Dana M McGinley Events & Design Reviews (%countItem)
Dana M McGinley Events & Design Rating
Address: 307 Montrose St, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States, 17110
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From the very beginning we let *** know our budget, which we exceeded significantly. She was not getting multiple quotes just using vendors she has relationships with. Some of the things we feel she did not do at all or did poorly include: 1) When deposits were due and how much they were for. We actually could’ve lost our venue because we did not know that they needed another deposit. Luckily my husband reads everything and knew about the deposit. 2) Invitations did not include the return address on the return envelope included in the invitations. So many returns were lost in the mail because of this mistake. 3) The invite list we sent noted each invitation should include a plus one. She ignored this when creating the invites and we received a number of guests asking if they could bring their significant others. 4) I was told she would put together a detailed timeline for all of our guests who were from out of town (85% of guest). She did not do that and the timeline she sent me had multiple critical mistakes. 5) The day of the wedding the layout and floor plan that we had agreed on was not the way the venue and the DJ set it up. 6) She never took ownership for any of these mistakes. 7) There was a major crisis the day of the wedding involving flowers for the cake. I believe she knew the flowers didn’t arrive well in advance of actually starting to address the situation. In which we had an hour until the ceremony started so I took apart my own bridesmaid’s bouquets and used those flowers for my cake. I ended up finding a solution for the cake and physically fixing it myself along with an associate from the cake vendor. It was later brought to my attention by the flower vendor that those flowers were not included among other items in the final quote that *** was in charge of. I would think as a wedding planner, she would notice that she was missing eight centerpieces and a three dozen of pink roses. Especially since she was so involved in the design of the cake. (See attached for rest)
From the very beginning, we let *** know our budget, which according to her, was more than the average wedding cost in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. *** was very confident that we could have the wedding of our dreams within our budget. *** had reassured us on numerous occasions that she was getting multiple quotes & estimates from different vendors to ensure we were getting the best price when in fact she was just actually using vendors whom she had a referral relationship with. Some did offer a monetary discount but only because she was our wedding planner, she never got quotes or vendors outside of the ones she typically used. We were significantly over budget and when asking her if we would still be within budget throughout the planning process she did not even know how much was already spent. I do feel she was very misleading in regards to vendors that she used. I ended up finding my own flower and design vendor which I believe she took a bad attitude towards which led to a catastrophe the day of the wedding. I will come back to this matter. As our wedding date approached it was very clear that *** was not tuned in to the wedding whatsoever. She actually had another wedding the day of ours! Once I found out about this, I was obviously very concerned considering the services that we had paid for. When I took those concerns to ***, she told me that her friend was going to be taking care of the other wedding and that she would be totally available all day for our wedding. This was not the case. She ended up having a doctor’s appointment the day of our wedding, in the morning (on a Saturday). She was not on site to assist the day of the wedding. In fact, she left the church directly after the ceremony and the reception didn’t even start for two more hours and we desperately needed her help coordinating photos. The wedding was an absolute nightmare. There was no time schedule given to the bus driver or the hotel for guests to know when the buses were coming and going. The guest arrived at the venue extremely early and there was no cocktail hour prepared. It was just extremely uncoordinated. She actually ended up leaving the wedding before the guest even started leaving. She stated she would stay until the end to ensure all vendors left in time and would assist in placing gifts in our limo when leavings. We had to do both of these ourselves since she left before the reception was over. My husband had to go out to talk to the bus drivers during the reception to ensure they knew the timing and so we could pass along the shuttle schedules to guests to return to their hotel.Some of the things we feel she did not do at all or did poorly include: 1) When deposits were due and how much they were for. We actually could’ve lost our venue because we did not know that they needed another deposit. Luckily my husband reads everything and knew about the deposit. 2) Invitations did not include the return address on the return envelope included in the invitations. So many returns were lost in the mail because of this mistake. 3) The invite list we sent noted each invitation should include a plus one. She ignored this when creating the invites and we received a number of guests asking if they could bring their significant others. 4) I was told she would put together a detailed timeline for all of our guests who were from out of town (85% of guest). She did not do that and the timeline she sent me had multiple critical mistakes. 5) The day of the wedding the layout and floor plan that we had agreed on was not the way the venue and the DJ set it up. 6) She never took ownership for any of these mistakes. 7) Vendor suggestions were absolutely terrible. 8) There was a major crisis the day of the wedding involving flowers for the cake. I believe she knew the flowers didn’t arrive well in advance of actually starting to address the situation. In which we had an hour until the ceremony started so I took apart my own bridesmaid’s bouquets and used those flowers for my cake. I ended up finding a solution for the cake and physically fixing it myself along with an associate from the cake vendor. It was later brought to my attention by the flower vendor that those flowers were not included among other items in the final quote that *** was in charge of. I would think as a wedding planner, she would notice that she was missing eight centerpieces and a three dozen of pink roses. Especially since she was so involved in the design of the cake. It was probably the thing her and I were most excited about.
Their budget which we discussed I felt was adequate and completely sufficient for their wedding. However, with Destiny’s ever growing need to impress people, her list of wants and extravagance increased so, that of course increased her budget. All of which was discussed prior to signing contracts with vendors and considering cost effective alternatives. I extended my relationship with vendors to her as a courtesy as I am often given better pricing or professional discounts, which can be provided in writing via the contracts. 1. Deposits: I reached out to the couple one to two weeks prior to deposits being due in addition to those vendors reaching out as well. Destiny would often deal with the West Shore Country Club on her own and when she didn’t like the answer they gave her, she’d reach out to me to try to have rules and pricing changed. 2. I have a record of these invitations as well as our interaction regarding these and this is simply false. I can provide a copy of these invitations as ordered. 3. I understand that the plus ones were confusing but that was due to Destiny not providing a proper guest list which I repeatedly asked for. Her response was to add and guest. 4. This is just simply confusing as all details for events related to the wedding were printed on the invitation. I had a working timeline that I produce for everything happening that day but isn’t appropriate for guest distribution. I’m also unsure of what she’s referring to as critical mistakes on this document. 5 & 6. The floor plan was exactly correct with the exception of the placement of the DJ which was a quick fix and not a big deal. All he had to do was slide slightly to the right. 7. This is completely fabricated. She is correct, there was a major issue with the cake flowers as JDK, the vendor they hired, did not leave flowers for the cake in the cooler as previously discussed. This however, was not a big deal, as much as she would like for it to be. I have a very close relationship with a florist very close to the venue who was going to bring me flowers for the cake (at no extra charge, and roses like she had wanted) but she insisted rather obnoxiously that we use her bridesmaids bouquets. This is NOT the solution I would’ve recommended or even considered but she was making a scene. I tried for a good five minutes to talk her out of ripping apart her bridesmaids’ flowers. As far as the quote goes, they used this vendor because he was a personal friend of ***’s and insisted that they’d get preferential pricing so cost comparison was not applicible nor did I see an itemized cost breakdown. As far as missing centerpieces, there were a few missing for cocktail tables and I did my job of troubleshooting and getting candle centerpieces for those tables. (Please note that it was not 8 but 3) but again, this was something they handled independently with JDK. I just followed up with delivery times and coordination of set up. She had nothing to do with fixing her own cake other than stomping around and berating the staff of multiple vendors. The bakery placed the flowers. Concerning the second booked wedding, I was not working this wedding personally but an associate of mine handled this wedding and it is completely irrelevant. As far as assisting with set up, I arrived on site as agreed upon as the country club staff completes set up based on our floor plans agreed upon prior to the event. I did leave the ceremony directly after to coordinate and oversee final details with the country club and prepare for the arrival of the client and guests. Please note that I do not coordinate photos, that is what they hired a photographer and assistant photographer for. Buses were coordinated properly as they need an itinerary prior to the event date. I can provide itinerary and proof of this coordination. I also met with them at the end of the evening (I cannot provide actual proof of that though). I agree that Destiny’s wedding was a nightmare but had nothing to do with logistics or planning. It all came down to her poor attitude and need for attention. I can provide multiple vendors and witnesses to this bad behavior.