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lost ceremony venue-Tales of a terrible wedding planner

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glueck

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Nov 30, 2007
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The last two weeks have been drama city for our wedding. We are less than 4 months away from the big event, and our wedding planner (affectionately known in our household as Mr No-Problem or Mr. Too-Cool-for-School)has destroyed a lot. No more ceremony venue. POOF. Gone.

Our destination Wedding Drama. Long and Short Version. Scroll for the short version

Yes, yes. Things are different in Europe. In Germany they think you''re nuts when you try to plan a wedding more than 6 months in advance. FI and I had decided on a small chapel in the Schloss Heidelberg, but ran into some trouble when we were told we could only use their photographer and he was ..... how to say it nicely.....NOT our taste. The organist was ungodly expensive. Our planner said to us, WHY get married in that dark castle chapel, when you could get married HERE. He showed us a GLORIOUS church and FI were instantly in love with it. We told him in this moment that we are not religious and are looking only for a rentable space. We want to have a friend give the ceremony that we wrote. (In Germany, the city hall is the only service that holds weight. Church is only symbolic) Mr NO-PROBLEM says..... NO PROBLEM! This was last April. He said that the church doest do their calendar until January for their OWN events but we are first on the list for outside events. OK....fine.

Of course, we always asked how things were looking with the church.....we were told we had to wait. So we waited. January 1st came and went. I wrote and asked...Mr. No- Problem says that the people he needs to talk to are away. We have the day but we have to wait for the time.

Feb, we find out that the bishop is coming to do confirmations and we were given a window of 1pm-145pm. This is when we called the church ourselves. FI talked to them and they assured us that everything would be fine with the timing. Not too many people will be there....they were making preparations the whole day with their own events beginning at 4pm. Turnover time shouldnt be any trouble. Then the next bomb dropped. "We need a letter from your priest in your hometown to book the time." BOOM. HELLO horrible wedding planner. This is your JOB. We dont have a priest. Not religious.

We have spent the last 2 weeks chasing idiot wedding planner around. We were told.... you got it....NO PROBLEM. This has been done before without this letter. he has a priest in the next town that he can talk to to approve this. He will just have to be there...NOT run the service. He will also have to approve the written ceremony. I didnt have a problem with that. We are nice people and we respect the rules. Just because we are not involved in organized religion doesnt mean we dont believe in God. This should be ok. Right? WRONG.

Finally the planner spoke with the priest yesterday. We were told this morning that they went all the way to the bishop and because neither of us is baptized (no surprise, right.) that we may not get married in the church.

No church after 10 months of being told "no problem." We were abundantly clear. No apology from idiot planner. He only says "I''ve never been in a situation where neither partner was baptized." This was his job. He showed us the place, and we never made other plans and here we are.

Of course, when it rains, it pours. 3 days ago, our officiant backed out. It is a friend, so no contract. Luckily we found another one who is more than happy to do this for us.

ARGH.

We have found a lovely rentable room without drama or church ties. Its more than double the cost, but we have no choice but to pay it at this point.

This is why I have been MIA the last 2 weeks. DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA.

The good news is that no matter what, we are getting married....even if it has to happen on a city bus.
 

jcarlylew

Ideal_Rock
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Jun 27, 2008
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glueck - i am so sorry! The wedding planner sounds awful! I hope, from here out, everything goes much smoother.
 

Deelight

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Oct 4, 2007
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glueck Man that sucks BIG TIME I would be fuming if I were you, thankfully you have another place booked and someone to take over the officiating.

I swear sometimes wedding planning attracts the law of idiots - somehow they all come out of the woodwork and attach themselves to the bride.

*hugs* I am glad you have something else sorted.
 

RLG

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
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Oh! I am so sorry. I can''t even imagine how fustrated you must be. I''m glad to hear you were able to find something, though.
 

sba771

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 1, 2008
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887
Glueck- where in germany do you live? I am in Frankfurt. I loved the Schloss Heidelberg chapel, but totally understand why all those things would annoy you. I am sorry this is all happening. I have had many a horror storry since I moved to Germany so I totally can relate!
 

swimmer

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 9, 2007
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2,516
Dear Lord that is just awful planning on your planner''s part. Gah, so frustrating!
Good on you for finding a new place! hugs, how annoying. What CAN you trust him to do?
 

Clairitek

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 21, 2008
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4,881
Goodness. Is there ANY way you can pay this planner LESS in the end? Perhaps you can find something in your contract with him about if his performance isn''t up to par you can give him a lesser fee.

I am so sorry to hear about how all of this has turned out. If I were a wedding planner I would make it my business to know the religious affiliations (if any) of the couple and then let them know what their options are from there. I''ve been worried from the start about whether or not FI and I can get the Catholic ceremony he and his family want since I am not confirmed Catholic. So far we haven''t run into problems with the churches we have contacted but I am waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I hope things turn around for you. All of the stuff you''ve done for your wedding so far has been beautiful. Just remember that no matter what happens, at the end of the day you will be *married*!!!
 

Guilty Pleasure

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
May 16, 2008
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1,114
I''m sorry that happened to you. I am baptized and religious, and I STILL had issues trying to book a church in a destination city. I''m glad you sorted it out, but I still sympathize!
 

glueck

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Messages
361
Oh ladies! Crazy times. Our "back up" venue is nearly 3 times as expensive. We are left with no choice but to do it. its a beautiful place for SURE, but $$$$

FI and I are looking into our options with firing our planner. This would mean looking our $500 deposit, but to not see his stupid face again, it is a small price. We are looking into it. He just has about $800 of our other money for deposits for things we havent ordered. I just pray its possible. FI is worried this guy could try to cause trouble for us, so we are trying to cover our bases with city hall first.

sba- I live is St Gallen Switzerland. Not too far away relatively speaking! We are about 4.5 hrs from heidelberg, making it difficult to coordinate this... hence the hiring of the idiot planner.

We will spend an the weekend formulating a plan to the firing of said planner. I will keep you all posted! We hired him to take the stress away, and he has been the ONLY stress of the whole process. Sigh...... it can only get better
 

meresal

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
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5,720
I''m very sorry to hear about this. Did you all sign a contract? Have you read over it yet?
 

sba771

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
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887
Glueck, can I crash your wedding?
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I am in Frankfurt. I know this is all frustrating and I can totally relate! I am planning a wedding in Philadelphia from here! Vent anytime. No matter what though your wedding is going to be amazing! Germany is so beautiful (desipte my many issues with actually living here) and most places are stunning.
 

glueck

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Messages
361
Luckily, the contract looks cancel-able. Its just matter if he will make it easy or difficult.

sba- NOT easy planning anything over the ocean! I am from Baltimore and lived 10 years in NYC..... we run in the same circles, it seems!

Things are a lot more difficult in Germany....in Switzerland as well. A lot of rules....strange ones too!
Happy planning.

Nowhere to go but UP
 

Lanie

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Feb 20, 2008
Messages
1,793
Oh man that SUCKS! Looks like you didn''t have a contract though, so that''s good.

You seem to have a very positive outlook, given the situation. Hold on to that and good luck!
 

glueck

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Messages
361
Lanie- there IS a contract, but its not TOO involved. Ther hard part is that he has a lot of our money above the deposit. I just hope we can get it without too much trouble. Hes a difficult man. Destination wedding planners!! YIKES.

As for the good mood, its only because we found such a beautiful back up place. THANK GOODNESS!
 

AmberGretchen

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 6, 2005
Messages
7,770
Sounds like that guy seriously fell down on the job - what an idiot! Your new venue looks AMAZING though, so even though its more expensive, I think you''re getting more for the money too!
 

AprilD

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Aug 14, 2008
Messages
122
Glueck..Im so sorry that this is happening to you, what a nightmare!!!!


On a sidenote... I LOVED Heidelberg! I visited in 2006. Its sooo beautiful!!!! Great scenery for a wedding!
 

glueck

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Messages
361
Boy did he EVER fall on the job! A mess....and completely unapologetic. I think that is the most insulting part.

Heidelberg, however, is a dream. A beautiful city for our small romantic wedding. THIS horrible man will not ruin it!

Will let you all know how the firing process goes!
 

katamari

Ideal_Rock
Joined
May 18, 2008
Messages
2,949
Sorry to hear about you loosing your venue, glueck. We are getting married in a non-DW location and it was also VERY difficult to find a place/person that would marry us. In the end, I am sure that the cost will be worth it, but I know it is difficult to stomach in the meantime. Your new venue looks lovely!
 

Sparkalicious

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 22, 2007
Messages
3,721
Ugh, gluek. How horrible. I''m so sorry that you are experiencing all of this drama and unnecessary challenge. Good for you for moving full steam ahead to get through it. I think that I would have stalled out at the strangling the planner stage. Just plain bad.
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