How Well Do You Know Your Wedding Planner?


People put a lot of trust into wedding and event planners. After all, wedding planners are responsible to make sure that every aspect of your big day is being addressed, hassle free. Or at least that”s the way it”s supposed to unfold.

Unfortunately around 50 couples found out the hard way about what can happen when an event planners breaks their promise. Recently these couples found out that their wedding planner (who also happened to be the lessee of the venue that they had booked as well) has filed for bankruptcy. Which means they have very little chance of recuperating the deposits that they had paid.

A nightmare to say the least.

Wedding Planners – Most Venues Require Deposits

While it’s true that pretty much all venues require a deposit, the question remains what could have been done differently by these couples to help minimize their losses? As outlined in a Toronto Star article, a few couples did seek legal advice regarding their options. Unfortunately, it seems, their options are akin to getting blood from a stone. While they are within their legal rights at attempting to recuperate their losses, in reality their chances are slim.

Tips to Help Your Relationship with Wedding Planners

To quote an old expression “hindsight is 2020”. The fact that these couples have lost their deposits is devastating. Instead of being excited, and nervous, about the big day, many are now scurrying in an attempt to salvage what they can of their wedding plans.

While I admit that it’s virtually impossible to determine whether or not your wedding or event planner is right for you, there are a few steps that you should take to ensure you”re in the right hands.

Deposits If requested to make a deposit on a venue, ask your wedding planner if you can do this with your credit card. And while you”re at it, it doesn’t hurt to see if they can just authorize the amount to your credit card rather than charging it all together at deposit time. That way, you may have a better chance at recuperating some of your losses by dealing with your credit card company versus the disgraced wedding planner.

References I know this sounds like a no-brainer but you would be amazed at the amount of people that do not check references. And I really don’t know why. We’ve been taught to do this early on in our careers yet it seems to be a task that we let fall to the wayside. And not that checking references could have prevented anything. But, there are times that you pick up little tidbits of information about your potential wedding or event planner that might just make you think twice. So make a commitment to do this from now on.

Backup Plan I know, you pick the very best wedding venue in the world and you don”t want to have to settle for an alternate. Well, if you take that attitude, then you just might find yourself in a situation similar to these couples in Toronto. Create a backup plan and make that plan something that you would be comfortable with if you needed to implement it. However, your hopes are that you”ll never have to look at your backup plan (in a perfect world).

Read the full Toronto Star article here:  50 couples scramble for wedding venues after event planner evicted

Wedding planners are supposed to be the pillar of your big day. However, when a wedding or event planner goes missing (or rather your money goes missing), your big day can be in jeopardy. Make sure you do as much homework as possible before selecting the right wedding planner for you.

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