I really should have trusted my gut. She does not deserve what she was paid and has made no…read morereparations or even taken ownership of her poor performance. So now I am doing what I can to warn any future brides to STAY AWAY. It's really upsetting that a few days after my wedding in the moments I'm thinking about how poorly she did her job. She has not replied now for a few days so I feel as if my only recourse is to save other brides the headache of hiring her.
She offered to go to the rental company to show us the furniture we can rent The time came and went with no text or email from Katie. My confidence was very low at this point, but the next time we went in for a tasting with Josh, she was there and profusely apologized. I included this because it speaks to her inability to manage her communication and timing and juggle multiple events. (She said she was very busy with another event at the time).
When we met with Josh, she would take notes. She shared a VERY rough draft of the timeline. There were words spelled wrong, missing details, and mixed-up information, which is worrying for a bride who expects her coordinator to keep the wedding day on track. I brushed it off and amended the errors or made comments for her to fix them.
She told me her work should not begin till one month out from the wedding, so there was no point in sharing a messy timeline early. However, I do think a wedding coordinator should know to spell "ring bearer" and not "bairer"
Katie helped me connect with a rental company. She did connect me with an AMAZING florist too.
Rehearsal dinner came, she did come in with candles and table clothes and make everything look really nice. She told me to not worry about picking up the rehearsal dinner that her and her team would do it.
She picked a great placement for our couples table. When my mom and mother in law gave venue feedback, I would expect a coordinator to be cordial, instead she told dismissively told them "It's fine", she could've said "I'll make sure the bride and groom are happy with the layout." I agreed with the feedback from my mom and mother in law so I told her to make the changes.
Things really fell apart the DAY OF shes...our DAY OF COORDINATOR.
She made little snack boards for the bridal party. If she had done a survey prior to the wedding, that was NOT the most important task to be focused on.She told the groomsmen to meet her in the saloon, she never showed up, the photgrapher put on their boutonnieres. Our photographer had to dry and hand out bouquets because Katie was MIA.
I realized I could not go outside to line up or I would see my groom, so I stayed in the cottage with my dad. I left my bouquet and I realize this is my fault. At the aisle I hear my mom say "bouquet!" Katie no where in sight, my photographer had to miss photo moments to run and get it. Later when I saw Katie I said 'I can't believe I walked without my bouquet. And she said, "I know I was doing a whiskey shot and DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE". WHISKEY SHOT?? WHY IS SHE DRINKING ON THE JOB.
There were so many moments where I was saying "Where is Katie???" I feel like after I walk down the aisle she was constantly MIA. My guests said they saw her inside taking photos of it and posting on snapchat.
I, as the bride, should be celebrating, but instead I am constantly remembering moments in timeline we were not hitting, especially before the photographer leaves, including LICENSE SIGNING, CAKE CUTTING, BOUQUET DEDICATION.
When I confronted Katie about this after the wedding, she said we were behind schedule. If DAY OF she had asked me, I would have said let's go straight into cake cutting from here instead of opening up dancing. She never even told me that we were behind schedule or gave me a chance to pivot. This is because she was literally MIA. When we went to cut cake, we could not find her, my photographer had to go run and find her. Also, speaking of cake, you should have had me send you a photo of a cake beforehand instead of just saying, "I asked her if there was supposed to be something else". She did not usher ppl outside for the cutting and both our immediate families missed it entirely. A lot of guests had left already too.
Where Katie lacked, my bridesmaids and my photographer had to make up for. My bridesmaids did say your assistant was nice and helpful and completing tasks that they delegated. She had cleanup on the schedule the night of our wedding. If/when you have clean up on the schedule, you should remind the couple you have not been hired to do any cleanup and they would probably pay you an extra money to do that for them. We are obviously not going to be cleaning up the night of our wedding so there's no reason to have it on the schedule really. The package we selected said "take-down of bridal provided decor" and none of my provided decor was taken down. When I messaged Katie, all she did was defend herself, and did not address drinking on the job.
