I debated on posting my review, even though I told the owner that I would be posting a negative…read morereview, because I come from a family of small business owners and know how reviews can impact the business. The more I thought about it, I would be upset if my experience happened to another couple. I'll be honest, if I could give them a negative review, I would.
Let me just start by saying that I was super excited to use this company to get married. Like everyone else, Covid19 changed our wedding plans, so we opted to get married on the canal and only have a few family members there. We booked our date (5/20/20), paid our fee (on 5/4) and received our confirmation email and text. Due to the courthouse being closed, we had difficulty getting our license, we called & text IWD several times (5/14), but never received a response. In the end, we were able to get our license, we called and text again to give an update, but no answer, no reply. The day was getting closer, but we had not heard a single word from IWD since the initial call when we booked everything. We started getting nervous that something had happened and we started looking at other options and started calling/texting IWD again. After the seventh or eighth call, we finally got a hold of someone, on 5/19. The office manager, Shelby and the owner, Angel, assured us that someone would be there, as planned, on 5/20 at the spot they set up to meet us at. The owner, Angel, personally assured us that someone else would be there since she was supposed to do the ceremony but was dealing with some personal issues. We were given an apology for the lack of communication and a family emergency excuse. No worries, we would still be able to get married. Family flew in from out of state and showed up...we drove to the canal and waited, and waited, and waited. We called, text, emailed - but no one bothered to reply. We all waited on the side of the road, dressed up, family waiting in cars and on the street, but no one from IWD bothered to tell us that they weren't coming. Eventually IWD did reply to a text, advising that they were still trying to find someone to show up, but that the "best they could do" is marry us the following week. I requested a refund, but they told me that they have a "no refund policy" - I explained that their policy is if we do not show - not that the company doesn't show up. I'm not sure if they understand the concept of getting married, you know, planning a day, having family there, etc. - it's not like we placed an order for food and they lost the order, it was meant to be a special day and their lack of professionalism was icing on the cake.
We ended up using SAME DAY WEDDINGS - who, at the last minute, came to their office to perform our ceremony. We did not have the canal wedding that we planned for, but SAME DAY WEDDINGS saved the day and got us officially married. They apologized for the OTHER company not doing their job and potentially ruining our day.
After several weeks, on 6/8, the owner answered the phone and gave me her family emergency story again, apologized and stated that she would issue a refund. A week later (6/15), still no refund and they still don't answer calls, texts or emails. I had to go through my bank to get my money back.
If you're even remotely considering using IWD for your special day, run the other way and use someone else!