Excalibur Wedding frustrations

mloeks

Honestly, I'm trying to figure out what I am paying my wedding coordinator at the Excalibur. I am frustrated as it seems they only thing they do there is collect your money.I was initially told we could use silk flowers during our wedding...so I purchased silk pomanders to hang from the chairs. The thought that it would be quick to hang them from chairs and then remove them.Today, my coordinator tells me that flowers are limited to our bouquets. Her words are "time is of the essence" because ceremonies are scheduled before and after our wedding.Talking to another coordinator - because mine was not available - she tells me the ceremony is 8 to 10 minutes long. I have booked 30 minutes in this chapel. You are telling me in 20 minutes that we can't hang and then remove silk pomanders from the chairs?The key - If I am willing to pay for an extra 15 minutes, they would be glad to do it."Are you serious? You want me to give you more money?" That is my basic response.We have paid over $1,000 just to be treated badly. No contact from my coordinator at all, except to collect money and to respond to my self-initiated contact. My wedding is in just a little over a month...I am very displeased!I told the coordinator that if I'd known how many things would change from my initial conversations, I would have booked somewhere else.

Ray_Ray

How frsutrating! Is there somebody else that you can speak to about the fact that they are going back on your initial agreement?

stinkerbell6879

Thats horrible! Hummm....I hate how EVERY little thing is extra...who ever said that Vegas weddings are cheap...Never truly planned a Vegas wedding! LOL! I hope it all starts to work out for you.

corinnaandmatt

I'd send a scathing email to the hotel manager saying that your guests will be staying somewhere else for the duration of their Vegas stay unless your wedding coordinator starts treating you better. Don't give them anymore business than you have to, IMO. Ugh. So frustrating. best of luck!

Savannah6783

I am very sorry that you are going through this! After speaking with the Excalibur about having the ceremony in their chapel (we are staying there), I had realized the same thing... all they wanted was our money. They wouldn't allow outside flowers, outside photographer or anything else that was not listed on their website.  They also were not willing to work with you to get "free extras". Needless to say all of the reasons above is why we decided to book with A Special Memory. Personally, if it means that much to you....I would just have someone do it anyway. They are not going to ruin your wedding if your mother decides to put flowers on the isle! Either way, I am sure your wedding is going to be gorgeous! The Excaliburs Chapels really are beautiful!

mloeks

Here's my resolution story...So I type up a "scathing" e-mail on my Blackberry about the differences from when I inquired/contracted to now. And I expressed that I'm upset with what I feel is bad service..."that we have been treated like a number, and while that is understandable for them, this is Our Wedding" and that I felt like  Well to make a long story short, I went to send the e-mail and my Blackberry acted like it malfunctioned.  So I didn't get to "finish" it and thought it hadn't sent.I decide then to call the chapel and I talked to another coordinator. The coordinator I've been going through is the manager of the chapel, so if she says I can't have the silk pomanders, I can't. It's not normal procedure.Well, the coordinator/manager of the chapel calls me. She is upset because she has received the e-mail. She doesn't think I have any cause to be upset. I am upset, so I tell her very bluntly how I feel. That frankly, if I could go back, I'd book at another chapel.None of her brides have ever been unhappy she says (she must not have talked to the brides that came out of the woodwork AFTER I booked). Even when she had 40+ brides on 9-9-09 and they "have weddings down to a science."All fine and good, but I am not too pleased with the service I've received to date.... The conversation calms down and we get it resolved. They will allow the pomanders (she claims not to have known what pomanders were and thinks I want elaborate aisle arrangements). The ceremony is only 10 minutes (max) of the 30 minutes of chapel time that I have reserved. I don't think draping pomanders on a chair is going to take up 20 minutes.She warns that I might eat into photographer time. Fine, I have hired my own photographer. I don't care. Maybe it seems silly (or bridezilla-ish) that the pomanders be hung, but whatever. We also get to have a CD of our own music (something that I also expressed has bothered me. The music list is very limited, but we were just going to make due. Now we don't. I am glad.) And we finalized flower conversations. Actually, up to this point, this is one of the areas I've been pleased in. Although the upgrade is costing a lot - and they wouldn't tell me the initial number to work with - she assures me that the bouquet I have choosen will look like the photos I've submitted. I hope so. The w.c. is very nice on the phone. Sure, I've e-mailed them with questions, etc., but it would have been nice if someone would have followed up with me on the final details...For future brides, she expressed that it isn't standard practice for the W.C. to call brides to finalize details, etc. I've said it in the past, and I'll say it again, if you are really into the details, I would recommend some of the other chapels that seem to be more focuses on providing one-on-one service.So there is my rant. I'll give my day of reviews in...oh... 41 days the Knot says!

Savannah6783

YAY! Im soo happy everything worked out for you. Thanks for reminding me about the music, because that's one thing I need to talk to my Chapel about.

starlightstarbright

Our ceremony is booked at the Excalibur.  I haven't had any problems with them.  I asked if we could bring in artificial flowers.  They said it was okay but we couldn't receive  credit for their flowers.After reading this post I'm getting a little worried.

starlightstarbright

Also,  I was told that I could bring my own CD but that they have had issues with outside CDs before.

mloeks

She told me that you can break in artificial flowers for your bouquet, bridal bouquet, etc. That "arrangements" are not "normal procedure."We were initially told on music that we had to pick from a list...she said now that we can bring in a cd, but again, the same thing you got told about having issues with cd's. If I can play a copied cd on my old cd, i wouldn't think there would be a problem. Test it out beforehand, I'm going to have in mind what i want for music from their list as backup.Another thing that frustrated me...one of the coordinators I talked to before said we could "customize" our ceremony with our own vows, etc. Guess what? You can't. "If we want to say something special to each other during the ceremony, we need to discuss that with the minister." Who meets with us like 5 mins before the ceremony starts.

Ray_Ray

Glad you got the pomander issue sorted! I can't believe what she said about other brides not being unhappy- well, good for her! But the point is, YOU were unhappy with the service you were receiving and her job at that time was to make you feel better about the choice that you have made and help make your wedding how you want it.

mloeks

Exactly!