Louisiana-New Orleans

Sarah Leigh Spratt - New Orleans Wedding Singer - DO NOT HIRE

Please, please, please DO NOT HIRE!! I made the mistake and will FOREVER regret that decision! She DID NOT SHOW UP for my wedding!! I did not know until I was standing at the alter waiting for a singer to begin singing one of my favorite songs! Everyone has different things that are important to them, and this was VERY important to me. The lyrics are touching, and the instrumental is not enough. It is not only the fact that she didnt show up, but the fact that her professionalism is certainly lacking. I had talked to her on the phone, and asked for a contract to be sent. Let me tell you, WEEKS past before I even get it, and I wasn't even sure if she was going to send it. Then when the contract was sent, it was riddled with mistakes, as if she hadnt even read it..such as time of wedding, etc..!.. in which I had to ask her to correct. Then weeks past again before she sends me a corrected one. Then I have to ASK her whether she has received the contract, as I get NO confirmation. She says yes, and says she will send me an invoice. NO invoice was ever received. She has a fancy little website and was recommended by my musicians, but if not, I would have gone with my gut and found someone else. Who needs unreliable, unprofessional people when planning a wedding is stressful enough? I requested a certain song to be sung at the wedding, after not hearing anything from her about what song I would like, etc. etc. So, I assume she must be ok with anything as she is a PROFESSIONALLY trained singer. She refused, saying she didn't have time to practice. But when I talked to her months ago, she said she could sing anything, as long it wasn't "Beyonce." Her refusal was relayed to me per the musicians, she did not even have the nerve to tell me herself!! I am the client, and she doesn't work for the musicians, she is a separate entity, so she should have told me herself. Then she made a few suggestions, which were songs, such as The Rose...which I personally would never want to hear at a wedding, much less my own! In the end, we decided that since she didn't want to sing that song, that we would have her sing ONE song, instead of two, which is what we wanted. Btw, this ONE song is very popular and played at many weddings, which is probably why she was "ok" with singing it.. ie minimal practice required. We even played with the idea or whether she would even be needed because we could play an mp3, but that would be silly as we had live musicians. Then comes the wedding day, and all I asked for was for ONE song.. and maybe for you to SHOW UP. After the ceremony, she shows up, apologizes, as if that's the last person I want to see. She said that she got the "time" wrong, which I don't think is true because the musicians confirmed that she indeed did know what time the rehersal was, which was 1 hour before the ceremony was to start. That didn't happen, and I expected a FULL refund and quickly at that. Somehow she sent the refund via certified mail, but it got lost in the mail (Has never happened before). Then she says she will resend it.. it is now over THREE months after my wedding, and I have yet to see a cent. I have sent TWO emails in the past month with NO reply at all!! (even when I tell her that I'd appreciate a reply!) I have been patiently waiting, after not receiving the service I paid for from an unprofessional singer who ruined what was supposed to be a special memory on my special day. I just want my money back & to put all this behind me, but she is making this impossible! Please, I DO NOT want this to happent to anyone else. I would be happy to give more details. I just want people to know. It was too late for me to find someone else, but I certainly wish I had because my gut knew something wasn't right. If you don't get prompt replies and have to wait and wait for anything that someone says they will do, that is unprofessional in my book and I would look elsewhere. She obviously is not a smart businesswoman (or singer, or whatever). I am a very fair and honest person, and all I ask is that if the service wasn't rendered, then a full refund should be give right away!! I got so fed up that I called her (did she think I was going to just take being ignored) and asked her where my reimbursement was.. and what was her convenient response? That she had convenienty mailed it out TWO days ago. Wow, really?! So, I have been waiting & waiting with no reply thru email or anything in my mailbox, and you just so HAPPEN to have just sent it. I made no mention of the fact that she had not responded to ANY of my emails. No, she is just a LIAR because if so I would have received it by now. NOTHING takes a week to reach you. How do I know this? Because we have all sent mail before! I have something sent from a friend from farther away that was supposedly mailed the same time as her that I got days ago. I'm still "waiting" to see if I receive anything and when it was actually dated. Overall, she has treated me as trash as a prospective client, then even when she doesn't show up, she doesn't have the respect to treat me any different. I have dealth with a lot of people in my life and I am a professional myself, and have never had someone treat me the way she has..she is by far the worst! I think that her lack of professionalism and the fact that she didn't give me a full refund ASAP, and continues to play these immature games with me, she was asking for this review of her to be made and to be posted everywhere.

Re: Sarah Leigh Spratt - New Orleans Wedding Singer - DO NOT HIRE

  • Take her to court. Getting a letter from a lawyer may even scare her enough to send you the money.
    So sorry this has happened - it sounds terrible!
  • I agree you should sue, as long as the lawyer fees and court costs aren't more than what you paid her. Start with a letter from an attorney. I would be more than happy to send you the name of a good one if you don't have one already. (just inbox me) I'm so sorry that this happened to you. I know you don't get a do-over but in time, the good memories of your wedding will outweigh the bad one. Best Wishes and Congrats on your marriage!
  • Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!  That's awful beyond words.  I hired her awhile back and had the same issues with getting in touch with her.  I have paid the deposit already but what should i do?  My wedding is a full Catholic mass and if there's no singer it would be awful.  Should I just forfeit my money and hire someone else more reputable? 

  • Thank you guys for your replies. I know that I probably won't see the money back. I don't think the lawyer fees would be worth it or the time. It just blows my mind that someone would not show up for your wedding (as if that wasn't bad enough & ruining that for the couple) & also NOT give you your refund! To me it seems like she doesn't care about upholding ANY type of reputation. But, all I can do now is let others know. I am such a review junkie (reading them.. not really giving them, unless I'm really angry about something.. haha!) I depended heavily on reviews for my wedding, as I'm sure most of you do also, especially for such an important day. Professionalism is very important! There were not a lot of reviews out there at all on her, but she was recommended by my musicians. Everyone else I hired had lots of glowing reviews, and for the most part, exceded my expectations :) As singer reviews are hard to come by, and some brides do want that voice accompaniment at their wedding.. I wanted to get it out there, so that others can know and hopefully will decide not to go with her. That's what I really want people to know the most, so that something might come out of my lesson learned. As in anything in life, I think people who have had bad experiences as well as good ones, need to speak up so that we all can be well informed in our decisions. Thanks!
    mjlav1901, I'm not sure what to tell you. Of course the decision is up to you. Mine was not a full Catholic mass, that's why she was there to just sing one song, and that's it. When she refused to sing one of the songs (I had wanted two), it was about a week before the wedding, and I was thinking whether I should scramble to find someone else. because it just seemed like she was singing to her own tune, and didn't care about me as a client. It was horrible with the time crunch, but if I would have known that it would come down to her not showing up, then I would have tried to find someone else. Is there anyone that can sing that's affiliated with the church? Or from another church? Initially, there was actually a singer that sang every Sun at one of the churches that I wanted to try to hire, but she was going to be out of town during my wedding weekend. Another option is to hire a singer thru your musicians as a package; that was an option for me, but I found Sarah on my own. Perhaps you can also consider a friend with a great voice? That person would probably already be attending the wedding. It could have very well been a one time occurance with me that she didn't show up, but I think the facts of how she treated me all along should speak for itself. I wouldn't hire anyone who treats others this way. I personally would probably find someone else especially if I knew that this happened to someone else, but you should do what you think is best for yourself. I would rather deal with potential problems beforehand rather than on your special day! :) You can PM me if you like if you have any other questions. Hope everything works out!  Good luck! :)
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