Post # 1
Member
887 posts
Busy bee
Backstory: Lynn got married in 2010 so when her friend Rebecca got engaged over Christmas, she turned to Lynn about some general advice. She wanted to know if Lynn thought paying someone $10,000 to plan their wedding was too much. Rebecca isn’t into doing all the nitty gritty planning and she and her Fiance make good money so they can afford it. Lynn told her she thought it was ridiculous and that she would just help her plan the wedding. Rebecca was delighted but still insisted on paying Lynn $3000 for her services.
So Lynn and I are friends and she was actually in my wedding in 2012. I don’t really know Rebecca… met her once. Over the past two weeks Lynn has been emailing me and texting me about all of my vendors. She keeps asking me if I still have my quotes and could I forward them to her even though these vendors all list their prices on their websites. Also, when I originally booked my photographer, Lynn implied that she thought my photog was kind of amateurish and only worth it because I was getting a bargain.
I booked my vendors in 2011. Fast forward 2 years and my photog and my make up artist have blown up! They have become super in demand and their work is all over Style Me Pretty. So their prices have gone up accordingly. Now Lynn keeps complaining to me that the prices are too high and how did I get them so cheap? She is trying to use my prices to negotiate lower prices for Rebecca… but doesn’t she understand that it’s been two years and prices would have gone up anyway with inflation, even if my vendors hadn’t gotten so popular?? And why are you making me do all this work looking for prices on websites and my old contracts when YOU are the planner, not me?
Ugh, I don’t even know why I’m so annoyed but I am. Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones. >.<
Thanks for letting me vent!
Post # 3
Member
2363 posts
Buzzing bee
- Wedding: September 2013 - B&B
Ooooo poor Lynn may have bitten off more than she could chew :/ it sounds like maybe she’s panicking now. I would be a little annoyed, just because Id be worried that my past vendors would be upset with me for disclosing my cost, and now someone I know is trying to usethat against them to badger them to lower their cost. So I do get being annoyed. If you’re really good friends with Lynn, I might try to help her a little bit (by finding OTHER vendors) just because I wouldnt want to see her freaking out and panicking if she’s stuck, but I also wouldnt let yourself get sucked into it too far!!!
Post # 4
Member
1684 posts
Bumble bee
My name is Lynn and I have a good friend Rebecca… so reading this was a little weird for me 
Just to note re: inflation… Inflation has been relatively stable for the past couple of years so since your wedding 2 years ago, inflation would have raised priced by about 4% ($40 on every $1,000). Just the economist in me wanting to clarify.
However, venders are different as their years of experience help them raise prices significantly faster than market prices. So of course they will be more expensive 2 years later (especially after gaining exposure)! I’m sorry Lynn is making you jump through hoops when she likely won’t even use these venders!
Maybe instead you can tell her how you found them. Did you check out a certain website? Maybe look for certain keywords? That might be more helpful and get her to stop bugging you.
Post # 5
Member
3300 posts
Sugar bee
The only thing that would bug me about this, is…if Lynn is getting paid $3k, why is she making me do all her work for her? If non-disclosure of contract price was not something your vendors required, then it really doesn’t matter if Lynn is trying to negotiate lower prices on the basis of your old contracts. Vendors are free to insist on the fees they want.
Post # 7
Member
365 posts
Helper bee
I’d tell Lynn that you’re really busy at the moment so please don’t be offended if you don’t reply straight away to her messages… and take a step back! You could also tell her that you’ve sent her all the info you have about the weddings, but you just haven’t got the chance to help her any more while you’re so busy with xyz. Do you think she’d take the hint? It’s totally unfair that she’s expecting you to do the work for her (for someone you hardly know) when she’s getting paid. I’m sure you’ve got other things to do! Maybe it’s unintentional, but Lynn is being unfair on you here.
Good luck x
