The Bilingual Officiant

very responsive when it came time to sign our contract, we had a meeting, communicated through text, and we paid our deposit.  Fast forward to approximately 30 days before our wedding, and I began reaching out to make sure we were still on the same page and that everything was confirmed. I called, texted, and emailed multiple times with absolutely no response. I called approximately 15 times, sent 3 text messages, and sent an email, and received nothing.At this point, I became extremely concerned. I even posted in a Dallas brides group asking whether anyone else had experienced communication issues with this officiant. I was contacted by another bride who told me that this was not the first time something like this had happened. After receiving no response through any of the normal methods of communication, I eventually resorted to commenting on Instagram posts they were tagged in just to get someone’s attention. Miraculously, I finally received a response stating that the officiant was away on military duty and that someone else would be assisting us. We completely understand that military obligations are not something someone can control. That is not the issue. The issue is the complete lack of communication. If you have a signed contract with a couple and know you will be unavailable for their wedding, basic professionalism and courtesy would be to communicate that with them and let them know who will be taking over well in advance. We were never given that courtesy. We had to repeatedly chase them down and ultimately resort to social media just to find out what was happening with a vendor for our wedding that was only 30 days away. What makes this even more frustrating is that this is the same company that charges clients a late fee if their ceremony starts late. They expect couples to be held accountable to the timing and terms of their contract, yet when it comes to their own communication and obligations to the couple, we could not get a response to a simple phone call, text, or email. Regardless of the circumstances, we should have been given the basic courtesy of being informed that our officiant would be unavailable and that someone else would be taking over our ceremony. At that point, we no longer felt comfortable moving forward. If someone cannot respond to approximately 15 phone calls, multiple texts, and an email regarding our wedding, how could we trust that our ceremony would be handled properly on our wedding day? We respectfully requested to terminate our contract and receive our deposit back so that we could find another officiant we felt confident in. We were instructed to formally request the cancellation by email. I did exactly that and explained that I needed a response as soon as possible because our wedding is approaching and we needed to secure another officiant. Even then, there was no timely response. This entire experience has been incredibly stressful and disappointing, especially during what should be an exciting time in our lives. For something as important as your wedding ceremony, I strongly recommend finding an officiant who is reliable, responsive, and communicates with you throughout the process. Unfortunately, based on our experience, I cannot recommend this company.