Weddingbee boards

I'm getting married in June and hired a full service wedding planner last spring.  While I don't have a budget that usually calls for a full service wedding planner, neither my fiance or I live in the city we are getting married in, we both have super busy careers, and our families are either also working full-time or live outside in the country.  So we needed help!

While she's a nice person, she has pretty much done little to nothing.  She just forwards emails back and forth between me and the vendors (literally, I can see them on the email histories).  And instead of finding vendors that fit our budget, she just sends me her "usual" vendors which are waaaaaaay too expensive.  I've ended up having to find and book almost all of our vendors via internet/email, and enlisted the help of some lawyer-friends to look over our contracts.  She hasn't negotiated once for us, and I feel like I'm overspending on almost everything.

I really want to say something to her, but is it worth it?  By this point almost everything is booked.  I can't fire her and hire someone else since her fees paid so far are non-refundable.  I definitely want day-of help, and I don't want to make our working relationship strained.

Anyone have experience with wedding planner issues?  What did you do?  How did it work out?

Nope, I haven't paid her full price, but I've already paid 2K. Yikes!

Definitely, definitely express your concerns to her.  When you signed on with her and you both signed the contract (you DID do a contract... right?), it should have outlined her exact duties, and what you were actually getting for the money.  If she is not withholding her end of the deal, something needs to be said.

Is she a member of the Association of Bridal Consultants?  If so, she has some major ethic codes she needs to abide by.  The ABC is a very trustworthy organization, and when you hire an ABC coordinator, you know you are backed by the ethics of the entire association.

As far as her vendor 'recs' are concerned, it's unfortunate that she just 'went through the motions' and didn't bother to think outside her box for your wedding.  It irks me when wedding planners do this... and sometimes they do this because they get kick-backs from the vendors when you book them.  Were there kick-backs involved?  If so, she should have been upfront with you about them.  I am sorry this has happened to you.  :(

You girls are right.  Thanks for the advice--I was just worried that I was being too demanding.  But yeah, our contract specifically outlined each of her duties and she really hasn't done any of them! 

@Mdallas -- definitely express your concerns to her.  i loved my wedding planner and think she did an amazing job.  but i remember there were a few times I felt like i was in a similar situation as you.  For me, I think it helped when i told her specifically what i needed done instead of assuming she'd jump into the planning alongside me.  Like, when I got the budget proposal from the florist and rental vendors, I asked her to review it and let me know if it was in line with what she's seen before.  I also asked her which line items she thought I could cut back on and which items might be worth spending more on.  Her input ended up being really helpful and she took the lead on reworking the proposal directly with our vendors. 

Since you hired your own vendors, she might assume that you are enjoying all your involvement in the planning process so far.  So if that is not the case, its prob best to bring it up first and tell her more specifically what your expectations are get her feedback on the situation.

From my experience, I learned that picking and hiring vendors was the easy part.  The process of reconfirming with all the vendors in the weeks leading up to the wedding to make sure they understand all the details, the set up, the timeline, etc. is the stressful part and I was so glad I had someone to outsource this to!