What to do about wedding planner...want to give her a shot.

Re: What to do about wedding planner...want to give her a shot.

• Tanq&Tonic

  

  January 2012

  What time frame are you talking about here? 
  
  In general, my advice is that if you're not happy with the responsiveness before you put your deposit down, don't do it.  It doesn't usually get better until the last month or 6 weeks before the wedding.  There are plenty of other coordinators who would do as fantastic a job and be thrilled to have you as a client.  In general, there's an element of island time everywhere -- phone seems to work better, there are delays in responses, etc but it varies by circumstance / time of year. 
  
  I don't know Deanne at all, and maybe other brides can comment on her style and their experience.  I guess I would say if this has been true for one or two weeks, and the whole point of getting in touch with her is to give her a deposit, I'd go find myself a new coordinator.  If I can't reach you when I'm trying to pay you, how can I be sure I will reach you at any other time?

  

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• Sara4242

  

  January 2012

  I used Deanne for my wedding last month, and my experience was pretty similar. I think I only talked to her on the phone one time and that was to give her my credit card number. And getting her on the phone that one time was a challenge. Like you, though, emails were never a problem. I wanted everything in writing anyway, so I preferred email.

  
  

  We had a very small event and Deanne didn't actually do much for us, so it worked out fine in the end and I was happy. That said, if we were doing something with guests, a reception, etc., I'd consider going another route. 

  

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• destiny1108 member

  

  January 2012

  If you have concerns then I would follow your instinct and look for another coordinator that is more responsive.   Ours was great (on Oahu though) with letting us know when she had events so we knew when to expect a response time.

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• flash8785 member

  

  January 2012

  I am doing my wedding on Kauai, but we considered Maui so I spoke with many coordinators there as well.  While I was still looking at Maui, I fell in LOVE with one coordinator there.  Her name was Kara Byrne and she worked with Your Aloha Wedding.  Although I didn't end up working with her, she communicated with me almost daily over a 2 week period of time.  She always got back to me quickly, answered my questions, and we very friendly.  She has very high reviews online as well.  Check her out...she seemed like she was less on "Hawaii Time" than the others.

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• AKWinterBride member

  

  January 2012

  I also met with Kara Byrne and she was great but we ended up going with Cherise Shulman instead as she was more our style and more affordable as well.  I didn't want someone to plan my wedding, I just wanted someone to help out which is exactly what Cherise did. 
  
  If you are unhappy with your coordinator already and haven't paid yet - go somewhere else!  You don't want to have to chase your coordinator down, even if they are on 'island time' you should get a response in a timely manner.  Good luck!

  

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