Wednesday, May 11, 2016

My Phuket wedding planner encounter

So I sent 2 enquiries to 2 VERY FAMOUS Phuket wedding planning services (both run by westerners) and I do not wish to name any names, will let you know in private if you really do want to know. One ignored the enquiry completely and one responded initially very generously and I did actually feel like maybe I should get a wedding planner?

The one that responded initially sent a very nice email letting me know what she can do for me and wanted to know more about what I wanted etc. and is free for a chat. Time is golden so I did not want to waste her time so I let her know exactly what I am doing and that I consider planning a private villa wedding. She sent me a rough quotation and that quotation blew my budget 3 fold which was not the planner’s problem because I did email a private villa and its really THAT costly! So anyway not sure what happened but ended up on a call and I was letting her know I am emailing venues and told her some venues I am looking at and what I am doing and that the private villa option is out of my consideration and I need a venue with an INDOOR dinner reception.  She said she knows this general manager and that general manager and how she can hook me up with the high ranking staff giving me the best deals blah blah… I was still hooked at the time. She told me her service charge and she mentioned how her charges will be saved by all the deals she can make. Her charges are a one off fee, she does not collect any commission from vendors in between (I believe that and if she is working for me, of course I will need to pay for the service) so Yep I was still hooked at this moment…

Then…. Here comes the real truth…. I told her I am still considering to plan this wedding on my own… and she turns all bitchy and sour and says “ummm you are not telling me you think you can manage a wedding all by yourself without a local planner? Umm good luck with that!” Ok…. I was thinking…. That was a tad weird but still I was thinking “OMG, is the planning going to be that difficult? I probably do need a planner and if she can save money for me to cover her charges then why not?”

So lets see what she can do, she said she will hook me up with the general manager of some fancy hotel (which I am already in contact directly simple through their website contact) and that might show what she is able to do…. OK so she sent this really general email directing to the so called general manager (which on the title of email was not the general manager) asking him to send a proposal for my wedding (a side note, I actually had contacts of this so called general manager anyway) and in the end both did not respond.

YEP! That was that! But I am glad she helped me make a quick decision about wedding planners. Otherwise I was stilling shuffling up and down thinking of should I or should I not?
She could have simple responded saying sorry I cant help you this time but next time, you know just a polite reply but nope if you are not her client, then ignore!


To this day, talking to the in house planners has been fairly easy and smooth. Most know what you are talking about and respond quickly to your questions. They are open about giving you information and therefore so far I haven’t had a thought about “needing a wedding planner”, but lets see later… 

No comments:

Post a Comment