Planning Problems

I hate to start off one of my first topics on a negative note, but it's the one thing about our wedding that is bothering me the most: our wedding planner. This is going to take a while...so prepare for a long read.

The moment we got engaged, I was sure that I needed a wedding planner to help me plan this wedding. With the different cultures and large amount of people (200 seems large to me), I just didn't see how I was going to be able to get it all done alone.

My mother and I met with two different wedding planners about a week after our engagement. As you will see in this post, and those in the future, I'm always a little ahead of the game. In this instance, I was not only ahead of the game but a little anxious to find a planner as well. This, I believe, has been my greatest mistake thus far in planning our wedding.

The first planner we met with worked out of her apartment, which, at first, threw me off a little. After speaking with her and getting to know her, I realized how amazing she was and thought she would do a pretty awesome job helping us. She did also hold a day job, which I'm sure is very manageable, but made me a little nervous about how dedicated she could be with our wedding. At my mother's discretion, we still went to meet with another planner to make sure how we felt about the first one.

The second planner(s) included two planners and one intern. Quite a difference from our first meeting. They had a computer filled with images of their weddings, very professional brochures and were young, hip and fun. As far as I was concerned, I was sold. Mom Hydrangea thought they seemed more like my personality, so she agreed that this would be a great choice for our wedding...even though she would have liked to wait a little longer before we made our final decision.

One thing is always true...your mother knows best. We are now six months into planning and the most that they have done for us is attend two floral appointments, scheduled about five appointments in total for us, and answered about 15 e-mails. We have limited personal meetings with them, but unlimited phone/e-mail communication. From our first meeting to after we booked our reception venue, my plan for our wedding completely changed (that'll be another post later on). Once I let them know of my changes, they didn't even bother to ask details, how I wanted things to feel, etc. NOT A SINGLE QUESTION.

All of the vendors they recommended I had previously found online myself, and are some of the more popular vendors around the Dallas area. When we attended the floral appointments, sometimes I felt as though they were answering for me instead of letting me speak my opinion. Part of me feels like they don't think that our wedding is "upscale" enough for them to really make an effort.

This is all just the tip of the iceberg. The appointments they scheduled for me were only because I requested them to do so. At that point I felt like they were getting our money and not doing a darn thing for us, so I figured I'd get some use out of them however I could. I could go on for a while with my rants (and no raves) about my wedding planner decision. I have chosen not to share the business name just incase things turn around and my feelings towards them become positive.

My question for you all is this...what should we do next? Should we confront them (even though we have voiced our frustrations before)? Fight to get our money back and just select a day-of coordinator? Is it worth the litigation costs? I am so frustrated that now, just after writing this, I feel like I could cry and/or hit something all at the same time. I need some good Weddingbee advice...have at it!!