As a resident physician with a demanding schedule, I hired Weddings by Shy because I wanted…read moreexperienced planners who would reduce the stress of planning my multicultural wedding. Unfortunately, my experience was the opposite. Rather than alleviating stress, working with them became one of the most frustrating and disappointing parts of our wedding planning process.
Communication was the biggest issue throughout our experience. Shortly after we signed our venue contract, there was a period of approximately three weeks where we heard nothing from them despite multiple attempts to reach out for vendor recommendations. During that time, I researched, contacted, and ultimately booked our officiant, photographer, and live guitarist on my own. After I expressed concerns, they suggested weekly planning calls, but several of those meetings were canceled or missed by Shy and Prameet with little or no notice.
Vendor meetings were another source of frustration. On numerous occasions, Shy joined calls while driving or away from her computer and was unable to share documents or planning materials. I often found myself leading conversations with vendors and directing the agenda despite having hired an experienced planner. During one meeting, she said she could not share our wedding timeline because she was driving, but her video briefly turned on and it appeared she was actually at home.
To be fair, many of their vendor recommendations were excellent, including Crafted Cuisine, Monroy Films, Lena's Events, Photobooth by Nora, and the Arizona Biltmore. We were very happy with those vendors.
Unfortunately, their recommendation for our DJ became one of the most stressful parts of wedding planning. They strongly encouraged us to book Sohbash Khan of Cymatic Entertainment from Chicago, emphasizing his experience with multicultural weddings and assuring us that travel expenses would not be an issue because he would already be in Arizona for another event. Even at the discounted rate, his fee was more than three times what a local DJ would have cost, but we trusted their recommendation. One week before the wedding, after his fee had already been paid in full, he informed us that we were expected to provide him with a room at our venue. His contract did not require us to provide accommodations, and this expectation had never been discussed by either the DJ or our planners. Rooms at the venue were approximately $800 per night at that point. We offered to book him a nearby hotel instead, but he refused. Weddings by Shy ultimately negotiated a discounted room rate with the venue, but we still had to pay for a room that was never part of our agreement. It left us feeling backed into a corner just days before our wedding.
Another disappointing experience involved our catering contract. Food was one of our highest priorities, something we had communicated from the very beginning. When we received the catering agreement, we had concerns about how one-sided the contract was and simply wanted to discuss revising some language. We reached out to Weddings by Shy for guidance via email but received no response. After my father called Prameet multiple times, they finally had a conversation about it that did not resolve our concerns. Rather than feeling like our planners were advocating for us, he came away with the impression that our interests were not being prioritized. During a subsequent call that included the caterer, Shy and Prameet shifted the conversation away from the contract to discuss what they viewed as my father's rude behavior toward them. My father ultimately left the call without the contract concerns being addressed.
When I spoke with the caterer, I offered to pay the caterer's legal fees to revise the contract, and they agreed. The issue was resolved quickly. The way the situation was handled created unnecessary stress for both my dad and me.
Finally, Weddings by Shy advertises that they intentionally limit the number of weddings they take on each year so they can devote significant attention to every event. That was one of the reasons we hired them. However, our experience did not reflect that level of availability or attention. Communication delays, canceled meetings, and lack of preparation left me feeling that I had done a significant amount of the coordination myself while still paying for full-service planning.
Our wedding itself was beautiful, and we are incredibly grateful to the talented vendors who helped make the day special. However, I cannot say that Weddings by Shy made the planning process easier. If you are looking for a planner who is proactive, consistently responsive, prepared for meetings, and willing to advocate for your interests during vendor negotiations, our experience suggests you should carefully consider whether Weddings by Shy is the right fit. If I were planning my wedding again, I would choose a different planner.
