We had a disappointing and stressful experience with Exquisite Events of Newport, RI for the planning and giving of a wedding in September 2019.
The EE team, led by Stasia Anthony, was sloppy and disorganized. They were difficult to get ahold of and responsiveness was poor. Attention to detail was lacking and as a result constant mistakes were made, from the reply cards to catering numbers to wedding transportation
As the planning process continued, it became clear that EE was significantly understaffed and overcommitted. Beyond that, Stasia, who had been on our initial calls, became less and less involved as the planning process continued. Instead our main point person became someone who was far less experienced and who lacked both vision and a design esthetic. Of all our disappointments with EE, this and the way in which Stasia comported herself while on site at our home in advance of the wedding, were the greatest.
Here are some of the things that happened:
Stasia's contract stated that she would need two hotel rooms for two nights for her staff. Instead, she rented a 6-bedroom house for a week and charged us almost 3 times the initial rate quoted. When we raised this issue, there was no response.
Just weeks before the wedding, the transportation vendor who was to shuttle all 200 of or guests pulled out because of their concerns about a lack of responsiveness on the part of Exquisite Events. The vendor told us that he'd made this decision because, based on the total lack of communication from EE, he didn't trust that the event would actually happen. As a result, last minute shuttle busses had to be secured at a much higher cost.
EE was in charge of coordinating these new wedding shuttles. The shuttle that was to pick up the bridal party and take them to the church never materialized. The entire bridal party had to scramble at the last minute to drive themselves to the church, a half hour away. As a result, the bridal party was late to the ceremony.
The afternoon of the ceremony, per our instructions, a $600 custom aisle runner was installed in the church by the florist. Just prior to the ceremony, this runner was removed by one of the EE staff members (without ever consulting us). It was never returned to us and no explanation was ever provided.
During the florist's set up in the church, no EE staff were present to assist, answer questions, etc. This was a real source of frustration for the florist and something that he described as "highly unusual". He resorted to texting the EE team with his questions and the responses he got back were anything but helpful - "Do whatever you think is best."
Six "transportation concierges" who were to travel on the shuttle busses to make sure "things ran smoothly" never showed up. We were charged for them, nonetheless.
A number of family members told us that members of the EE staff had been brusque and rude to guests in the church and at the reception. When we told Stasia about this, she accused our guests of having been overserved.
Two days before the wedding, when we complained to Stasia about the disappointing level of service, she told us we should have signed up for her "full service" planning instead of her "mid-level" planning. We followed up with her via email to clarify that we had signed up and paid for the "full service" planning. Shockingly, she never responded or acknowledged this egregious error on her part.
At this same meeting, Stasia demanded to be paid in full. We said we weren't comfortable with that given all of the mistakes that had been made and the conditions of the contract that hadn't been met. She said if we didn't pay her in full, she would direct her team (who were en route to the wedding location) to turn around and not show up for the wedding. It was nothing short of extortion. From that moment on Stasia was cold and unfriendly, as were all but two members of her team, casting a negative vibe on what was otherwise the most joyful of times for our family. Amazingly, Stasia left without saying goodbye, nor wishing our daughter well. The lack of professionalism, and humanity, on her part was truly shocking.
When our daughter got engaged, and we made the decision to hire Exquisite Events, it was because we wanted to take at least some measure of stress out of the process. With EE, that never happened. In the weeks and days leading up to our daughter's wedding, we were stressed and anxious and we never reached that point that so many of our friends had referenced of feeling chill and at peace knowing that everything that could be done had been done and that we could just 'enjoy.'
Our experience with EE was hugely disappointing. We do not in any way recommend their services. read more
