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More and more brides are opting to have a planner help them sort out the little details and programming for their wedding these days. Every bride seek to have a very personalized and unique wedding. And because of that, many are turning to 'professional' planner to help them plan their dream wedding...thinking that these planners will have more experienced and expertise. I just had my wedding 2 weeks ago...and had changed 2 planners in the course of the planning.

Of course no one is perfect or can read your mind and do exactly as how you'd imagined your wedding to be, but if they can't even cover the basics properly, then i'd say fire the planner. Please DO NOT hire services from these two companies as they've been a complete letdown for me, with no signs of them wanting to improve their services:

- Marry Factory (Sylvia and Louise)

- The Wedding Project (Laverne)

The first planner, which was Marry Factory, boasts about her portfolio and all the 'amazing' wedding she had planned but when it comes down to it, they were extremely inexperienced (even my caterer gives more input and advice!) and were at loss of what to do. Yes, they're organized and detailed but they lack ideas, input and vision. Also, the thing which really pissed me off about them is, they always have the vendors' interest at heart, not so much the bride( who's actually paying the fee!)! And their suggested vendors are more expensive than the ones i found on my own. Instead of them sharing contacts with me (because they were lazy to source and had no initiative, they took my contacts instead). We hired them for semi-planning thinking we've got our concepts and we needed help in realizing those, but in the end, I felt like I was the planner and she was the bride....because i'm always updating her on my plans and what i'm gonna do. Also, after hearing horror stories from another friend who hired them, I'm convinced i need to let them go. Apparently, they lost my friend's wedding album. Also, another thing that put me off, was that Sylvia was not honest with me, when i signed with them, i didn't know she was also planning her wedding (which was about 3 weeks apart from my wedding-- how is she gonna focus if she's got her OWN wedding to plan?!) How very unprofessional!

The second planner, seemed more professional, but again, I was deceived. I signed with them because they promised extra services and convinced me that they've done wedding planning as a husband & wife team for many many years. Again, they seemed very organized and detailed, but one can only know how effective they are when it comes time for them to execute and carry out the work. Turns out, the 'hubs' weren't even in the industry, he's just a 'helper', so most of the time he's clueless and waiting for instructions from the wife. The 'wife' had signs of being a good planner, but what i felt so disappointed was she was extremely calculative with us. She kept reminding us what she can do, and what she won't do. I thought the whole point of being a planner is to help the bride and her family smoothen out the process and make everything as hassle-free as possible, not her. On the day of the wedding, the vendors still come to me for clarification and briefing. SHe complained to all my friends and family about her scope of work, saying she's not supposed to do this, or that, so i had to relieve her of some of her 'duties' thinking she' could focus more on other parts and do a better job. Yet she screwed up. She complained there's too much to do, and not enough people, so i got my friends and relatives to help out, the only thing she needs to do is to brief them, yet she screwed up. On the day of the wedding, she got an 'extra' helper to help, but turned out, the extra person is pregnant and clueless and unwilling to do much. And what was so ironic was, their service description and mission statement said "why let our friends and relatives do the planning for us, because they may not be experience and they should enjoy the wedding instead,...should hire professionals to ensure everything run smoothly during the wedding day..." But i felt so thankful i had my friends and relatives to save the day! I could go on and on....but you get my gist.

So here are some tips:

1- Be careful who you choose. Usually you can't really tell from just one meeting with them. These initial meetings are where they'll do everything to impress you, but at the end of the day, it's what they can really do and how they do it. Their 'portfolios' usually don't mean much because they can easily 'steal' and claim others' credit as their work.

2- Look for problem solvers and planners who have great initiative (don't always wait for you to tell them what you want) Alot of times, these lousy planners will look at you and shrug their shoulders whenever there's problems. And they'll sneakily ask you what YOU want to do (so they can be free of any responsibility). Always asked them for solution/ alternatives and what they think-- that's what you're paying them for right? Their expertise and advice?

3- Don't pay everything upfront. Some will insist you pay the full amount just before your wedding. Check your contract and ask them to revise to what you're comfortable with.

4- Before you sign their agreement, add a few of your own so that it's fair. Usually vendor's contract are very lopsided, and only protects their own interests, not yours.

5- check their vibes, if they don't even give you good vibes to begin with, don't hire them. Work with someone you feel comfortable and can be yourself with. Don't forget, this person will have to know you to be able to plan your dream wedding for you.

6- Lastly, a good planner will always have your best interests at heart....and not trying to 'push' a certain vendor so they can earn commission. Make sure you're cc-ed in all emails.

Hope all these helps in your planning.

You can definitely cut these two companies out of your selection.

Happy planning and wish you all the best in your marriage!

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Hi Scent / Kimberly,

There are two sides to a story on what may happen on the wedding day.

We believe that you have misunderstood us when you said we complained to all your friends, but the fact is that we were merely answering one of your friend's questions. Just like how you have misunderstood that our staff is pregnant, whereby she's not pregnant and not married.

As per our email conversation thread below, we are truly sorry that your wedding did not turn out as perfect as you wanted it to be. However believe that we have kept our promise and we gave extra mile and tried our best to assist you in our wedding.

Regards,

Laverne

The Wedding Project

Refer full email thread: https://www.dropbox.com/s/iy6ann4w8ntoq87/malaysiabrideforum.pdf

malaysiabrideforum.pdf

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More and more brides are opting to have a planner help them sort out the little details and programming for their wedding these days. Every bride seek to have a very personalized and unique wedding. And because of that, many are turning to 'professional' planner to help them plan their dream wedding...thinking that these planners will have more experienced and expertise. I just had my wedding 2 weeks ago...and had changed 2 planners in the course of the planning.

Of course no one is perfect or can read your mind and do exactly as how you'd imagined your wedding to be, but if they can't even cover the basics properly, then i'd say fire the planner. Please DO NOT hire services from these two companies as they've been a complete letdown for me, with no signs of them wanting to improve their services:

- Marry Factory (Sylvia and Louise)

- The Wedding Project (Laverne)

The first planner, which was Marry Factory, boasts about her portfolio and all the 'amazing' wedding she had planned but when it comes down to it, they were extremely inexperienced (even my caterer gives more input and advice!) and were at loss of what to do. Yes, they're organized and detailed but they lack ideas, input and vision. Also, the thing which really pissed me off about them is, they always have the vendors' interest at heart, not so much the bride( who's actually paying the fee!)! And their suggested vendors are more expensive than the ones i found on my own. Instead of them sharing contacts with me (because they were lazy to source and had no initiative, they took my contacts instead). We hired them for semi-planning thinking we've got our concepts and we needed help in realizing those, but in the end, I felt like I was the planner and she was the bride....because i'm always updating her on my plans and what i'm gonna do. Also, after hearing horror stories from another friend who hired them, I'm convinced i need to let them go. Apparently, they lost my friend's wedding album. Also, another thing that put me off, was that Sylvia was not honest with me, when i signed with them, i didn't know she was also planning her wedding (which was about 3 weeks apart from my wedding-- how is she gonna focus if she's got her OWN wedding to plan?!) How very unprofessional!

The second planner, seemed more professional, but again, I was deceived. I signed with them because they promised extra services and convinced me that they've done wedding planning as a husband & wife team for many many years. Again, they seemed very organized and detailed, but one can only know how effective they are when it comes time for them to execute and carry out the work. Turns out, the 'hubs' weren't even in the industry, he's just a 'helper', so most of the time he's clueless and waiting for instructions from the wife. The 'wife' had signs of being a good planner, but what i felt so disappointed was she was extremely calculative with us. She kept reminding us what she can do, and what she won't do. I thought the whole point of being a planner is to help the bride and her family smoothen out the process and make everything as hassle-free as possible, not her. On the day of the wedding, the vendors still come to me for clarification and briefing. SHe complained to all my friends and family about her scope of work, saying she's not supposed to do this, or that, so i had to relieve her of some of her 'duties' thinking she' could focus more on other parts and do a better job. Yet she screwed up. She complained there's too much to do, and not enough people, so i got my friends and relatives to help out, the only thing she needs to do is to brief them, yet she screwed up. On the day of the wedding, she got an 'extra' helper to help, but turned out, the extra person is pregnant and clueless and unwilling to do much. And what was so ironic was, their service description and mission statement said "why let our friends and relatives do the planning for us, because they may not be experience and they should enjoy the wedding instead,...should hire professionals to ensure everything run smoothly during the wedding day..." But i felt so thankful i had my friends and relatives to save the day! I could go on and on....but you get my gist.

So here are some tips:

1- Be careful who you choose. Usually you can't really tell from just one meeting with them. These initial meetings are where they'll do everything to impress you, but at the end of the day, it's what they can really do and how they do it. Their 'portfolios' usually don't mean much because they can easily 'steal' and claim others' credit as their work.

2- Look for problem solvers and planners who have great initiative (don't always wait for you to tell them what you want) Alot of times, these lousy planners will look at you and shrug their shoulders whenever there's problems. And they'll sneakily ask you what YOU want to do (so they can be free of any responsibility). Always asked them for solution/ alternatives and what they think-- that's what you're paying them for right? Their expertise and advice?

3- Don't pay everything upfront. Some will insist you pay the full amount just before your wedding. Check your contract and ask them to revise to what you're comfortable with.

4- Before you sign their agreement, add a few of your own so that it's fair. Usually vendor's contract are very lopsided, and only protects their own interests, not yours.

5- check their vibes, if they don't even give you good vibes to begin with, don't hire them. Work with someone you feel comfortable and can be yourself with. Don't forget, this person will have to know you to be able to plan your dream wedding for you.

6- Lastly, a good planner will always have your best interests at heart....and not trying to 'push' a certain vendor so they can earn commission. Make sure you're cc-ed in all emails.

Hope all these helps in your planning.

You can definitely cut these two companies out of your selection.

Happy planning and wish you all the best in your marriage!

Thanks for the advice above. Actually friend of mine engaged with Marry Factory and they are quite unhappy for the actual day. My friend paid Louise for the wedding planning fee which cost about few thousand... so louise supposed to perform the duty and carry out the wedding planning by engaging to vendors of different category. Make up (3 choices at least or 5 max for client to choose... but like you mentioned, they are plain lazy, only propose 2 contacts. Then later my friend found out that, Merry factory - Louise actually charge commision on wedding make up artist which is very unethical for wedding planner to do that, not only that, basically all the vendors that they deal with and my friend call all of them vendors to find out herself... 2 of them denied because they afraid louise will not give them job in the future. Their commision is 15% from each vendor, meaning around RM200 per vendor they are taking their commision. They were 6 vendors in total.... RM1200 depending on the amount.

Then later, my friend start to google, and make calls because my friend was frustrated on her wedding, she had an argument with the make up artist on the man power supply. My friend told louise that 4 make up artist is needed for 9 bridesmaid and bride's mother and 2 sis... so louise wanted to make more profit... she 2 squeezes the make up artist to do faster job, in shorter timing... and make up usually takes 2 hours for the bride and hair styling and 1 hours plus for each bridesmaid...It's not make up artist' fault and she just plain taking order... and planner thinks she knows best (this is the problem with "i know all" wedding planner) .... especially louise, i seen her personally and she should have a humble pie... my friend too, she shouldn't turn into bridezella and shouting at make up artist when her request is not met, but don't expect a bride to understand something on her big day i guess.. my friend also found out that Sylvia from Marry factory were fired by Dr. Khoo (The owner of adamas wedding planning school).. Sylvia set up a company with louise, behind Dr. Khoo's back.... They are now being famous for business unethical and they are very money minded.

I am planning for my own wedding planning, and i am slowly expose to this wedding planning tips.. and including how to find a good wedding planner, sometimes, communication with wedding planner can be crucial... they must be professional and have business ethics.. if they have attitude problem, i seriously don't think they can perform a task. Haiya.... !!

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There are decent Wedding Planners....and there are also many bad and useless Wedding Planners. I have seen so many negative ones...I really lost count d.

If you want to know more, pls email me at events.empire@gmail.com

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so sorry to hear these stories from BTBs.

Do check out the links below for DIY BTBs Tips and also List of reputable planners if you wish to engage one. Also , a lot of vendors information for research purposes.

Wedding Planners - To Hire or Not : http://bashful-brides.blogspot.com/2012/11/wedding-planners-to-hire-or-not.html

List of Planners :http://www.bashful-brides.blogspot.com/search/label/Planners

DIY BTBs Tips :http://www.bashful-brides.blogspot.com/search/label/DIY

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Out of all the 600++ Weddings we have done, 95% or more did not engage Wedding Planners. No point wasting your hard earned money on WP when you can do everything yourself.

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Dear all lovely grooms and brides-to-be contemplating to hire a wedding planner or even those who need an event planner, I do not have a good wedding or event planner to recommend. However I can tell you one wedding/event planner which you may want to steer clear of. This is our fair and honest comment, nothing malicious, no ill-intention and strictly spoken from our very unfortunate personal experiences as clients dealing with this event company, Pathway Events. We hope that this would help others make a more informed decision when hiring a wedding planner, especially when she/he can make or break your big day. Because this is a fair comment, I will admit that I was not one of the easiest clients because I did have expectations. After all, who doesn't on their big day and after forking out good money for their services? I may be difficult but I know the best way forward is to be civil but this word very clearly doesn't exist in the wedding planner's dictionary.

Let's start with the good things they did - they did get us some good deals from the restaurant for us such as a free pianist, kept to 80% of what they were required to do for the wedding (talk about the power of money and more money). What they were most efficient for (and reasonably expected) - demanding for payments and arranging for food tasting session (where the wedding planner and her friends also invited themselves to and ate), quick to suggest many little things that you need to pay for, like unnecessary photo frames, had 4 wedding planners and staff present just for our very small wedding but not entirely sure what most of the staff did apart from walking around with files in their hands.

Now, let's get to the stuff that they made us really unhappy with - unprofessional and rotten attitude. The lady I dealt with Ms C is probably one of the most unprofessional persons I have ever dealt with. While she did follow up with what she was expected to do, this lady does not take criticisms and feedback well. Let's start with our wedding invitation cards, despite us being very clear with what we wanted and even prepared drafts with clear instructions for her, she gave us what she/her designers wanted, not what we wanted. When we rejected the ideas presented to us, she did not take it very well. Only after many exchange of less than polite emails, did she get what we wanted - more or less. That's the first drama. The next drama came in the form of food/name tags. She claimed that her designers knew Chinese but when we saw the draft of these tags, you could imagine horror. The Chinese words on the tags looked like they had been ripped off Google Translate. We had to spend several days just to correct all these mistakes. Even after sending them the correct draft, they continued to make mistakes on the tags. What could have been done in one shot took several. Talk about time is precious. 

As a wedding planner, I felt that she should have been more attentive and empathetic. Instead she gave us the feeling that we were not important because we had a small event. She was not very meticulous with her updates; missing out some details towards the last few weeks before the wedding. Fine, we understand that we were not the only ones getting married. The biggest drama came in the form of after service. This lady arranged for a photographer to take our wedding photos. When the photos turned out to be really badly taken, we gave her our feedback which she did not take very well at all. We asked if the photographer was a newbie, considering how the photos turned out, how disappointed our family and friends were as we did not have that many decent photographs as many were taken at rather awkward angles, and that we would send some photos back to her for retouching. The response we got from her was, something along the line, she said, 'We thought the photos were nice, I guess it's subjective. I don't know what your expectations are but please note that the venue is tight and the photographer did what he could to capture the photos. How do you want me to help you? 'Venue is tight' isn't an excuse for not taking decent photographs. I paid you and the photographer good money to take decent photographs.

As a wedding planner, if you can't even work out your client's expectations, then I figure out you have a long way to go or you should just quit being a wedding planner. So I told her, this is our honest feedback but whether you/photographer accept the feedback, this is beyond us. I told her that venue being tight should not be an excuse not to have decent photographs, and it would be meaningless to talk about what the photographer should have/should not have done at that moment. I also told her I would speak no more and that this text would mark the end of our communication on the issue. What came next was really ridiculous - she started personally attacking and insinuated that I was fussy. She brought up a photographer which I had hired a year ago to take our pre-wedding photos, which also turned out to be disastrous. At that point, I asked her if she knew anyone who could help to retouch the photos. I shared both batches of photos with friends and families and all agreed that they were unskilled. The photographer whom I complained to this lady loves taking photographs of subject from under their chins; he has the magical power of making even skinny people look like they need to go on diet plans, and let's not even get to people who are already big like my dad. So it was my bad luck. I did hire a third photographer to take another batch of wedding photos and they all turned out to be stunning even without editing. So I am pretty sure, the problem isn't so much with me. The best part of her response - I should have told the photographer what kind of poses and angles, particularly I complained about the photographer I hired a year ago and things are based on mutual understanding. My understanding is that you would take good photos of me, and you would do your best to take good photos of me. Oh yeah, if I were a super model, yeah, that would be plausible. The thing is the disappointing remarks came from family and friends - so did she just suggest that I time-travel and stand right next to my relatives and friends and tell them how to pose during the wedding? I told her that if she could not accept feedback, just leave it at that and it was not appropriate for her to bring up a separate issue which did not concern her as well as not to use it to personally attack me. I also told her not to respond any more because her remarks were getting more and more ridiculous and stupid, and she was only wasting my time. I heard she was one of the co-owners of this company; that's sad because this is the kind of mentality she exhibits and you do not expect adults like her who claimed to be so well-experienced to make such childish remarks. 

If she had responded, 'sorry to hear about the photos. Let me speak to the photographer and see what he could do for you or would you like to speak to the photographer directly?', she would have earned herself respect. For her and her friends to think that the badly taken photos were very good, you can probably expect what kind of quality you will be getting from her, or may be if your wedding is a super grand one, unlike a small one like mine, may be you will get a different treatment from her.  

Good luck, my friends. We hope you will never have to endure what we went through. Pre-wedding and during the wedding are important but post-wedding is equally important, especially when we have to deal with problem like this.

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Sorry to hear about your experience with Pathway Events. however..anyone can register in this site and say anything .... so I think to make your posting more trustworthy ... can you at least state the Venue and the date of your wedding dinner?  Only then will people find your post more convincing. There were many incidents in this site where competitors posed as 'Brides' and talked bad about other competitors. I am not saying you are.... but we need some verification that you are not one of them.

So please state the venue and the date of your Wedding dinner. We wont know who you are anyway if you tell us.

 

Edited by 1300

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