I normally do not leave negative reviews, but after everything that has happened I feel obligated to share my experience so other couples can make informed decisions.
After getting engaged last year, I began hearing from Josh White of Port Town Collective. He was a friend of a friend, and I had seen his floral work, which is genuinely beautiful. At the time we were planning to have our wedding in Italy, so I did not need his services. Despite that, he continued reaching out and attempting to involve himself between us and our Italian wedding planners. At one point he attempted to discredit my abilities by asking, "do you even speak Italian?" Mind you, I do have conversation Italian skills and he speaks NONE.
Eventually we decided not to do the wedding in Italy. When my first choice of wedding planner in Savannah was unavailable, I reached out to Josh and he immediately agreed to take on the event.
I had never planned a wedding before and trusted him to guide us through the process. Over a short time, I paid him a total of $170,000 toward planning, vendor deposits, and wedding expenses. Unfortunately, I later discovered that none of our vendor deposits had been paid. He continued to ask for more money and ended every message he sent me before our meetings by saying "bring your checkbook."
There were several red flags along the way that I now regret ignoring. Vendors were hesitant to work with him, and in some cases I was only able to secure vendors because of my own personal relationships. At one point he even told me that I was not allowed to communicate directly with my own vendors, which felt extremely inappropriate.
One of the most concerning issues was that invitations were sent out before venues had even been finalized or contracts signed.
With about 40 days before the wedding, after receiving multiple warnings from experienced professionals in the event industry and realizing how many essential details had not been handled, I made the difficult decision to end our working relationship.
Even then, I tried to handle the situation fairly. I offered him $15,000 for the time he had spent, which he agreed to in writing via email. After that agreement, he stopped responding completely, including to legal correspondence.
Because of this situation, my fiancé and I were left scrambling to rebuild our wedding plans on an extremely short timeline. Thankfully, many incredible professionals in the Savannah wedding and event industry stepped in to help us salvage our wedding with only a few weeks remaining. I am deeply grateful to them.
I want to be fair in saying that Josh does have creative talent and a good eye for design, particularly when it comes to florals. However, based on our experience, he did not demonstrate the organization, professionalism, or financial transparency necessary to plan and manage a large event.
I sincerely regret trusting him with such an important moment in our lives, and I hope sharing this experience helps other couples ask the right questions and protect themselves when choosing a planner. read more
