{{{RANT}}} You're As Dumb As You Look, and Possibly Even More.

I have a general rule for social media: keep it positive, and fun. Lots of drama surrounds the wedding industry... but brides don't need to see that and vendors get enough of their own on a daily basis. I make it a point to only "status update" the fun news and happenings when I have a moment to share what's going on. I also make it a point to find those moments to share. 

DISCLAIMER: This is not one of those positive and fun posts... I am fired up! What I am going to say, needs to be said. What has recently happened to me happens to every vendor. What happened to me was done by someone claiming to be a professional... brides beware, you DO NOT want to work with someone like this. 

Anyway, back to the story at hand... long story short: I was "shopped" by an aspiring planner who had hopes of starting a company of her own. Yes, a woman with an interest of starting an event planning company posed as a bride with a fake wedding date and wasted my time in person with two of her friends one afternoon back in the fall of 2010. I drove all the way to a Starbucks on 90th South and Redwood Road to sit down with this "bride" and her bridesmaids... I have come to learn that the "bride" has been married since 2003. Anyway, we went through the entire consultation process and her budget (which was of course a made up figure) just wasn't enough to accommodate the investment of the services a professional planner provides. She never even got a copy of my contract. Nice try, idiot.

I'll be honest, at the time I suspected absolutely nothing. Even after the fact I suspected nothing of the meeting and assumed we wouldn't correspond again because we weren't a good fit based on her budget (under $5,000.00). 

Now, fast forward to yesterday:

I'm online looking at some new planner that has popped up and I'm about ready to throw up over the sleazy bargain basement sales tactics this company uses... promises of iPad computers if they don't save you money and a play on your heartstrings with a guarantee that money will be donated to charity if ten brides are signed by a certain date. Anyway, as if this wasn't all bad enough I start looking over her (terrible) website and notice that there are about a million spelling and grammatical errors (honey, if you're reading: you "accept" all forms of payment, not "except" them... email me, I can proofread the rest for a small fee). She has more than one facebook page yet both are listed as "Married" to her husband. I find on her facebook pages that her email address is oddly familiar. I search it in my email inbox and sure enough, this woman is the woman I met with last fall. At one point she emailed me from "her bother's" email account which  learned yesterday was actually her husband. This proves that her husband condones her unprofessional business tactics. I am in disbelief. So naturally, I email her... I have something to say!

My email is short and to the (professional) point. What you did was unprofessional and if you wanted to know how I run my business, buy me lunch and let's chat. Everyone is new and starts somewhere, but where Miss Bargain Basement started burned a lot of bridges for good. 

Now, if you need a good laugh... please prepare yourself for the best part of all of this. She actually emails me back. Yep. She emails me back and tells me that I'm confused (mind you, I met this woman in person and I know what she looks like). She tells me that I am confusing her for her sister (whose name is identical by the way, just pronounced differently). She asks me to just "chalk this up to a misunderstanding" and that she's sorry for "any mess it has caused". Lady, you're the mess. 

If this story could not get any more absurd, I woke up to negative online reviews of my company by "Completely Dissatisfied" who says I am "unprofessional and shockingly overpriced".  Well hi there, I see you're back for me with me. Ok baby, let's go! This is obviously bogus for a million reasons, but if I was "overpriced" a bride wouldn't have hired me in the first place and later complained about it. Of course Miss Bargain Basement feels I am overpriced, her services are $200! Interestingly enough, her wedding date (that I supposedly coordinated) is listed as 9.11.10... which was actually my own wedding date folks. I got married that day, and I did not coordinate any weddings that day or in September 2010 because of my own wedding. Again, nice try idiot. I disputed her review, flagged her profile and reported her business listing as well. You should not be allowed to feature your business on a website if you're going to behave in such a manner. 

Why is this relevant for the brides reading? Besides the sheer comical value of this entire incident, it goes to show you how important it is to research your vendors before you hire them. I say this all the time... ASK FOR PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES in addition to the client references offered. Clients listed on a vendors references could be anyone, professionals on the other hand are well known and established contacts who you can trust. Imagine, this woman is out there "planning weddings" for unsuspecting brides looking for a good deal. If she is capable of lying, misleading and shady behavior with me, what's to stop her from treating her brides in the same manner if a problem occurs? She will and she has, I am sure of it.

Brides, do your research ladies... And Miss Bargain Basement: stay away from me and if you want to succeed I urge you to discontinue your unprofessional and unethical business tactics. Best of luck.

Xo, mmh,