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umm..i'm sorry to hear that your wedding day wasn't as perfect as you wanted it to be because of this officiant, but was there a contract signed or any document stating the specific time the officiant was suppose to be there? I doubt without any documentation of timing and joint signatures, (i'm not sure bc I'm not a lawyer), but I don't know if there is anything you can do about this...
It may not have been exactly how you wanted your wedding to be, but I would say let it go...and I mean this in the kindest sense...i hope everything works out of ya...
It was her responsibility to know in advance how to get to the ceremony site and to leave PLENTY of time for error to make sure she was on time. Before taking legal action have you spoken to her directly and let her know that because she essentially didn't meet her obligations that she should refund some or all of your money?
That's a really good question and I don't know what the answer is. My first thought is that since she actually performed the service, you can't demand all of your $ back, but maybe you can ask for something. Look at the contract and any email correspondence you had regarding the timing and it might be worthwhile to speak to a lawyer. Obviously when you work in the wedding industry, the most important part of your job is showing up on time so she should make a habit to have backup directions or at least be familiar with the route before the actual wedding day. If she really did cost you a lot of $ then it might be worthwhile pursuing at least a discussion with a lawyer.
From the first email, the address and time were documented and then throughout our conversations. Yes, she performed a service, but she cost us $300 in venue fees. Plus, she brought her adult daughter. They got in the front of the appetizer line, had dinner (never told her she could eat), and drank our wine. Today, she sent this email making it sound like she was 5 minutes late.
Legal fees and time away from work to get this money back will probably cost you way more than you would get back from this person. If there is a way to leave a negative review online for them, i'd go that route. If not....you're probably going to have to just let it slide. Sorry!
There will be negative reviews to come. She was horendous. No one heard her. We could barely hear her and my MOH didn't hear her at all. She was pathetic!
Wow. She sounds terrible and unprofessional. I would find a way to get your money back for her, ahem, late "Services" and the money she cost you in the long run. She did provide the service HOWEVER, "time was of the essence." If you decided to pursue this, legally, you could. She was late to the CEREMONY!!! It's a wedding. Weddings run on a very organized schedule. So organized that most brides/couples, plan this event months to years in advance. She owes you the money back for HER fee, the money for the venue AND for arrgravation. I don't know how much it would cost you for a lawyer or how much you will get, but I'd make some noise for sure.
Sorry this happened... this has to top all wedding nightmares, come on! She was hosting the ceremony and she was late!!
I think other than negative reviews you're pretty much stuck. Sure she cost you $300 in venue fees and can't get your wedding day back but I think taking legal action would end up costing you alot more than it's worth. I'd just make sure everyone knew how horrible she was.
Did you not have a rehersal? Wouldn't she have known where the venue was from that?
Taking legal action might cost you more than it's worth, but if you have a case (and I guess that depends on the contract), defending a legal action will probably cost her more than just paying you for the damage. Maybe you could try to negotiate an in-between so you both come out ahead?
You shouldn't have to get a lawyer, can't you just take her to small claims court? I think you look into it at least.
McGroom is calling her today since we're back from our honeymoon to discuss everything with her.
Yikes!
Is it possible she put the address wrong into Rand McNally or something? Like, not that the system had an error, but that she had user error using the system?
45 minutes is a LONG time to be late. Not cool.
I have no helpful advice, just wanted to say I feel for you!
Small claims court doesn't allow for lawyers and has very minimal filing fees. This is the type of situation where it's ideal.
I would document the fees that she caused and the extra expense for her daughter (meal and beverage).
I don't know if you can ask for damages for the emotional aspect of her being late, but she should have to refund you for the actual costs. I would not ask her to reimburse her meal because I think its common to feed your vendors. Unless you had specifically told her she's not invited to the reception then I think it was a safe assumption on her part to partake in the meal/wine. However, bringing her daughter is a whole different story. They should pay you for her costs.
We actually checked the directions Rand McNally would give her using the information I gave her. It wouldn't find the address, but it took her to the road she needed to be on. She said it told her a road which was 45 minutes away from the town we were married in. No where close. She also didn't call until she was supposed to be there and then only said in a message left by her daughter that they'd be 10 minutes late. It wasn't until McGroom called her 15 minutes after start time that she said she'd be later. It's just crazy and I can't wait for him to call because I'm ready to write reviews so no one else uses her.
@caszos: She won't call us back so that we can talk to her and I'm waiting to put reviews out on wedding sites until I know she's filled our paper work. She's also changed her vendor name on WeddingWire in an attempt to hide herself from me, but she didn't change her website so it's obviously her. Until then, I'm just going to hope that no Bee books her, but she seems to be really busy with weddings. I was married on a Sunday and she had a wedding the Friday and Saturday before. She's in West Virginia, so there's only so many officiants in the state.
@caszos: Well, here's the latest thing: it wasn't her fault she was given bad directions. She believes that she performed her service and nothing is wrong with showing up 45 minutes late. McHusband explained how much money she cost us and she's supposed to send us a check for a tiny amount of that. If she doesn't, we're looking at taking her to court.
@TheFutureMcBride: Wow I am really sorry about this!! I hope you guys can at least got some sort of justice that you deserve!
Yeah, I hate to say it but where are your damages? She married you, she performed the service. Even if she didn't perform it to the letter of the contract, it was substantially performed. I think you are letting your emotions rule you here. You are upset she was late (understandably), upset with her services (but you chose her, you should have done your research), and upset that she brought her daughter (unprofessional, but again, you picked this person), but to bring legal action here is sort of ridiculous. You're married, she did her job. I really think you need to let it go.
No court is going to rule in your favor because you believe she "tarnished" your wedding or hurt people's feelings. You'd need to show actual monetary or some other damages in order to succeed on any claim in any court, whether its small claim court or not. This is just my personal opinion and isn't legal advice, but I think you are better off to speak with her personally and try to get some sort of refund for her services.
@clarebee: If/once we get a check in the mail, I will review her by her name as she changed the business name she's listed on WeddingWire, but kept the same website. I'll do the same here too. She also lists all of her credentials on her website, so I'm contacting them as well as I think it's important that they know the kind of service she provides because they do list her on their websites.
And I did my research. Best reviewed officiant on WeddingWire, many credentials listed on her site which I researched as well, spoke on phone and email to which she responded quickly and politely. It was hard because it was a destination wedding, but I did everything in my power to find the best officiant I could. It just proves that research, contact, reviews, and credentials mean nothing when the actual day comes. And we have spoke with her personally. According to her, it wasn't her fault and she shouldn't have to give us anything even though she cost us money by making us wait. The money is the cost of the venue and photographer.
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Hey Bees, our officiant was 45 minutes late to our wedding. She said that she got wrong directions from RandMcNally, but we just checked it and that couldn't have been the case. She obviously lied and left late. As I'm sure all of you know, this threw a wrench into everything as far as our wedding ceremony, pictures, dinner, and everything else. We paid her up front before I knew this shouldn't be done. My question to you is can I take legal action against her as she cost us a lot of money, actually hurt people's feelings (crunched for time in everything), and tarnished our wedding? Please help us. I didn't lose it on the actual day for the most part, but the more I think about it, the more upset I get. So for all of you who have some ideas about the legal world, what can I do?