ATLANTA — A local bride says her wedding planner dropped her just a month before her big day, and she has been fighting for nearly a year to get her money back.
Stephanie Gargiulo said her September wedding quickly turned into a nightmare after problems started with the planner she found online.
“It was like hair, makeup, band. I mean, it was every vendor, just the wrong time, wrong place,” Gargiulo said.
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She said she only spoke to the planner during a phone call interview and never met her in person.
Then, a month before the wedding, Gargiulo said the planner dropped her as a client and stopped returning her calls.
“I’m very principle-oriented. Right is right, wrong is wrong,” Gargiulo said.
At the center of the dispute is the contract, which Gargiulo said clearly stated either party may terminate the agreement as long as it’s six months before the event.
“She terminated four weeks out from the event. That was outside the termination period that was not expected,” Gargiulo said.
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Now, she is trying to recover her $1,500 deposit.
Channel 2’s Eryn Rogers reached out to the wedding planner, who provided a document showing the work she says she completed, which she claims equals more than the deposit.
Consumer adviser Clark Howard also reviewed the contract and said the wedding planner is in breach. However, he said couples have to be proactive when reviewing wedding contracts.
“Wedding contracts are historically very one sided. And for a reason, the engagement period is very unstable, and a lot of people don’t make it to the altar after engagement,” Howard said.
He added that couples should pay attention not just to cost, but to the terms of the agreement.
“Your job, in addition to negotiating the price, is to make sure you agree to the terms involved. And if somebody breaks the contract, you have the right to go after them for money, just like they have the right to go after you for money,” Howard said.
Howard said brides and grooms do have the option to take vendors to small claims court, but he warns it is a process.
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