Where to start... I have been a Wedding and Event Coordinator/Planner since 2001 and had started in Chicago. Since I have moved out here it's been a really big challenge because there are way too many people who want free or extremely cheap.
So here's the situation that happened on the 22nd of September. First time this ever happened to me in 16 years.
So I did a wedding on the 22nd of September and though it didn't start off well, it seemed to be going well, though I thought. Not one person the whole day complained about anything, except for the bride about her macarons being in box which should have been out of the box. Other than that, nothing was told to me nor was told to the venue staff. Now, Because I had my other coordinator and my other usher both call off on me, I was left with one usher and myself. Mind you I was running on two and a half hour sleep because I was doing the Wedding couples programs the day before and finished them the day of due to her changing names constantly as well as the way she wanted it.
I had left my house around 10:30am to go pick up the macarons because the lady who makes them doesn't deliver or set up, so of course I had to figure something out. At around 11:30 close to noon I was at the other bakery where the cake and cupcake was ordered and had to finish paying the cupcakes. By 12-12:30 I was at the venue for a bit just to make sure the venue was doing what they needed to do, meet the bride because she was dropping some things off last minute instead of giving it the night before or a couple nights before. I had to get back to my house to finish off the programs and get the signs and pick up my son who was my only usher left. We left my house around 1:50pm to hit a couple stores to see if any of them had stamp pads for the guest book since the bride had forgot to get it and told me the night before she didn't have it. I had given her a couple of weeks to get that. No store had it in stock, so now I was stuck, and I knew she wasn't going to be happy cause all we had was one red pen. Anyway, my Son and I were doing as much of the tables as possible before 3pm and I had him setting things on the centerpieces.
At 3:15-3:20 I had to the ceremony site and the only vendor there was the florist and no rental chairs being set up. Ugh! Talk about frustrating! I called him up and asked where he was and he tells me he thought the wedding was the next day. So he showed up around 4pm and set up which then he finished, I would say around 4:30. That's the time the Ceremony was supposed to start. So now i'm waiting for the groomsmen who just pretty much showed probably like 10 before 4:30. Trying to get the guest to sit and then trying to get the table set up with the sand on it. Mind you there was no linen to cover it because that was forgotten as well by the bride. So it was just the bar table with the stuff on top of it. So the wedding finished around 5:30. Which by this time I was supposed to be at the reception before this time to be finishing the final touches. BUT I couldn't leave cause apparently none of the guests were listening to leave to head to the reception site. They all stuck around for awhile just taking pictures and so on. At 6pm is when I was FINALLY able to leave cause I had to get the park, where the ceremony was held all cleaned up or else I would get penalized by the city for not cleaning up after the ceremony. I would've been able to leave sooner IF the guest wouldn't have made such a huge mess to clean up. Absolutely ridiculous that people would rather leave their mess instead of pick it up and keep the park clean. So that took me another 10 minutes to pick all that up.
I finally left the ceremony a little after 6pm to head to the reception with the flowers in hand and the Maid of Honor had JUST given us the champagnes, which they were sitting in the vehicle for quite some time. I arrive at the reception and when I walked in the guests were already all over the place and not sitting down. A lot of them were at the bar waiting for drinks and already getting wasted. I wasn't able to finish the tables at all. I went straight to the DJ and introduced myself to him because that is who I needed to keep in touch with. I found the lady who was in charge of the venue and she told my son to just bring the loose bottles of champagne. We asked her about the box and she said she didn't have a big fridge to put them in and said she would remind us when to bring the box in, but that unfortunately didn't happen. So trying to get the guest to SIT down was a challenge because no one wanted to sit.
The bride and groom arrived around 6:30 almost 7pm. I ran inside looking for everyone to be gathered outside. It wasn't easy because we were still missing some people, So I sent one of the wedding party inside to hunt the rest of them down. The DJ suggested to announce them as a whole Wedding Party because the Maid of Honor wanted to be announced separately, but even the DJ said we are pressed for time. So, we did the whole grand entrance, straight into the first dance. Now it was already after 7pm and this is the time we should have been cutting cake and serving, BUT instead we were dismissing tables to eat. This is the only complaint I did hear that night for the pasta as a side and not an entree, which it was an entree and not a side dish. The guy who was suppose to cut the cake and serve had left at 8pm. at 8pm is when we did the toasting and the bride and groom decided to cut the cake on their own. It wasn't announced to do it and I was too busy trying to get the macarons out of the box since the lady from the venue put them out without letting me know. Running back and forth to the DJ to get things rolling is what I did pretty much the last hour and a half because he misplaced his timeline I had given to him. I did step out a couple times to breathe and make sure the guests outside were doing well also. I was able to squeeze everything into the night within the time I had to get it done. It was tight and it seemed to be rushed but both the ceremony and the reception was on timing to get people OUT by a certain time and I did.
The whole time during the reception I have had ONLY two complaints. One was the macarons by the bride and the other one was from the maid of honor complaining about the pasta not being a side dish. By 9:30pm we had to start getting everyone to go home. By 10:00 I had asked the bride if she was happy and she said she was very happy and that she appreciated everything I and the lady from the venue had done.
Now, here's where the whole drama starts to kick in. Because it was time for the Bride to pay me. Now, remember.. no one person complained the whole night about anything to me or the staff to fix anything. All complaints could have been fixed right as we can. But we assumed it all went well because everyone was happy and having lots of fun.
So the next day the bride decides to text me and tell me she doesn't feel right about it. Didn't specify what "IT" was, but then she said that she was disappointed the candles were left out and that not all the votives were on all the tables. And that the macarons weren't on a pretty plate and that the bubbles were left out from the ceremony. I had explained to her that if I was able to follow the timeline I would have been able to get everything out and on the tables and the bubbles, well... that was my fault for leaving it at the reception site. The macarons.. I explained to her that I didn't know they were out until she mentioned it to me. No one from the reception staff told me they had put it out. So, I explained everything that night and she was okay.
The next day it was her sister.... All of a sudden it was all those I mentioned and this time it was the alcohol that was given.. it was because the bride bought only $500 worth of alcohol and it was on tickets. After it was for the guest to buy their own. Then she complained about the water not being on tables and it was being served at the bar in styrofoam cups, which I wasn't aware a venue actually used those for Weddings. This day I offered to help talk to the vendors to see what I can get back for them. the rental guy agreed to give some money back. The venue and the florist said no and the city... I didn't email them or call them to find out. Not to mention I still haven't gotten paid. So now, all of a sudden the wedding day was not right. So, again I explain to her sister about the timing with everything.
Let's just say that every single day up until yesterday things were added day by day and going from being happy to it being the worst wedding ever according to them both is where it stands. It just went from she was happy and appreciative to it was the worst but no one complained or said anything the day of. Literally now, they are saying everything was wrong and i'm just waiting for them to say the colors are wrong as well.
I told them both to ready my contract as I did put a liability on it just in case people like this tried something with me to not pay anything. I have even made an offer that is reasonable for her and she only saw the message but did not reply back. I have my small claims court papers ready to file and be served.
IMy liability says "Majestyk Planners/Majestyk Events will not be held responsible for any acts of nature or other forces beyond his/her control that may affect the delivery and/or quality of services described in this contract."
So here's the question for my fellow steemit community.
With that on it, I should be good in small claims court correct with this in the contract? What do you think?
Not looking for negative answers either. Looking for inputs as far as wanting to get paid for everything I have done for her and doing things that I could within the timeframe that I had the day of. Now I started with her from the beginning which was the beginning of this year. Not to mention I gave her a good deal for full service and saved her a lot more money on other things should could've paid for on her own.
Let's hear what you have to say. Again, please no negative talk. Keep in mind we were running on about an hour and a half to two hours lost here.
Thank You
UPDATE: Still haven't gotten paid. Court papers are ready to go. So, I went into my planning pod where the guests were entered in so we can keep track of them. I didn't need to print them out as I printed them out on the 19th. Well it shows that the bride had went into the pod and started to delete everyone off of the pod 2 days prior to the wedding. The next night on the 21st, she told me that she needed to pay me the day after the wedding. I think she had it all planned out and didn't want me to see the guest list anymore to contact them. Maybe the ones that actually will tell me the truth and not screw me over are the ones she deleted. Now isn't that something to find out. She doesn't have anymore access to it anymore but I ran the reports and saw it. This is absolutely crazy! I'm sure her sister had something to do with this like always!