Central PA's Dream Weddings? Not So Much...

One of my sister's wedding vendors really screwed her over.  Her wedding was over a year ago, so there isn't much she can do about it now.  Plus, a contract wasn't involved, so there isn't any legal action that could be taken.  That being said, I can and I will post about it here.

I read an article in Reader's Digest called, "Creative Ways People Use the Internet for Buyer's Revenge."  My favorite is most definitely the woman who dressed herself up as a viking to solve her problems. 

I'm not going to get as creative as these fine consumers.  However, I figured that since we are now in a world where the customer is NOT always right, I might as well voice my opinion about a business that takes advantage of one of the most stressed and emotional persons out there: the bride.

Like most brides, my sister had a vision for her wedding.  She wanted it to be perfect.  She wanted the right colors, the right food, the right dress, the right flowers, the right venue...all the details she spent over a year planning and a lifetime dreaming about, she wanted them to be just perfect.

She chose several local vendors in our area to help her create her wedding day.

Enter Martine Cajas of House of Clarendon.

Martine created her cake.  It was gorgeous, I will give him that.  However, Martine also took advantage of my sister.

Martine had this grand vision of having his own TV show.  He had even approached a local TV station with the hopes of bringing the show to fruition.  Many of the other vendors my sister worked with supported Martine in this endeavor and helped him promote the show.

Throughout the entire process of planning Meg's wedding Martine and many of her other local vendors convinced Meg to do this or add that, so that her wedding could be one of the first on the show.  Meg took some of their suggestions...including a bigger, more dazzling cake, decorated by the man of the hour, Martine.  Some of those suggestions actually turned out incredibly beautiful.  However, they also came at a pretty price, as most weddings do. 

What bride doesn't hope that her wedding will be the inspiration for future brides?  What bride doesn't pour over wedding magazines and wedding shows and dream that her wedding will be awed over by other brides?

Martine and some of the other vendors took advantage of a bride by promising her that her wedding that she was spending thousands on would be the envy of every other bride in the area.  They promised her that her wedding would be a highlight of a TV show.  They played on the emotions of a bride to get what they wanted...more money and attention.

Throughout the process of planning her wedding Meg was skeptical about the TV show.  While she took suggestions from her vendors, she didn't go quite as big as some of them (mainly Martine) had hoped.  One of the things she refused to hire was a videographer.  She was told that she needed a videographer to tape the wedding to be used for the show.  During most of her wedding planning the show was not yet a go, so she didn't want to spend several thousand on a videographer when she knew she didn't want a video.

A few weeks before her wedding, she was told the TV show was definitely going to be aired on a local station.  The station had approved the show, so Martine was given the green light to move forward with finding couples that wanted their weddings on the show.  He told Meg that her wedding would be one of the first weddings featured as long as she hired a specific videographer to film her wedding.

She agreed.  She hired the videographer, at her expense, with Martine's promise that her and Dru's wedding would be on his show.

After their wedding Martine told Meg he would be contacting her and Dru to interview them for the show in a few months and within a year their wedding would be showcased for all of Central PA to see.

Fast-forward to a year later...

Dream Weddings premiered in December and Meg has yet to hear from Martine. 

Not only that but the videographer Meg was required to use is not the videographer the show is now announcing is mandatory to be considered for the show.

I realize no contract was made.  No legal document guaranteed Meg and Dru would be on this show if they used certain vendors and decorated in certain ways.

However, a promise was made.   A vendor that Meg trusted to help create her wedding made a promise to her and Dru.  A vendor used a bride's dream day against her to further his business and to make more money.

A man is only as good as his word, Martine.  And your word is, very obviously, no good.

PS. To all the Dream Wedding brides - I sincerely hope you have a better experience than what my sister did.  I hope you have a vision (and a budget) for your wedding that you stick with and not let the vendors or the host of the show change your vision (or empty your pockets) for their benefit.