Today, on the Mid-Coast of Maine it is about 30' outside, sunny and windy. I had a 9am appointment this morning at work to look at the Resort for her wedding. I told the bride, my work schedule is 10am-4pm on Saturday's but I will come in at 9am to show her around, due to her schedule. I called her yesterday and left a Voice Message and email to confirm. I did not hear from her, so I came to work at 8:15am just in case she arrived early. She No-Showed, to me it is rude. I understand things happen, but please email or leave a message that unfortunately, you can not make it, especially when I am making a special trip for you.

I know this must sound petty, but I have been in this business along time, and believe me, I do not get mad or upset if you cancel, but when I am going to be late or have to cancel I always call, because I have been stood up on dates, and to be honest it feels the same. I have worked on Holidays and even a Sunday for the business because I realize sometimes schedules are hard to coordinate and a bride is more stressed than most business people. All I ask is for common courtesy.

One July 4, I did a wedding tasting, for a bride who swore to me, I will book,I just want to try to food before we commit. I told her we only allow 2 people for the tasting, she brought 4 including her and the groom it was 6 people. The appointment was for 2 hours, they were there 4 hours, then when I called her back a few days later, they decided against us, so basically she got a free lunch for 6 people.

She ended up calling me back a few weeks later, livid that I had informed all the other wedding facilities of what she was pulling, so everyone else was willing to do the tasting at $45.00 a head, and if she booked it would be taken off her final bill. She thought I had no right, you better watch out you never know who talks. Every since then, all tastings are after you book the event, and if you want it beforehand it is a charge and if you book then yes, we will have that money go toward your event. I know the wedding magazines say, Tastings are standard, no they are not, it is a courtesy, one place I worked refused them, I was to tell them eat in the restaurant, pay for it, same food, same chef. That is wedding planners trying to get something for nothing for their clients.

Personally, I believe tastings are important, and I liked them because it gives me one on one with my bride and grooms. Some facilities do a large tasting with everyone at once, I think it is a great idea, but personally I like the one on one I get with my clients.

People have to realize, especially wedding planners, a Hotel/Resort is a business, and weddings are big business, and we can not give everything away in order to stay a float. I am not saying we will nickle and dime you, but realize everything has a price. I have worked for major hotels and small resorts and boutique properties, each one has a different philosophy on weddings. So, before any bride commits to a facility realize what you can live with and absolutely can not live with because believe it or not, a contract from a hotel is actually binding. Another, false hood, oh don't worry about it, we will go after you and make you stick to what you signed for, so please read all contracts carefully.