Anyone Else Having Vendor Issues?

em01092 · March 2012

So my caterer/reception manager is giving us a lot of run around. She said she wanted to have all alcohol ordered about a month out (tomorrow/this week). We've been trying to get the alcohol situation figured out, which was a little rocky when all that was occurring with FMIL a while back, but things with her have been better for about 2-3 weeks now.

FIL's decided to order X cases/kegs, Y bottles of wine, and Z bottles of a few types of liquors rather than do a "full" open bar, because the caterer said you get the most bang for your buck that way. So FIL's would like to spend around $500-700, so they need to know prices so that they can tell her how much of what to order. Sounds simple enough right?

She told us over a week ago she'd find out the liquor prices. Apparently they don't order liquor as often, so she wasn't sure of costs right off the bat. Followed up with her via email 4 days ago, nada. FI called yesterday, said she'd have the prices today. Still no word. HOW long does it take to find out PRICES? I mean, shouldn't they have a list somewhere on site? If not, couldn't she just call/email/fax the distributor for a price list? It doesn't seem that complicated!

I know she probably has other events and I know she has kids, but my wedding isn't 9 months out anymore. It's 4 1/2 weeks. I feel like my wedding should have more priority. This seems like something we need to be doing right now, and I am not one to wait to the last minute.

She has always been hard to nail down and get a hold of, which I used to tell myself was because we booked her over a year in advance, so I figured she had other, more pressing affairs/events, which is fair enough. I guess I expected the same now that it's "my turn." I guess I'm just upset because I feel like she is running a business and should make better correspondence between her and clients a bigger priority.

Anyone else facing anything similar?

rlavach · March 2012

Well, 1 week should be enough time. I can understand your frustration. Honestly, I think its just because we have so many of these last minute things to do that it kills us to not be able to check something off. My photographer is wonderful but he can also be hard to get a hold of. St this point you're not going to be changing vendors, so you just have to be patient and kindly explain how important is that they get back to you in a timely manner. That's worked for me so far.

chickenbut143 · March 2012

My venue coordinator Kerri (who does quite a bit) just handed me off to another girl last week. "hey Jaimie this is Pamela, she's your coordinator now" I was like WTF...hello...WHY NOW? The email said that Pamela was training and would be totally prepared to take over my wedding. I didn't say anything b/c I want to wait until AFTER the wedding to vent all my frustrations w/ them (this def isn't the first issue), then just yesterday we got a letter in the mail that said Kerri's last day was last Friday, that she left the venue. I'm sooo glad I held my tongue - i'd have made an a$$ of myself. BUT I wish i would have known to thank her for everything she's done already.

xos0inlove · March 2012

So far, my vendors have been pretty good to deal with. The event coordinator at the venue sometimes seems a little vague and I feel like I have to ask the same questions a few times before getting an answer, but they've all been petty questions so far so no big deal. My officiant is the one that worries me the most. His company is one of the highest rated in my area, so I went with him even though he was the most expensive. We met with him right before Christmas and submitted the contract at the beginning of January and never heard anything back. I didn't think much of it because we still had quite a bit of time before the wedding to plan out the ceremony. Weeks go by and still nothing, so I finally e-mail him letting him know we need to know how to submit our final balance and start planning the ceremony. No word from him again so I e-mail a week later and finally get a response. We're in the process of working out our vows now, but I didn't even get a response when I let him know we had submitted our payment. I guess I just prefer more open communication, especially when I'm paying more than had I gone with a different vendor.

blgrout · March 2012

The only real issue we've had lately is our caterer is slow to respond to emails. I'm having my 30 day meeting with my venue on Tuesday, and thats when we order any items we're going to rent from them such as table linens and dishes and stuff. So, caterer tells me she *might* want to have me rent their chafing dishes and a couple other small miscellaneous things, so I tell her to make a decision and get back to me ASAP. That was 5 days ago. I've known her forever, and she's giving us a pretty good deal on catering, but her communication skills definitely leave something to be desired, since it seems to always be like this. Sometimes she'll reply to an email within a couple hours, and sometimes it's a week or more.

But if that's the biggest vendor gripe I have, I'm good with that.

Erica, I hope that your caterer can pull her head out of her a$$ and find some pricing for you. I would think a week would be more than enough time. And I agree that you should be becoming a higher priority now, since your wedding is in a month. I'd give her a call and see what's going on (and, remind her of HER deadline)

tinstarsunshine · March 2012

I feel your pain! My DJ has fallen off the face of the earth and my photographer has started to become elusive. I have tried not to be a pest over the last 8 months but i am like 3 weeks away and DJ doesnt answer emails or send my paid in full invoice unless i point it out on his facebook page (which i feel is rather silly since if you can answer FB you can respond to an email). Other than that florist, cake, venue all okay.

chickenbut143 · March 2012

I'm so with you Erica - being in the time frame we are, i think it's time we got some communication! I also feel like EVERY time i called to ask a question, i was annoying her. This is exactly why I thought she was just pushing me off on someone else (not quitting). I feel like now that we're 4 weeks out - it's my turn to ask quesitons. I'm def not a bride-zilla, but she made me feel like one. Oh and of course everytime FI would ask a question she was RIGHT there and ready to answer. WTF?

schaumers3 · March 2012

I am also having problems with our venue. They told us the food and guest totals were due 30 days before. They never contacted us about it so we emailed them the numbers and all of our questions. Took several days for the lady to call us back. Then she complained about the size ofe the tv the dj was bringing for our picture slideshow and why am I getting ready at the bridal suite at the venue? (they told me at the beginning that we could get ready there) but now apparently the time the limo is picking us up will class when the other weddings guestes are arriving for cocktail hour. who knew? they are really unorganized. why not just give me a list of all the crap we have to do for you or give to you (they do tons of weddings) instead of answering the same questions from each bride? stupid. i've been having my fiance deal with vendors more cause it seems like he gets farther.

Anyone Else Having Vendor Issues?

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