother in tears because Renee had sent a nasty email to our wedding planner demanding an apology for my honest review. I know it can be chalked up to a small town quirk, but seeing as there are only 3 or 4 cake bakers in the town, I felt an honest review was needed since it is a popular location for destination weddings. If anything I think this goes to confirm my review and if I could I'd remove another star for professionalism for Renee of Fatty Patty's. There was a contract, she was paid MORE than what she estimated (and more than it ever should have been) and I did not give a nasty, harsh review, I simply stated what happened, and now she is sending nasty emails and making my mother cry. If this isn't cause for an honest less than stellar review, I don't know what is.

So being that I am on wedding wire as a vendor. I do not pay for my spot but I can tell you that we do not sign any contracts. Furthermore I am really sorry for your bad experience, but that does not mean that this is not a reputable place to find vendors. I have worked with great vendors found here. But as a planner not selling myself being honest! that is where we come in so many brides are not very knowledgeable in this industry or can be naive (not saying that you are) but having a planner weeds all those people out because they only have vendors on their lists they have personally worked with. And if they haven't they can give you advice before you sign a contract. But to wedding wire I do believe that every customer on here has a right to complain about an experience nasty or not and if they are all challenged then what is the point. I am sure some might be just bad brides ( no offense) but From experience as a bride I am sure all are not!

As others have said - WeddingWire is a neutral site, and there are plenty of "bad" reviews that get posted along with the good. No one wants a poor review, and vendors who cosistently get them will tend to drop off the site. Think about it, though - if someone said unpleasant things about you wouldn't you dispute them? Its unfortunate that the review was never posted once you established that you had worked with them. Maybe that's something ww needs to take into consideration.

We are a Wedding Wire vendor, do NOT pay for our listing, and have NO kind of agreement whatsoever with Wedding Wire!!!! EVERY, and I repeat EVERY, review that has been submitted about us is posted. Don't let ONE bad vendor ruin it for the rest of the good vendors! Read through the reviews on Wedding Wire, get more references from the vendor themself outside of Wedding Wire, check with the Better Business Bureau, and meet with the vendor in person all before booking them. THAT is how you can tell if you are getting a good vendor or not.

There are many good vendors on here that we've worked with in the past, and would vouch for.

I've seen plenty of bad reviews for vendors on here, and that proves that Wedding Wire WILL post bad reviews! I agree with an above post that "bad" vendors eventually drop off of here because of too many bad reviews.

I am sorry you had such a horrible experience with a vendor!

I would like to take the opportunity to respond the the complaint voiced by MayhemicM. I do not have any problem with reviews if the review is based on fact. The "less than stellar" review you left for me, that I have disputed was disputed due to the following reasons:

1. You stated that you left pictures with me, with detail of your likes and dislikes. This is untrue. I met with you and your mother months before your mother emailed me to contract my services. At that point I received emailed from your mother, not you, two emails to be exact stating that she would like to secure my services for your wedding and a second email to inform me of cake flavors and your planners name.

2. Your planner left one (1) picture with me with details on it. I followed the instructions left by your planner.

3. At no time from January when your mother emailed me until your wedding did I ever have contact with you. To date I do not have your email address or a contact number for you. ...more

You left your cake design up to your planner. A few weeks prior to your wedding your planner emailed me a different cake. I gave her the pros and cons of that cake versus the original cake picture you had her bring to me. She said she would get back to me. She did not do that. Seven days before your wedding I had to contact her to find out what your cake was going to be. Your planner came to my cafe with a bucket of sea glass, on the Monday before your Saturday wedding, wanting me to put that on a cake for you. I felt it wasn't a great idea to have sea glass on your wedding cake.........and there wasn't enough. She was frazzled and disorganized in your cake plan. She told me at that point to go with the original picture she brought because she was tired of dealing with the cake. I phone one of your mother's friends to voice my concerns but she advised me to go with the planners instruction...so I did............more

I'm very upset that you didn't get the cake that you wanted but I'm sad to say that you got the cake your planner ordered for you. I emailed your mother in hopes that she would call me to discuss the problem but she hasn't. I did not have your email so I couldn't contact you. Yes, I had and still have dispute with your planner because of what I have listed previously in this response. My advice to brides that are planning.......if you care about what your cake will look like then take an active part in designing it with your baker/designer. Don't leave that in the hands of your planner to pass along information.

I feel that you gave me a poor review based on the work your planner did for you. I delivered the cake that was in the picture, the only picture, your planner left for me. I am terribly sorry that the cake wasn't what you expected and I'm happy to work out a partial refund for your mother, no problem at all. My email is ****************@***.***, drop me a line.