I do want to start by saying before I came on Yelp to share my review, I sent my concerns via email directly to her for transparency and to have an open conversation. She emailed back saying "Thank you so much for taking your time to write this to us." and that she will review with her assistant. It has been almost a week and I have not had any sort of apology or response to my very lengthy email regarding my concerns. I ultimately wanted an understanding on her perspective of the wedding day, but I got nothing. Thus leading me here to write an honest review. I'm going to be very transparent in hopes to help a future bride and groom in their search.
I booked Grace for 100 days prior and for a day of coordination. I am a planner myself and have done lots of coordinating events for my job so I understand what it takes to coordinate a wedding. I hired all my vendors, picked my ceremony location and venue location, I organized my own payment plan, I kept a detailed folder of everything related to my wedding etc. All I needed was assistance in executing the day and ensuring everything ran smoothly and assisting for any issues that came up. I hired her to ease the stress and trust that all is taken care of so I can enjoy my wedding.
Overall, I give 2 stars because yes she did help in several ways and there were positive things she did as a coordinator that we felt was great. She helped set up the ceremony and reception, she held 1 virtual meeting and 2 in person meetings with us to get a better understanding of what she needs to do as a coordinator. The files she shared were helpful. She was there for our venue walk through and rehearsal. The very basic needs of a coordinator - she provided. However, when it came down to logistics management, communication between vendors, self initiative, attention to detail, and problem solving, we felt these traits were lacking. I also felt we could have discussed each document she had me fill out in detail to ensure it's being executed accordingly during wedding day, but we did not. I filled out the forms and that was it.
In all honesty, we wished we would have seen her and her assistant in the reception hall a little more executing the timeline. Our photographer was fluffing my dress before each photo, our videographer and photographer tagged team to ensure we kept up with the timeline. Sadly, our family and friends constantly asked us "who are those girls just sitting at the front"
The communication between us and the vendors could have been better. We started to notice that leading up to the wedding our photographer, videographer, DJ and MC were constantly reaching out to my fiancé and I with questions regarding our big day. Mainly asking what the timeline was, they all wished that they received this earlier. We had the luxury of having our close friends and family be our vendors, so their honest feedback was definitely shared with us. They've also expressed to my finance and I that the communication was very delayed.
One thing that really stressed us was the photo permit wedding week. When we held one of our in person meetings, she gave us the confidence that she would handle all paperwork for the park (COI, permits, etc). Though this part seemed lacking. Ours photographer called us 3 days prior to wedding day asking questions. Definitely something that should happen wedding week for the bride. We had the understanding that everything was communicated to our vendors on requirements for the park. We would have hoped this was all squared away and vendors were confident 2-4 weeks prior to wedding day.
I have plenty more to say but I will only add one more thing that really upset me. My best friend was my flower girl (no kids wedding) and somehow she played the coordinator role. She assisted in valet parking and seating guests because Grace stated "she knew more people" My best friend felt that Grace kept pushing her to do things. She even asked her at one point how many seats were open. Isnt this a coordinator's job not a flower girl? Sadly I did not get to celebrate with her as much as I would have hoped. It was upsetting when my best friend vented all this to me rather than sharing what she enjoyed about my wedding day.
All in all, The work she provided did NOT meet our expectations. The large amount we paid for her services did not equate to the work she delivered wedding day. We just hoped there was a little more planning for sensitive things throughout the wedding day. We hoped that there was a little more communication on her end as a coordinator and self initiative on issues that arise. We would've liked for her to take more initiative and attention to detail. It seemed like there was a lack of concern on her part. Felt like she just came to collect a check. read more