So we made our own the night before the wedding, emailed it to my "brother," and then he stayed up late being the awesome guy he is to organize the music cues. After we got that done I sat writing my vows while my best gals puffy painted and decorated a shirt for me that said "I'm married" on it. We toasted and then called it a night and got some good shut eye. In the morning the girls my bridesmaid had found came over to help get everyone all pretty.
While my MOH and I headed over to the salon down in Newport for my hair and makeup appointment we got the first phone call that indicated that today was not going to go well at all...
SCB called to say that no one was at our venue setting up... at 10am.
We had walked through everything with the wedding planner on the phone a few days before and according to THEIR timeline they were supposed to be on site at 9am and that SCB was to show up at 10am with the extra decorations (Picture frames, snack foods, and the sound system) ... and no one was there... the doors were locked... and he didn't have a clue where anyone was because no one called us the morning of.
I called the planners daughter while I navigated the streets of Newport and she told me she would be back to me ASAP to let me know what was going on... when she called back, she told me her mom had ordered HOT pink table cloths and she was making her swap them out for the white ones we wanted so that's why they were running behind... So SCB and all of his groomsmen had to wait outside for 45 mins for them to show up...
My hair and make up were done beautifully (It pays to be friendly and socialize with the regulars at the gym! I've never looked more pretty... and I still can't believe she didn't charge me a dime). I thought everything was going well since SCB texted me that they showed up to set up... and I got to the location at 12:15pm.
The first thing I noticed was the puke mermaid green sashes on the chairs (not regular old royal blue)... When I found the wedding planners they told me it was a delivery mistake and not their fault... that they would try and fix it... but that they looked "pretty enough" if the right ones didn't make it and that I should just deal with it. I told them I paid for blue, not green and that I would like the matter resolved. After being told the new ones were on their way... then that they weren't coming at all... and then later that they found a new company to send some over... it was a bit chaotic.
Then I noticed that I didn't have wooden chairs. They had just covered the building chairs in the covers and sashes and not the wooden ones I paid for. When I had my bridesmaid inquire about it for me they hauled SCB and I into the kitchen to "chat" blaming us about all the changes and they were really doing us all these favors... that they didn't bring the wooden chairs because they would scratch the floor and they'd loose the security deposit... (THEY WHY DID YOU CHARGE ME FOR WOODEN CHAIRS IN THE FIRST PLACE????) They also told us that we would have to sign something for the crayons in our activity baskets to be allowed (even though they knew we were having them for the younger kids)... and in the end I told them they could just pull them out of the baskets since they refused to also put them out because they looked "tacky." (I Thought this was my wedding???)
Speaking of chairs... the "staff" that was supposed to be there to move the chairs from outside to inside for the reception was non-existent. My guests had to move the chairs...
After knowing I couldn't do anything about it at the time, I just sat and breathed and refused to let this mess ruin our wedding day... When they were setting up the sand ceremony items, the sand magically matched the ugly sashes... and when we told her we wanted the blue sand we ordered even if the blue sashes didn't arrive they weren't happy... Then they told us they didn't have the other color... After 15 mins they decided they could be bothered to go retrieve the correct color....
They also refused to set out our snack bowls we supplied for the table tops because they thought they looked ugly... They made my MOH set all the programs out on the chairs because they were too busy with all our "extras" that we surprised them with.... They made my Fiance go pick up the food platters even though they agreed to....
and the photographer was late because of traffic so the whole wedding didn't start until like 2:15-2:30pm. My guests couldn't sit down because the chairs were being recovered with the blue sashes...Then the wedding planner made all of our guests move away so she could take set up pictures and stall and delay the wedding further...
The ladies from the company also didn't bother to change their clothes (so the "mother" was wearing flip flops & denim Capri shorts... and her daughter, about 8 months pregnant was wearing a spaghetti strap dress with a plunging V line when they new this was a modest wedding because my fiance's family is LDS)...
And my brother had to get them to fix the chair arrangements so people would actually get to see the ceremony and not have to sit sideways in their chairs...
Thankfully my pianist friend was able to play all kinds of good stuff on the fly to keep the mood nice and pretty while everyone waited....
Right before the ceremony started my dear friend jogged across the street and made it just in time before we started and it made the day seem more bearable.
And then the ceremony started...
SCB called to say that no one was at our venue setting up... at 10am.
We had walked through everything with the wedding planner on the phone a few days before and according to THEIR timeline they were supposed to be on site at 9am and that SCB was to show up at 10am with the extra decorations (Picture frames, snack foods, and the sound system) ... and no one was there... the doors were locked... and he didn't have a clue where anyone was because no one called us the morning of.
I called the planners daughter while I navigated the streets of Newport and she told me she would be back to me ASAP to let me know what was going on... when she called back, she told me her mom had ordered HOT pink table cloths and she was making her swap them out for the white ones we wanted so that's why they were running behind... So SCB and all of his groomsmen had to wait outside for 45 mins for them to show up...
My hair and make up were done beautifully (It pays to be friendly and socialize with the regulars at the gym! I've never looked more pretty... and I still can't believe she didn't charge me a dime). I thought everything was going well since SCB texted me that they showed up to set up... and I got to the location at 12:15pm.
The first thing I noticed was the puke mermaid green sashes on the chairs (not regular old royal blue)... When I found the wedding planners they told me it was a delivery mistake and not their fault... that they would try and fix it... but that they looked "pretty enough" if the right ones didn't make it and that I should just deal with it. I told them I paid for blue, not green and that I would like the matter resolved. After being told the new ones were on their way... then that they weren't coming at all... and then later that they found a new company to send some over... it was a bit chaotic.
Then I noticed that I didn't have wooden chairs. They had just covered the building chairs in the covers and sashes and not the wooden ones I paid for. When I had my bridesmaid inquire about it for me they hauled SCB and I into the kitchen to "chat" blaming us about all the changes and they were really doing us all these favors... that they didn't bring the wooden chairs because they would scratch the floor and they'd loose the security deposit... (THEY WHY DID YOU CHARGE ME FOR WOODEN CHAIRS IN THE FIRST PLACE????) They also told us that we would have to sign something for the crayons in our activity baskets to be allowed (even though they knew we were having them for the younger kids)... and in the end I told them they could just pull them out of the baskets since they refused to also put them out because they looked "tacky." (I Thought this was my wedding???)
Speaking of chairs... the "staff" that was supposed to be there to move the chairs from outside to inside for the reception was non-existent. My guests had to move the chairs...
After knowing I couldn't do anything about it at the time, I just sat and breathed and refused to let this mess ruin our wedding day... When they were setting up the sand ceremony items, the sand magically matched the ugly sashes... and when we told her we wanted the blue sand we ordered even if the blue sashes didn't arrive they weren't happy... Then they told us they didn't have the other color... After 15 mins they decided they could be bothered to go retrieve the correct color....
They also refused to set out our snack bowls we supplied for the table tops because they thought they looked ugly... They made my MOH set all the programs out on the chairs because they were too busy with all our "extras" that we surprised them with.... They made my Fiance go pick up the food platters even though they agreed to....
and the photographer was late because of traffic so the whole wedding didn't start until like 2:15-2:30pm. My guests couldn't sit down because the chairs were being recovered with the blue sashes...Then the wedding planner made all of our guests move away so she could take set up pictures and stall and delay the wedding further...
The ladies from the company also didn't bother to change their clothes (so the "mother" was wearing flip flops & denim Capri shorts... and her daughter, about 8 months pregnant was wearing a spaghetti strap dress with a plunging V line when they new this was a modest wedding because my fiance's family is LDS)...
And my brother had to get them to fix the chair arrangements so people would actually get to see the ceremony and not have to sit sideways in their chairs...
Thankfully my pianist friend was able to play all kinds of good stuff on the fly to keep the mood nice and pretty while everyone waited....
Right before the ceremony started my dear friend jogged across the street and made it just in time before we started and it made the day seem more bearable.
And then the ceremony started...
That is so terrible that you had to deal with all of these issues that a wedding planner is supposed to take care of. I anxiously await your next post and hope the worse was over with at this point!
ReplyDeleteGood lord, what kind of company did you hire to plan your wedding? Sorry girl, but you got screwed big time. Did you not get any references, or do they normally try to change an entire wedding the day of?
ReplyDeleteWow! That's crazy! The wedding planner seemed so nice and helpful before the wedding. I guess that was while you still had time to get someone new to plan your wedding. Once you were stuck with her it seems her true colors came out. I hope it all turned out beautiful in the end.
ReplyDeleteWow - it doesn't sound like you'll be recommending these wedding planners any time soon. I can't believe they screwed up so badly! It sounds like it all (barely) worked out in the end though.
ReplyDeleteNo mention of mom or sister yet, did they behave themselves? I am guessing we'll get the full update in Part 2. :)