EDITED: I added more photos to elaborate further on the review. I am a small business owner myself,…read moreso I know how imperative each contract can be. But because of that I think it is so incredibly important to be honest with yourself and your clients about what you can and cannot do. My sister never brought it up with Ashley because she did not want to give any bad feedback, but I would hate for another couple to experience the same on their wedding day. There is no point in hiring a coordinator if you are going to end up doing and planning it all yourself anyway.
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Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
My sister got married in Richmond in October of '24. I live in CA and helped her with whatever I could, but obviously, with a wedding, it helps to have someone with experience and knowledge of the industry and be hands-on on the ground.
Enter Ashley.
Now I did not work with Ashley directly nor do I know what her other skills entail, I can only go off of what I saw firsthand at both the rehearsal dinner and the actual wedding.
Mind you, it's been a full 6 months at this point so this isn't even an emotion-filled rant or anything. I'd simply hate for this to happen to another couple. Your wedding is supposed to be the most important day of your life. And a coordinator is there to ensure it is, right? I've gone through Ashley's website page by page a dozen times to see if maybe we expected more than what was promised.
My sister wanted her wedding to be very DIY, she had a very specific vision in mind for how she wanted it to look and feel. Part of that meant that they brought in a bunch of stuff from home. The few days before the wedding involved a ton of trips back and forth carting all the stuff to and from.
I first met Ashley at the rehearsal dinner the day before the wedding. She seemed to know what she was doing as she was guiding the wedding party and officiant through what the ceremony would entail.
The next morning, however, is when it became glaringly obvious that perhaps this was way more than one single person could handle. She was MIA when the groom tried calling and/or texting her so we ended up sending some family members to the venue to ensure someone would be there when vendors began to show up. They arrived about an hour or two before Ashley did. Since they had gotten a head start they had started decorating the church and reception area with all the fresh flowers. When they asked Ashley to takeover, she told them she wasn't a florist and therefore would not be handling any of the flowers.
Fast forward to when the wedding party starts showing up and she is again, nowhere to be found. A bridesmaid is having issues with her dress and I told her to find Ashley as I know most coordinators usually carry a disaster kit with them with basic sewing essentials, I figured she'd have a safety pin or skin tape to help, but no one could find her.
I'd say the worst of it though was everything after the wedding. While things had been somewhat consolidated to an area or two, stuff was thrown everywhere haphazardly. Maybe Ashley thought the other vendors were going to take care of it, maybe the other vendors thought she would? Either way, no one wants to show up the next morning to clean only to discover that nothing has been properly stored or put away!
Most importantly, the goddamn cake! My sister did different pies instead of cake, it doesn't matter, she still wanted to keep them for their one-year anniversary. Where were the slices left? Outside, in a box, with other random leftovers that were left out overnight.
I could go on and on about everything Ashley did and didn't do, but the truth is I would hate to have another couple hire her for a wedding only to find out the day of, they are going to be left on their own to figure it out for themselves.
Coordinating parties is nothing compared to weddings and it is beyond disrespectful that someone would use their weekend side-hustle to sell a "month-of coordinator" service when what was given was anything but.
Doing something as a hobby or because you are good at it is fine. But charging people hundreds or thousands of dollars to show up and not even do what you stated you would is just straight up nonsense.
