advice needed please

komar1980 · September 2013

My wedding is in 52 days. I have just learned my wedding planner will not assist with any decor like centerpieces etc unless I let her style the wedding as well. Her styling fee is 1950. As my wedding planner she is charging 2200. I know everything should be clear early on but I think as my wedding planner helping me with decor should be part of the job. my wedding is 80 people being held at one place. I have not gotten much savings from using her in the last 3 months I owe her half her fee of 2200. I am not sure what to do bc I will feel stupid to have her there as my wedding planner but me and my family are running around putting up decor type things on wedding day. I'm thinking I need to discontinue the relationship and hire a day of coordinator who is willing to assist. I have found my own vendors etc. She has been advice and vendors she chose off her list were more expensive compared to others so I didn't choose them. The wedding is so close I'm stressed because I thought I could depend on her to assist with decor set up but I see it not the case.

professorscience · September 2013

Check your contract. If it says that she doesn't do any set-up without the styling fee, then you can't really do anything about that. If it's not, or even if it is, you can at least try explaining to her that you thought it was reasonable to expect a coordinator to do set-up. Really pick through and find out what your $2200 entails, because I can't imagine she's charging you that much just to recommend vendors and control your timeline on the day of.

I agree that it's weird that she won't do your set-up without that additional expense, although $2200 for full-service coordination sounds pretty low to be, but when you add the $1950 that sounds more like what it would come to. However, if you're unhappy enough with her that you want to cancel her services, you need to make sure your contract doesn't include any additional fees should you cancel. The termination fee might be more than the "styling" fee.

KnightInRustyArmor · September 2013

I agree with profsci. Usually wedding planners offer three packages, full service coordination where the planner does pretty much everything, partial planning, and strict day of coordination.

First question would be, which package did you choose? Generally, if you just selected day of coordination, wedding planners don't normally assist with decorating the wedding. Rather, they're in charge of coordinating the wedding and making sure everything runs smoothly.

2nd question is, are you making the wedding centerpieces yourself? If you're hiring a florist, you may inquire as to whether the florist can deliver and set up the centerpieces for your venue for you. There may be a nominal charge for this.

3rd question would be: have you let the wedding planner know how you feel about this? Remember, anybody you hire is there for you. If you're not happy, you should definitely let them know how you feel. I've found that generally, if you talk with people earnestly and genuinely, they will try to work with you.

Finally, after sorting out the details, come back to the forum and ask the wise advice of other knotties. This post asked for advice in dealing with your wedding planner. After following some of the advice presented to you, your next post could be asking for advice on what to do because you have no one to set up your venue after trying to sort things out with your wedding planner. I'm sure plenty of other knotties have run into this problem. We may have to get creative. My FI and I found a great florist but she only delivers and doesn't come back to pick up the vases we rented from her. By the end of the reception, we're anticipating that our guests will be a bit too intoxicated to be able to rely on them to pick up the vases. We're considering "renting a gent" http://your-rent-a-gent.com/ to stop by afterwards to collect them for us. (I'm in no way affiliated with the company, just thought it was a neat idea). But yeah.. let us know how things turn out!

komar1980 · September 2013

I have the partial planning package when I started I had chosed most vendors. She started on June 15.

professorscience · September 2013

So, when you interviewed her, did you make it clear that you were looking for someone to do your set-up and tear-down?

komar1980 · September 2013

Yes I did I specifically talked about that because I was already in the process alot. We talked about her assisting. She is florist as well so I knew I would be paying for flowers and materials but not to double pay her for something that should be part of her being my wedding planner.

professorscience · September 2013

Okay, it makes zero sense to that a florist would not set up their own flowers.

As I said, I think the only thing you can do is triple-check your contract and talk to her about your expectations again. If you signed a contract saying she didn't have to do set-up, I don't really know what to tell you.

fallbride1109 · September 2013

So what exactly is she doing for $2200? As in, what services does the contract specifically say she will provide? Is she doing your flowers? If so, it is crazy that she won't set them up--that should be part of her services as your florist. What is she going to do, bring them to the venue and say, "Here you go, knock yourself out." The whole thing sounds absurd.

If you hired a separate florist, he/she will set them up for you. But yeah, this may be something that you just have to chalk up to live and learn, as it really comes down to what is stated in the contract. If it's in your budget to hire a DOC, that is certainly an option as well. Good luck.

advice needed please

Re: advice needed please

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