Lavender Hill Weddings + Events Jenny Sligh Lavender Hill Weddings + Events Jenny Sligh Monona Wisconsin

Let me start out by saying that Jenny (owner of LHW+E) as a person is very sweet, enthusiastic, and friendly. However, my rating is based on the unprofessional way our planning was handled.

When we met Jenny for the first time in April, we were a little nervous because we wanted a mid-September wedding (that is, planned in a little less than 5 months) and did not know if this could be pulled off. Jenny assured us that this was very doable, and we fully trusted her (why wouldn't we? this was her profession!). We sent her our deposit around May 15 and waited to hear back about next steps (we are the sort of couple who needed the full wedding package and a lot of "hand holding," so to speak). After 2 weeks of not hearing back from her (I called and texted), I checked in via text on May 28. Again, I did not hear back until June 4, when a mass e-mail was sent from Jenny to her clients (myself included) apologizing for her absence and listing days in June that she would be unavailable due to taking her son to college and taking a personal vacation. I continued to wait to hear from her personally, hoping she was doing some work behind the scenes (most importantly, finding a venue, which was not easy as the kind of ceremony/reception site we wanted was hard to find/book on such short notice). On June 28, I again called and texted her since I hadn't even sent out wedding invites/RSVPs because we still didn't have a venue. I did not hear back. On July 7, I sent a more urgent e-mail requesting that she please contact me since I was getting very worried about this wedding. On July 11 (Saturday), I finally received a response: "Hello. I apologize for my absence. I will be in touch Sunday evening." I did not hear from her Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday, so I again called her to get in touch with me. On July 15 (Wednesday), with less than 2 months to go (our planned wedding date was 9/12/15), I received an e-mail from Jenny, who said that her work had been affected by personal and professional issues and that she was "putting systems in place to get everything on track." She offered us two options: Plow ahead or get our deposit back. She made some suggestions re: venues that were still available (both were parks - we had wanted a rustic barn wedding). She concluded her e-mail with "I am so sorry for how I have handled this."

It is hard to adequately express how deflated, frustrated, and betrayed I felt at this point. My fiance and I had a hard enough time convincing ourselves to hire a wedding planner in the first place, and to have this be the outcome made us feel like we really should've done it all ourselves. Further, after our initial meeting with Jenny in April, we had our 2015-2016 work and vacation schedules made around a September wedding -- and now this seemed like a pipe dream.

We ultimately decided to get our deposit back -- we just couldn't trust Jenny after this entire experience. 2 months had been wasted. And as many brides know, every day counts when you're trying to plan a wedding, especially in less than 5 months. And for those who wonder why I didn't just hire another planner if I didn't hear from Jenny after the first month -- again, my fiance and I don't do this for a living, and we had trusted Jenny and believed she was going to come through (after all, those 5 out of 5 star reviews had to mean something, right?). Plus, she had our deposit, which was not insignificant.

I'll conclude by saying this: I understand that wedding planners are human beings, and life happens. However, Jenny should've contacted us as soon as she knew she was in trouble to give us the out so that we could hire someone else and use our precious time wisely. Waiting 2 months and ignoring a client's multiple attempts to reach you is NOT how you run a business (it is beyond unprofessional), especially when your business is helping to create one of the most memorable days in a couple's life.