Danielle abandoned us 9 days before our wedding. Undisclosed to us, she had double-booked another event that day before we even signed with her (over a year prior) and it “fell apa...rt”, so she decided to attend that one instead, and claimed this decision was out of her control. First, as a sole owner whose business is literally her own name, she had full control over the scheduling and contracting of clients. Secondly, this was a clear breach of her contract where she could send a replacement if she fell ill, but did not include if she made poor business decisions. But, with 9 days left until our wedding, we had no choice but to go with the “friend” she referred us to as a replacement. This is someone that we had never signed a contract with, someone we had never met, and someone who we had no choice in picking. Danielle had also promised us that she had a bunch of wedding supplies for us in her studio, but ended up ordering cheap plastic things off of Amazon last minute that the venue literally refused to use because they were so cheap looking.
Unfortunately that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Our poor experiences with Danielle did not begin there, as our planning process was quite lackluster. I found myself frequently sending an email, waiting a week (or several), emailing back, double texting; it felt at times like pulling teeth to get a response. I was usually the one initiating and following up, there was a real lack of proactivity. Followups like “I could have sworn I responded. I probably responded in my head! So silly…” or “I’m away and forgot to text back” (actual quotes) are not something I expect from someone who plans for a living. On several occasions she went on unannounced vacations and travel during the middle of securing calls and contracts. No problems with people going on vacation, but a heads up would be nice, especially when we’re waiting to hear back from you on something! We found ourselves reaching out to vendors directly instead because it was faster and easier.
I really wouldn’t consider myself a groomzilla or particularly demanding, we gave Danielle a lot of leniency during the planning process. Excusing delayed responses and lack of followup with the hope that at least on the big day, she would turn it around and be there for us. But nope, we get the news from her in the final hour that she would not be attending our wedding. She did eventually take some money off the bill, but not until pressed and again defending her decision as something (somehow) out of her hands, never admitting to fault. Her lack of accountability and professionalism was shocking and disappointing, and I could not recommend her to anyone.