As some of you might know, I've just had my wedding in beautiful bali. And because of the wedding held in bali, i waited for it to be over so i can tell you guys out there my worst experience with the specific wedding planner.
I found her on tripadvisor posted by someone. She is from Bali Wedding Butler and her full name is Sri Komang Desyana. You can actually find her on google search and linkedin. My husband and I have never met anyone like her.
I will try to make the story as short as possible:
She was very enthusiastic at first (before you paid her) and replied to us quickly as if she had nothing better to do. But because of her promptness, we picked her. We met up for a quick inspection of the villas and she brought us to villa anapuri and i decided to changed my wedding date from 19 sept to 26 sept (just for anapuri as it was full on 19th). we also initally liked villa arika but we preferred anapuri but we failed to negotiate for better price so we ended up with beautiful arika. (we missed arika)
There was some misunderstanding as i wanted the wedding on the 19th sept at villa arika, she contacted my husband without my knowledge (thru whatsapp) and asked if 26th is ok for arika. Both were in the wrong as they did not mention it to me. 19th at arika was booked by others and i was not too happy (that's why i prefer email with CC). We almost lost the villa to other couple but luckily, they released the booking. (i found arika on my own without her help)
After paying her the sum of USD1200 (coordination fee for 80 pax + commitment fee (both 50%)), we proceeded with vendors. We tried to ask her to help negotiating with the vendors of her choice but she failed to deliver. She did not even try to ask for best price. She insisted us to make downpayment (50%) and negotiate later on. I think smart people will never do that :)
Because of her ignorance, we decided to move forward with our own vendors (reputable one of course). She promised to come back with another catering vendor but again, failed to do so. She disappeared for as long as 4 months from november 2014 til march 2015. My husband emailed her and she replied that caterer did not give new rate. It was already march, i guess every vendors want to make a dime!
Since she refused to work, we decided to give her the vendors we will be working with. She was "OK" with it. She wasn't happy because we did not pick any of her vendors (if she worked well, we will take some from her). She even said we have to take their "BAND" called AZIMUTH. but i guess like every other couple, they would check out the vendor mentioned to see if they are really as good as how she described. again, failed to see information about such band. That's when i found Soul Entertainment.
I still took her as an experienced WP (she mentioned couple of times that her clients always said her work is beyond expectations) and because of that, i was looking for an advise from her regarding DJ. she did not try to help me (that's a wedding planners' job). Instead, she said "You talk to the band, You have to talk to decorator.. you this and you that." She also mentioned that her crew and herself will leave the premises before 12am regardless of other vendors still in the compound. My heart sank.. I wanted to cry because it was 3 months away from our big day. by now you know how i felt. It was a nightmare.
She used to scare us about other vendors outside her comfort zone. She is so negative about everything but herself. She mentioned other caterer uses cheap staff and that they will not deliver. But because i'm an indonesian myself, i was not scared. Everything is all about social media. We know good vendors from reviewers.
She also threatened us by making a complaint with Bali Wedding Association. Little did she know, I know some people who had mentioned to me that she doesn't have good relation with the owner.
At the end, We know we HAD TO fire her. Before we do so, i contacted bali luxury villas (villa agent for arika) and talked to the General Manager Kathryn Whyte. She was very helpful and we finally fired desyana. With proper and respectable email, we sent her one last email to tell her we no longer needed her services.
After all the complications, she still managed to pat herself in the back. Mentioned she intro us to Soul Entertainment when the one sh intro was AZIMUTH. It was funny really... The Wedding Planner Bali Wedding Butler was so bad we had to dismiss her. If we hadn't, i wonder what it would become. But because we fired her, we had the best wedding ever in Villa Arika.
Just a little advise for couple out there who are planning for a wedding, and if you have a bigger wedding (more than 50), find someone who is reputable from Bali Wedding Association. You can find good vendors via the website and if they did not deliver, you can make a report to the association. I've learnt my lesson and only advise i can give is to always make sure your planner is legit and well mannered. After all, you don't want your money to go to waste. We wasted USD1200 for her NOT doing anything but things happened for a reason. I guess the reason is this :)
Cheers!
(I've tried to summarize as much as possible, I might have left some informations. Feel free to ask any questions. But no questions from YOU DESYANA)
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