Misty enticed us with promises of a stress free planning experience and an amazing fairy tale wedding. Her reviews were impeccable and it seemed like the right choice to hire her. Initially, she was extremely responsive to all our communication...s and questions BEFORE we signed the contract. AFTER we signed the contract and sent her a ton of money, things changed drastically.
Most attempts to coordinate with Misty took what seemed like an eternity. We sent emails, texts and made phone calls which sometimes went weeks without a response. When we finally heard from her, we were usually presented with an excuse (weather, technology, funerals, hospitals, illnesses, employees, moving, etc, etc).
We understood Gatlinburg was a popular destination that required advanced planning as some vendors get booked well ahead of time. We had to basically beg Misty to get the ball rolling, gather information, and book some of our vendors. Ultimately, she failed and, as a result, we ended up losing some of our first choice vendors. We found ourselves doing the research, reaching out to vendors and booking them ourselves before we lost out on further opportunities.
Multiple times we presented our concerns regarding the lack of effective communication and lackluster service. She always reassured us it would get better; it didn't. When we realized the person we hired to help alleviate the stress of planning a wedding was actually the one causing significant stress and potential detriment, we told her we wanted to cancel our contract.
Considering she basically took no actions on our behalf, other than submit a deposit to the venue we personally researched and procured, we expected and requested a full refund. Of course, we never received a response to our termination request and, weeks later, still had no refund. We initiated a dispute with our credit card company and finally received some of the money months later. We weren't surprised she didn't refund the deposit, as she was contractually entitled to it however, we were disappointed she felt she should keep the deposit considering her performance, or lack thereof.
Sadly, we feel Misty is in over her head with Simple Bliss. We have no doubt that, at one time, Misty had that business running like a well oiled machine, which is clearly reflected in the large number of positive performance reviews. Clearly something must has changed, perhaps personal issues or professional hurdles that have inhibited her ability to adequately perform wedding planning and coordination services.
Shortly after terminating our contract with Simple Bliss, we hired another wedding planner and the experience has been a night and day difference. We have all our vendors booked, tons of things planned and coordinated for our wedding and, most importantly, don't feel any stress at all. We even asked our new planner if we were being overly aggressive in wanting to book venues and make plans so early in the process. She assured us being proactive, especially when within a year of a Gatlinburg wedding, is a must.
Misty is a lovely person and nice to talk with (when you can actually get in touch with her), but that does not preclude her from being held to a high professional performance standard, especially in a service industry. In summary, if you are looking for someone to do full planning and coordination, do yourself a favor and look elsewhere; we feel Simple Bliss is clearly NOT up to the task.
*** NOT RECOMMENDED ***