The Customer is NOT always right. As an entrepreneur there are a LOT of things that you have to learn along the way, and one of them is that not everyone is your client. I have had to learn when to turn clients, venues, vendors, and potential business partners away.
It is ESSENTIAL that you maintain the confidence in yourself to be able to stand by what you say. Let me give you a few examples. When I first started my event planning and decor business I would make mistakes, most of them I owned but I learned a few things that you should NEVER refund on
1. A Client is Upset with how something appears: This can be a dicey one. If the setup has all of the same qualities that the setup they agreed on does then it is important to stick to your word and by your work. I have had clients that I told them - IF you do not know what size table cloths that I need to bring the day of then I will bring plastic ones in case. We get there there and they did not size the table cloths, I have to go with plastic - they are upset. THIS is NOT the vendor's fault. It may sound silly now - but if a vendor tells you something ahead of time they can only give you what they told you they could do.
2. The Client Fails to Give you the Correct Address after asking a week prior: I have never had this problem with wedding planning, but when I was newer I had issues with getting the final address for the event when people were doing an event for the first time. This is a huge problem. If you say "We are having the event in Nashville TN, "and you actually mean south Nashville or Antioch that is a 45 min travel difference. Do me a favor and give me the address at least 1 full day before. I have to load for the event and if I have your event in mind for Nashville TN, I'm going to assume the center of Nashville not the suburb over.
3. They Client Fails to Pay a Deposit: If someone does this I do not hold someone's spot. Here's why: as an event planner you have days that you need to fill. Some are more popular than others. This is important to realize because it means that they are not taking the planning seriously, and I am not going to invest money into an event that in my eyes is not final.
4. Items break While Clients Adjust Things: I have had people feel the need to fines balloons and party pieces because they want it to look a certain way but failed to tell me before the event and end up breaking the equipment and blaming it on me. I always have insurance for this however, it is important to tell the client to leave all displays alone on text or email so you have proof that you told them.
5. Add Ins: Clients if you are reading this, I'm very sorry to hurt your feelings. BUT I HATE when people give me extra decor and more things to do with their own crafts and stuff for timed parties. If I told you that the setup is going to take 2 hours for what you ordered from me, you cannot buy more materials and expect for me to have everything completed in that same amount of time. Plus, I have another fee for that - I cannot spend more time at your event just because you bought more supplies that you wanted to be setup without communication. I have other clients too.
6. Bad Vendors: I have coordinated events before and had brides INSIST on working with someone because they were so cheap. This is a HUGE red flag. Getting clients can be tough but most of the time when people are super cheap they either A. Don't have experience yet, B. Don't have insurance, or C. They are offering you a bundle discount for doing another service - which makes sense because that's easy!
7. Have an Event Outside Without Telling Us: I always ask this immediately anyway. However, a lot of people don't understand why the pricing for certain things like outside or inside pricing differ.
Put yourself in my shoes, if you had 700 balloons to put together would it take you a longer or a shorter time to assemble them in windy weather versus indoors. This should be obvious. Keep in Mind Elements make a difference.
8. Mad Customers: When I was newer I used to refund people 100% for all of my events. Then I had an event that I let them use my greenery wall for 24 hours, they took photos with it and then complained about not having balloons - I had left my balloon pump at home and had been late with the wrong address. In the grand scheme of things I look back and I never should have left the backdrop and refunded her. However, I drove 45 min out, set up, drove back and went back for a pickup. She demanded a refund and I not only lost 2 slots of events, I paid for gas, as well as for the backdrop and they used it for the event. Now at the time I was trying to please the customer and be good to her, but in reality I jeopardized myself by spending all the time going back and forth for someone who USED my backdrop with the group photos. I often feel like I have a lot of mad customers, but I don't I just remember them better than the easy clients who had no issues.
9. Unprepared Venues: This was HARD learning, but a venue rental is NOT the same experience as a regular Restaurant. Although it was my job to have the entire venue decorated, this place was refusing to let me move tables, setup decor, and block the take out area - which all needed to be done until 1 hour before the party.
I had 80 people at this event, heavy tables and chairs, 700 balloons, and 4 different walls for decor. I was told that I could setup whenever, which was NOT true. This place was trying to get the lunch crowd in before the party and said " I didn't hire you so figure it out" it was a NIGHTMARE- They went on blaming me that the venue didn't look nice when in reality I couldn't even decorate because they wouldn't let me move anything. This is when I started doing coordinating fees and telling clients that I no longer do table and chairs setups without a team which they can provide or I will for a fee.
10. Heavy Pay or Travel Pay: I ALWAYS ask about this and if they want more of something I add heavy pay to it! Why? I'm carrying it!!! I have yet to interview a guy who has been a heavy lifter that wants to do event planning solely without owning a venue or a restaurant. This doesn't mean that they aren't out there, I just haven't had any reply to a job add. After several nights of back, leg, and arm pain I decided that I was going to increase the prices for heavy pay if I needed help. This has helped SO much. Now if I really need someone to help me with the weight I can just do a fee and have it done.
I hope that these tips help you with your wedding and event planning experience. Remember - this. The event planning and wedding planning industry is often associated with being "Costly" I want you to remember all the hours you had to take to learn your styling, managing, negotiating, decorating, investing, and of course replication. YOU deserve to eat too DO NOT compromise your finances just because someone else was not willing to pay your extra fees for a more extravagant event. Pease and Love.
V