Elegance Reserved

I picked this vendor based on a review from the knot I believe. And to say I’m disappointed would be an understatement. We used L. Bryant for day of services. I had already done most of the work and just needed someone to buffer any issues that may have come up from the vendors. Since I was the one who did all of the work– I didn’t want people calling me to ask where things should be placed the day of my wedding.
She was not able to make the open house at the reception venue, where we were supposed to talk layout and such things, but she informed me of this possibility days in advance so I wasn’t overly upset about this.
For the rehearsal– she showed up almost 1 hour late! We were doing the second walkthrough by the time she appeared. She called 5 minutes before to say she was in traffic and would be 30 mins or so late. Her «assistant» told the groomsman that she was not in traffic but with her boyfriend.
The day of the wedding– she did show up to my house early and provided some assistance, before leaving to supposedly go to the reception hall to set up (escort cards, table numbers, etc.) That did not happen. She did not show up to the reception hall until after guests had already begun to arrive. The guests were confused and the reception hall ended up making the decision to start the cocktail hour since time was running out. The limo bus caught a flat tire with the wedding party in transport to the reception. By the time she told me, my friends had already sent cars to pick up the wedding party. When she did come to tell me about the limo (somewhere around 5:10pm– 5:25pm) she still had table numbers in her hand. Why were they not on the tables? Some of the cards went on the wrong tables and I noticed on one of the pictures that the table card was upside down.
I had a special condiment made to go along with dinner that was supposed to be on the tables for dinner along with explanation cards. My MOH had to ensure these were put on the tables during the cocktail hour. She had to pull the coordinator away from listening to a private conversation I was having in order to complete this task.
The most embarrassing thing is that guests were coming up to me during the reception to tell me they didn’t know what her function was, that she wasn’t doing a damn thing. During the reception!
My husband said that she basically got free money because she didn’t do anything– and coming from him– it had to be bad. He is the easiest going person there is.
The old adage is true– you get what you pay for. I was trying to save some money. If you really want a coordinator– pay the extra money or just do it yourself.