I chose Tira because she has great reviews online. I found her to be authentic and approachable, but unfortunately, cannot recommend her as a wedding planner based on my experience.... While I understand wedding planners do a lot behind the scenes, I struggled to see the full value Tira and her two assistants added on the day of the wedding.
Sharing some, not all, of my experience below:
Last-Minute Schedule Updates: Tira gave me a 1-day notice, that she would be out of town and then occupied with another wedding, the week before my wedding week.
Unkind Behavior Toward Guests: After the wedding, three family members/guests mentioned that Tira had been unkind to/short with them. While this was not my personal experience, it was still concerning to hear.
Timeline Adjustments/Being dishonest?: Dinner ran an hour late, but Tira never communicated a plan to adjust the timeline. This was especially concerning as I didn’t want the videographer to leave before the first dance. Tira assured me she had arranged for the videographer to stay later, but this turned out to be untrue. Our groomsmen stepped in and paid the videographer to stay an extra hour. When my sister asked Tira to address the issue, Tira's response was "Tell the bride I'm eating, I'll talk to her later."
Ruined intimate moment: A picture of my late grandfather was supposed to be displayed on a nearby cocktail table during my father/daughter dance. The table was there, but the picture was missing. This oversight was particularly emotional and disappointing. I know details fall through the cracks at weddings, but I would have liked a heads up that grandpa's photo wouldn't be there. He meant so much to both my dad and I.
Poor vendor coordination: I planned a private father/daughter dance during the cocktail hour. However, Tira did not ensure the DJ had not conducted a sound check and was good to go. The audio quality was horrible for our entire dance. Additionally, guests were scheduled to enter the reception area immediately after, making it critical that the DJ’s setup should have been working properly.
First dance: After a lengthy and awkward pause, I had to personally cue the DJ to start the music for my first dance. I have no clue where Tira or her assistants were.
Cultural dance: After the first dance, we had a surprise cultural performance. Tira was supposed to send in the final dancer but did not. I had to send someone else to find him and let him know it was time to perform. While we were waiting for the final performer to enter, my husband and I were dancing in the middle of the floor trying to keep the energy going. My no-rhythm-having husband's ONE REQUEST for the entire wedding was to minimize the amount of time he had to be in the spotlight dancing. I will hear about this until death do us part.
Vendor communication: Leading up to the wedding, multiple vendors reached out expressing confusion over Tira’s emails. They were unclear about arrival times and expectations and reported that Tira’s responses to their questions were insufficient. In short - this meant I had a lot of extra work to do.
Despite these challenges, I want to emphasize that Tira and I didn't leave the wedding on bad terms. However, unlike every other vendor I hired, Tira never followed up with me after the wedding. Given that it has been over three months, I felt it was appropriate to share my feedback publicly rather than directly.