Mandala Events Wedding & Event Design

We unfortunately did not have a good experience with Sarah and Mandala Events, resulting in us paying $600 (out of a $1500 contract) for no wedding planning services completed 35 days before our wedding when I cancelled our contract with her. I do want to be clear that $300 of that was a retainer we paid 8 months prior to our wedding, and she did refund us $100 when we complained that nothing had been done listed in her provided services. She hadn't even accepted the invitation to my Pinterest board for the design, decor, floral, favors, etc. at this point despite having access to it for 8 months. She would be weeks to even months without replying to email communications. When I wrote to cancel our contract she instead blamed me for not being more proactive soliciting communications from her and not calling to express my concerns that she wasn't doing her job. I'm not sure how many emails/calls should be necessary to check on a wedding planner and her progress (aren't they supposed to reduce the wedding planning stress -- not create more?) but we were more than diligent and clear with our expectations. When she hadn't responded to emails for several weeks and we became aware that many of the vendors in a small Upper Peninsula city were quickly booking up, we found our own hair/makeup and photographer/videographer 90 days before the wedding after no replies from Sarah. It would be silence from her until I would write to say I found my own hair and makeup, then she would write back to ask for a copy of the contract. Same for photo/video. I didn't know what else to do with the wedding date quickly approaching and her not replying to my emails. We gave her 6 weeks to pre-order donuts for wedding favors and eventually did that ourselves after no updates. The smallest tasks went by the wayside. We informed her that we would be driving to the UP and would like to meet to finish planning our wedding (35 days out) and she never reached out to schedule a meeting with us until they day before we were scheduled to leave, then billed us for "6.5 working hours" saying she kept the day free for our meeting when she had 2 weeks to write back to me with a meeting time and location, which never happened. Less than 24 hours before the potential meeting day she said she would be available, but we were already driving the 7 hours home to get back to work after taking the time off to drive up there to plan our own wedding. Her social media and weddings she's worked on look absolutely stunning and we were very disappointed we did not have the same experience. Because we're out of the amount of money we spent on her planning services despite getting literally 0 results/completed tasks from her, I felt it necessary to write this review to alert other potential wedding couples that her communication style is incredibly lacking, and to read her contract carefully. If you cancel before 30 days, you're free from future payments but aren't entitled to any refunds, after 30 days you're liable for the full amount (even if she hasn't done any work on her end). Thankfully we cancelled before 30 days, but we're still out $600 ($300 without the retainer fee), and she accomplished nothing for our wedding 30 days before the wedding date.