Weddingbee boards

So we hired a day-of wedding coordinator after being incredibly impressed with her during an interview about nine months ago. She came highly recommended from an aquaintance of mine, and the officiant we're working with also loves this particular coordinator, and we've heard nothing but wonderful things from these two people about her.

Here's the thing: she's been really disappointing lately, and I'm conflicted because she had been doing so well (above and beyond) and then just kind of started really lacking right when we need her (6 weeks before our wedding).

Here's some back story: The package we hired her for includes three consultations before the wedding (an hour each, not including the initial meeting) anywhere from 6 months until a week before the wedding, and her creating all our timelines for the wedding day. We met with her in person for the first time while we were visiting our venue in the spring (we live out of state from the venue), and we went over everything that we had finalized at that point. We left it with her saying, "If I don't get in touch with you, please contact me 8-10 weeks before the wedding and we'll schedule another hour consultation to create timelines and finalize your plans, and then our last consultation will be a week before the wedding so that I can confirm all your vendors."

I contacted her about nine weeks before our wedding so that we could schedule our two-month consultation. I e-mailed her (which she's usually faster and better with) and also left a voicemail after not hearing back. Two weeks go by, and I don't hear a word, and of course, I get worried that something's happened. I sent her another e-mail and asked if everything was okay, and she wrote me back two days later (Monday this week) with an apology saying she was really busy with weddings, but attached some timelines, and asked we look them over and suggest any changes, and asked if we could schedule our second consultation for today. We confirmed the time, and in the meantime, wrote her back with our suggestions for the timeline, and told her we'd discuss at our meeting. I never heard anything, but didn't think much of it. Today rolls around, and we wait for her call, which never comes. Half an hour after she was supposed to call, I call her home and cell numbers without any success. I also sent her an e-mail, which she hasn't responded to yet. We haven't heard anything from her.

I'm usually the kind of person who has a hard time saying to someone's face, "I'm really disappointed, and this isn't the quality of work I was expecting" but that's how I feel right now. I'm first going to assume that something happened that prevented her from getting to our meeting, but if that's not the case, and her reasoning is "I was busy" how should I respond? I want her to know that this isn't really acceptable (to miss meetings completely without any notice), especially when it's time to start finalizing all our plans. But I of course want to be tactful about it so that we can continue working with her because at our first meeting, she was SO on top of her game with our wedding and I do honestly think she's very good at what she does.

What should I do? I'm so torn! Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Meggs604: I know! It's such a tricky situation! I really don't even know if I COULD replace her at this point. I would assume that most coordinators would be booked for September weddings right now. I do plan on calling her (as you said, definitely not a conversation for e-mail), but its just a matter of getting ahold of her at this point. Like I said, I'm assuming it's a personal problem, of course, but if it's worst-case scenario, and she really is just too busy, I guess I have some decisions to make.

crebre80: I know, it's really frustrating. I've tried calling and e-mailing without avail. I'm with you, I get irritated because a simple, "I'm sorry, but I have to reschedule" would have been perfectly fine with me, but no response at all worries me that she doesn't have the time to coordinate our wedding (which is scary because knowing we have someone else that will take charge that day has been our rock and is keeping us sane). I think ultimately, I'm worried she decides she can't work with us and we're back to square one, on REALLY short notice on top of that.

Does she work for herself? If not maybe you should talk to her boss and switch planners. It doesn't seem like she has done too much for you at this point. Have you thought about attempting to get a refund, and just take on the responsibility. At six weeks to go I am sure you have already started to do part of her job yourself. Good Luck!

crebre80: I looked over the contract, and there's nothing about lines of communication. She responded to me via e-mail this morning saying she was on the road yesterday and forgot our file, so she couldn't reach us. It all just sounds weird to me because she has a Blackberry! And I left my cell and house numbers in the voicemail I left. She said she was sorry, but in all honesty, she wasn't as apologetic as she should have been. I e-mailed (and called) her right after getting the e-mail today and suggested one of the three time slots she had free this week, and I still haven't heard back (it's been about seven hours).

I don't think we'll get our deposit back, so I'm giving her another chance. If we still can't get ahold of her and schedule something by this weekend, we'll just have to suck it up and look for another coordinator.

chirico8684: She works for herself, so unfortunately, I can't call up her boss. As much as I think I COULD do the job myself, one thing my FI and I decided when we first got engaged is that we wanted to completely relax the day of the wedding. I really don't want to set-up centerpieces, chairs (inside and outside), greet vendors, etc. I really just want to get my hair/make-up done and focus on my family and FI that day.