Horrible Coordinator
I was extremely disappointed with how the day unfolded. I hired Kate as a coordinator specifically so that I could enjoy my wedding day without having to manage logistics, vendors, timelines, and problems myself. Instead, I found myself coordinating many aspects of the event throughout the day, which created unnecessary stress and took away from moments I should have been able to enjoy with my family and guests.
From the beginning of the day, there appeared to be a lack of organization and proactive management. There were multiple situations that required attention, communication, and direction that I expected would be handled by you as the coordinator. Instead, I was repeatedly pulled into addressing issues and making decisions that should have already been managed.
As a result, what should have been a smooth and enjoyable experience felt chaotic and, at times, on the verge of becoming a major disaster. The primary reason I invested in day-of coordination services was to avoid exactly this situation.
Here is a list of majority of the situations that occurred, in conjunction with deliverables she did not meet in her scope of services:
- Every vendor asked me who Kate is & they never received a timeline directly from her in the weeks leading up to.
- I saw Kate one time at my bridal suite, I don’t even recall what time I saw her. My husband did not see her at all.
- My photographers & videographer had zero idea where we should be taking our first look photos, groomsmen & bridesmaid photos, family photos, etc., since she was nowhere to be seen & she never communicated with the venue to bring the golf cart to our suite so that we can be brought around the 77 acres of property. This absence of communication led to my photographer having to coordinate the entire day leading up to the ceremony.
- No arrangements had been made with the venue for transportation around the property, despite our expectation that this would be coordinated. As a result, my photographer was forced to coordinate much of the day’s logistics.
- I had my bride & groom photos by one patch of grass, I was extremely frustrated knowing we had an entire property we completely missed our opportunity to take advantage of. By the 10th time of me asking where my coordinator is, I made my sister’s husband go search for her at the barn.
- My sister’s husband was eyewitness to her lack of coordination at the barn when he realized he had to step in to help set up. Since I was smart enough to create a presentation of all my decor in order to streamline the process (which I provided het & all the other vendors), he was able to communicate the design vision.
- My florist had to step in to setup decor that Kate was supposed to do.
- The catering team had to step in to setup decor that Kate was supposed to do.
- The workers from the venue had to step in to setup decor that Kate was supposed to do.
- Throughout the entire duration of the day I had to keep asking what time it is to make sure we are on time. My photographers were only aware of the schedule because I’ve been the one communicating with them leading up to this day. Again, they had no idea who Kate was & all my vendors never received a timeline from her.
- After the ketubah signing, we were golf carted up to the barn. I noticed my buffet menu’s were not put on the gold stands I provided. At this time this is when I finally saw Kate after only seeing her once at the suites. I asked why the buffet menu’s were not posted up. She said they kept “blowing in the wind & they won’t stay up”. Not only was there no wind at all, I actually did a mock up of this set up prior to the big day, not once did they ever fall. I also had witnesses tell me after the event you never once tried to put them on the gold stands. The boxes to open the stands were still taped, so I know she did not even try to post them up. That was another disappointment of the night because this was a part of my vision that I planned for so long & she did not even try to set this up.
- My bar menu on a gold stand was not set up either at the bar. It was still in the clear packaging. I spent countless hours putting that together so that people can know what the open bar was.
- The signature drink mirror menu was not displayed during cocktail hour, so majority of my guests did not know what the signature drinks were.
- I had to let the golf cart lady know about picking me up to do touch ups at the suite because she had no idea about the touch ups. This was something Kate needed to communicate with the venue, but she was nowhere to be found.
- At the end of cocktail hour, the DJ let us know to meet outside the barn so we can gather for our intros. She gathered all the bridesmaids in the bathroom, which the DJ was very confused why because we needed to all hear his direction outside.
- At the start of dinner, tables were supposed to be called to our sweetheart table to take a photo with us first and then go get food. My photographer still was asking “who is Kate?” and the catering company did not see where Kate was to help coordinate all of this. It was extremely chaotic & not successful. The photographer was going on my cue to either take a photo, tell him what table number is here, etc., with the extra help of the catering team. Again, this is something I should not have had to coordinate in the middle of my dinner eating & getting table photos. It caused me a great deal of stress. If it were not for me constantly checking what time it is, this was on the verge of being a complete disaster.
- Kate left the wedding early without our acknowledgement.
- She did not pack everything up and left it to be the catering team & venue’s responsibility to pack everything up. That is not their job to do that, that’s what we paid a coordinator for.
I was extremely surprised when she told me she was doing this entire wedding by herself. She absolutely needed 1-2 helpers. My wedding was a $100,000+ wedding, if it weren’t for my extreme sense of organization & coordination on my end, this would have been a disaster.
- At some point at the end of the night I saw a bunch of my centerpieces fall & shatter. I immediately thought to myself “well if my coordinator was here it would have been packed up & secure. But she is gone.” That was $2,000 worth of centerpieces now in the garbage.
- The next day I had my Farewell Brunch, I had to immediately go back to the venue at around 12:30 / 1:00pm to pack up everything in my dress. I could not find my veil, my husbands Tallis, we were missing all of our stuff.
- When we entered the bridal suite, it looked like a war zone. Nothing was packed up for us to pick up. We had to clean the entire suite.
- I had to hire last minute crew members to come help me pack all of my stuff up & I noticed a bunch of my cardboard boxes were destroyed. These centerpieces took me hours upon hours to store properly & keep neat. Now I have destroyed cardboard boxes ripped open & unusable.
The services provided fell significantly short of the expectations established during our planning process, what is listed in her scope of services, and of what is generally expected from a professional day-of coordinator.
I wanted to share this feedback directly because the experience was deeply disappointing and did not reflect the level of service I was hiring. Rather than being able to focus on celebrating with my husband, family, and guests, I found myself repeatedly coordinating vendors, managing timelines, addressing problems, and directing setup throughout the day. The result was an experience that felt disorganized, stressful, and unnecessarily chaotic. I am obligated to share my experience in detail to warm all future brides to re-consider hiring Kate as your coordinator. I am deeply traumatized & caused a great deal of stress & sadness that I can never get back for this special day. I addressed my concerns to Kate and she refused to offer me a refund, even went as far as saying I was harassing her & that she considers this matter closed. She was not a pleasure to work with & all the vendors involved on my wedding (I will not mention specific names) do not want to work with her in the future. I pray she learns from this, can someday take accountability, & do the right thing in the future. If I could redo my wedding all over again, I would not have hired Kate.
