I think I'm going to turn into one crotchity old lady before my time. Humph.
Scenario:
Wedding Planner (a company with several) uses my services and is very happy with them last year. The planner had established the bride's budget of $350 for a 6 tier fondant cake with gumpaste flowers. I bumped her up to $700. Fine.
Fast forward, she wants a display cake and cupcakes for a wedding show (in a week). Sure, ok, the challenge was fun, and the cake turned out better than I thought it would. Got a lot of interest and booked a lot from it.
Fast forward 1 month and, you guessed it, another show, but she wants to dictate the design. Again for free, and she ends up not even displaying the cake until halfway through the show.
Fast forward again, and now she has a bride who wants a tasting and also wants a discount because she's using the planner. 
Apparently that's what they advertise?
No, I'm not doing a discount, I'm not even on their preferred providers' list. I do the tasting. The bride wants a fondant cake for 250, custom lace design, no sheets, all in the cake. PLUS a gumpaste topper with the bride pulling the groom away from a plasma tv. again.. PLUS a 3D Pontiac GTO convertible father's cake AND a cheesecake for the groom. Her budget? Oh, about $500. We do the tasting, I bid that baby up and hope to never see them again. I gave them one week to decide and never heard from them again.
You guessed it, fast forward 2 weeks and the planner now says they want a bunch more samples FOR FREE, and could I deliver them to the office so the bride doesn't have to drive. 
I just booked her date at the wedding show this weekend, and I can't tell you how excited I was to write that email!!!! I even told her that I am 100% booked until November (which is almost entirely true after this weekend), so I shouldn't hear from them for a while. 
Heard back from her, and she's VERY disappointed in me. Oh boy, how can I recover.
You could reply with "Well if I was a bride I would be VERY disappointed if I got a poorly made cake because my baker overbooked herself. I'm sure you understand it's my reputation on the line."
Gracious sakes alive!!! I bet I know who her best friend is -- Mrs. "You don't seem to understand, I want a 6 foot tall wedding cake and I DON'T want to pay for it!" 
(Yes, that is a real person!)
I have to say that so far, the only wedding planners I actually like are the ones who send the bride to me and the bride and I work together exclusively.
The planners that hang around breathing down their bride's neck OR worse, the planners that make all the phone calls and schedule the consults and etc, drive me nuts...and actually, those brides have never booked with me...something always falls through, the planner cancels the tasting, or something else funky happens.
I don't do micromanaging planners. Bleh.
kita, you must have some really bad planners. I LUV'd having professional planners in attendance! Let me emphasize ... PROFESSIONAL! friend of the bride who likes to plan parties? Oh pul-lease!!!! shoot me now!
The good planners keep the bride on track and help her make decisions. Good planners remind her of her budget. Good planners ask good pertinent questions, like delivery policy/fees. good planners coach teh couple into making a decision and does not take over the decision process.
All of my correspondence was to the bride/groom and I'd copy the planner to keep her in the loop.
Good planners are worth gold!!
I'm talking about the planners who do NOT have you correspond with the bride....
Oh I just refused to do that. The bride is the primary contact and the planner is in the loop. Not the other way around.
BTW, none of the planners I worked with expected me to discount anything for them, and they found it appalling when they heard of planners who operated that way.
Professional. All the way.
I'm talking about the planners who do NOT have you correspond with the bride....
Oh I just refused to do that. The bride is the primary contact and the planner is in the loop. Not the other way around.
BTW, none of the planners I worked with expected me to discount anything for them, and they found it appalling when they heard of planners who operated that way.
Professional. All the way.
I will refuse next time. haha. Anyway, they're the ones who end up cancelling tastings at the last minute.
I have yet to meet a planner I liked, but that's only because I've only worked with 2.
I don't care if the woman is disappointed, she should be. If she would have let me know they were thinking of using me, I would have made accommodations for them. MAYBE.
But do all planners want a discount? What makes them think that if I'm busy without their business that I would give them a discount to take a spot that another bride would want? REALLY?!
And if they don't know how to budget or do the math- how hard is it for a planner who budgets for her bride to multiply $3.05 times 250?!! And when the bride says "Oh, wouldn't a 3D car cake for dear old daddy just be DIVINE?!" the planner should warn her, "It sooo would, but be prepared to up your budget!"
Common sense, people. I expect the bride to have no experience. I do NOT expect if from a wedding planner. I cannot accept that.
Again, cranky pants are on...
Sounds like "Too many cooks in the kitchen" to me. I prefer to meet exclusivly with the bride and groom. And I'm shocked they would expect all those EXTRA cakes (carved ones no less!) and wouldn't expect to pay mucho for them! Sounds like you could do better on your own, without the planner.
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