Weddingbee boards

My husband and I got married at Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland in September 2009. We don't live in that area so it was not very easy to find vendors....I really wanted to find a hair stylist/make-up artist that would come to our vacation home the day of and get me and the girls ready so that we didn't have to go anywhere. I made arrangements for vendors (i.e., florist and photographer) to bring flowers to the house at certain times because we would not be going anywhere to get ready.  I found an ad for her on Craigslist (I know, I know) and I exchanged some e-mails with her.  We decided to meet up so that I could get a better feel for her.  She definitely seemed legit and professional...had a contract and everything. I usually have a good read of people but my radar must have been very off.  She told me she was pregnant (she is a bigger girl so I could not really tell either way) and had a two year old at home. She indicated that she was not working in a salon anymore because she enjoyed the flexibility.  Anyway, Washington PA is about an 1.5 hour drive from Deep Creek but she was willing to travel...I was going to pay her additional $$ for the time and gas, etc. I paid her $85 cash deposit.

A couple months after first meeting, we traveled to PA to meet with her for hair/make-up trial.  It was included in my total contract price but since she was a young mom and we really liked her, my then FI gave her $80 tip!! She was "due" at the end of July...when I contacted her a couple weeks into August to finalize plans, she told me she had miscarried.  I felt bad but she indicated that there would be no problems coming out to help get us ready.  I even talked to her the night before the wedding to confirm the address where we were staying. 

She was supposed to arrive at the house at 10am on the morning of the wedding...at 9:30 am, I got a TEXT MESSAGE from her phone but from someone saying it was her father. It said that Sara and her daughter were in a serious car accident and were in very serious condition.  The first message indicated that Sara had been unconcious since accident, but the second message indicated that she asked him to call...Anyway, I had a gut feeling that it was a sham. 

She sent me an e-mail a week or so after the wedding telling me about her's and her daughter's injuries...and that her husband had but the deposit in the mail. Shoot to seven months later. I have learned the following....She is not married, she does not have a daughter, did not have a miscarriage, and definitely did not have an accident the day of the wedding.  Her father is the county adminstrator so I'm pretty sure he did not knowing participate in her lies (although I have even contacted him since then and he has not responded once)! As recently as a month ago she told me that she was sorry, that she was into drugs and alcohol in September, and that the deposit was in the mail. To date, i've received nothing.

I know that she is still a hairstylist at Bon-Ton Salon in Washington, PA and may be working at MB Bridal Salon in Greensburg, PA.  My warning is to any bride that may come across her. She is a pathological liar and single-handedly ruined my wedding day. If she had just sent me the deposit back, I would have left it alone. Unfortunately, she has not done that. Anyway, I'm sorry this is so long but I just want to help someone else avoid undue heartache.

i agree...she is definitely trash and karma is definitely waiting in the wings to bite her in the you know what...it felt good just to get this out so thanks for "listening"...

@mrsmurraytobe--hair and make-up turned out great! the salon in town fit all of us in and went out of their way to make us happy. We had actually spent the day there the day before getting manis/pedis so they were willing to do anything to help us out! my SIL did my make-up but she truly did an amazing job so in the end, it turned out fine.

i've thought about taking her to small-claims court but have not pursued it yet. $85 seems like such a small amount to sue someone over, but its the principle of the matter for sure. I thought about taking her on something like Judge Judy just to embarrass her and even had a producer contact me about it, but I never followed up.  I'll definitely let you ladies know if i do!!

You should definitely follow-up with the Judge Judy producer- she would rip her a new one!!!

I'm so sorry this happened to you. What scum.

I agree, it is definitetly more than the money. I spent the entire morning of my wedding day in a big house by myself crying and full of anxiety instead of celebrating and being pampered with my bridesmaids.  By the time I got to the salon everyone else was ready and I just felt like I missed out on something. It worked out in the sense that my hair and make-up looked great regardless (probably even better) but the emotional distress that she has caused were more than I would wish on anyone.