Weddingbee

Part One 

I was very disturbed by the possible deceitfulness that I’d uncovered, so I did what I always do in situations that leave me unsettled: I called my mom. My mom was already troubled that after weeks of supposed research, Planner X had only found three available venues. This new turn of events made her even more unhappy. Even though I’m a lawyer, I’m shy and non-confrontational by nature. My mom, on the other hand, can argue with the best of them and won’t back down. Basically, she’s the most sweet-natured, lovable bad-ass you will ever meet. So when my mom insisted on calling Planner X to find out what was going on, I let her.

Later that day, my mom called back to say she had spoken with Planner X. Planner X insisted it was all a misunderstanding– she said that all three venues must have mistakenly told her they were unavailable– a claim we found highly dubious. Then, Planner X told my mom that I should just leave the phone calls to her. Essentially, Planner X was telling me to stay out of it! Needless to say, my mom was not satisfied with this response and asked Planner X to release us from the contract with a return of our deposit. Planner X agreed and we parted ways.

The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth. I’d trusted Planner X with the most important day of my life, and what did I get out of it? At worst, she was untrustworthy and unscrupulous. At best, she was merely incompetent. To make matters worse, I felt a nagging sense of guilt: Had we been too hasty in firing her? Was I a control freak who couldn’t let the wedding planner do her job? Was Mr. Jasmine justified in suggesting I audition for Bridezillas?

I finally decided that yes, I can be a control freak and I needed to be okay with that. There was no shame in wanting to surround myself with reliable, trustworthy people. Still, I was feeling a little disillusioned with the idea of a planner at that point, so I decided to do the bulk of the planning myself and find a fabulous day-of coordinator instead.

I went back to my list of favorite planners and one name in particular stuck out to me: Angel Swanson of Events of Love and Splendor. A darling of the LA Knot boards, Angel was easily one of my favorite planners from the beginning. She was incredibly sweet, stylish, and had fantastic taste. She also struck me as extremely thorough, organized, and detail-oriented. The only reason we didn’t hire Angel in the first place was because my parents really wanted someone experienced in planning Indian weddings.

Well, this time it was round two and I went with my (vindicated) instincts. I emailed Angel and within a matter of days she was hired! I’ll provide a detailed “vendor review” next summer, but so far she has been a dream come true. She’s like a friend, confidant and savior all rolled into one.

With my initial troubles behind me, I’m free to move forward with actually getting my event planned. Although I hired Angel to be a “day-of” coordinator, she provides unlimited e-mail and telephone contact, and having her on my side has already paid off in spades. In Part Three, I’ll share my tips on choosing the right planner/coordinator/consultant for your special day!

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