wedding coordinator :: Some Kind of Wonderful Wedding Service

Mrs. R - 11/16/2007 Awful
This is a difficult review to write. On the one hand, Franie is very sweet and organized. She returns emails promptly and is easy to get a hold of via phone. For those who are creatively challenged, I am told she can be quite helpful. Part of her popularity is that she is quite affordable.

This brings me to the flipside of the situation. This is definitely a case of you get what you pay for. Franie is very new to the wedding industry and it shows. Anyone can be nice, sweet and helpful in the planning process. On your wedding day, you need someone with leadership and problem solving skills. Franie lacks assertiveness and confidence. My friends who happen to work in the wedding business were surprised and disappointed that I had someone so ill-equipped coordinating my wedding.

Example 1: Most of our bridal party was from out of town. Because of airline delays, more than half did not make it to our rehearsal. We had other family members stand in for them at the rehearsal. Our rehearsal was very disorganized. She was not authoritative. My younger cousins (in their early 20s) goofed around and did not pay attention to her. They were terribly rude, but as a coordinator Franie should have been able to reign them in.

Example 2: I found out 3 days before the wedding that I had to be at the venue the entire time because the contract was in my name. In the months proceeding the wedding, this was NEVER mentioned to me by my venue. This meant that I had to get ready at my venue, which did not have a bridal room, just regular bathrooms. I suggested that I just show up dressed even if it's 2 hours before the ceremony. She was afraid my dress would get wrinkled and dirty. What was Franie's suggestion? Ask a friend to borrow a screen. That way, I could get ready in the corner of the reception room. I ended up getting ready in a storage closet. It was awkward, but more private than a corner of the reception room.

Example 3: She asked me for a list of my vendors. I gave her what I believed to be a complete list. I neglected to list my linen rentals. She failed to ask me about it. The day of the wedding they were not delivered on time. Instead of continuing with the rest of the reception setup, she just freaked out and went back and forth asking where the linens were. She was a complete spazz. Lucky for me the waistaff and caterer I hired were very experienced. They placed all the items that were to go on the table next to each table. When the linens did show up, they just put everything on the table in a matter of minutes. This was their idea, not Franie's. Franie was still panicking. They spent the rest of the reception ignoring her.

Example 4: My venue is tucked into a neighborhood in Pasadena. It is not very well-known. I emphasized this to Franie. I even went on to say to NOT use mapquest to find the venue because the directions you will get are very convoluted. I gave her several sets of specific directions to the venue. She did not use them nor did she relay them to any of my vendors. I emailed the directions to my vendors, but she did not verify that they understood them, just when they were arriving at my venue. As a result, many of our vendors got lost. My husband ended up having to get on the phone throughout the day to give people corrected directions and help them find their way.

Example 5: Franie was a spastic basketcase. She was so frenetic and not in control that my caterer and waistaff ignored her. My bridal party ignored her as well. She was such a wreck that most of my family kept asking who the guest was that was running around acting crazy. I had to explain she was the coordinator. They were shocked. The best part is she didn't know how to get out of the way of the pictures. She stood in the way of my photographer for my ceremony processional and recessional. So, I have Franie or part of her in all of my ceremony pictures.

As a side note, Franie is a questionable vendor. I'd think carefully before hiring her. Franie is grossly unprofessional. She does not take criticism well. She went to great lengths to have me banned from the knot.com for my original neutral review.

Regina - 08/26/2007 Awesome
I was so pleased w/ Franie's service. A+++++
I was able to enjoy my whole wedding day because Franie was around to take care everything. Beside professional and organize, she is also a sweet person.