My Fairy Tale all started on Friday 24th September 2010, the day I proposed to my best friend, my soul mate, my true love, Lucy. I proposed inside Cinderellas Castle when we were having breakfast. Timing had to be perfect as you know the characters appear at different times. Due to where we were seated space was limited and I was plucking up the courage to get down on one knee. However, as I got the ring out of my pocket and placed it next to me Lucy wanted to change seats to get a better look at the Princesses and to get some photographs. After fumbling around I swapped seats and sat there even more nervous. Whilst Lucy was taking pictures I took the ring from my pocket and placed it next to my foot. Eventually Lucy sat next to me again, so when she sat down I said whats this next to my foot so I bent down and lifted up the green coloured Tiffany box with the ribbon bow and placed it onto the table. Lucy looked surprised and began to un-tie the ribbon, then gently opened the box and pulled out the box containing the ring. Unfortunately, because of where I was seated and being blocked in I couldnt get down on bended knee, which looking back I regret and I also think Lucy thinks the same. Anyway, she slowly opened the box and saw the ring, I looked at her and asked her to marry me, she excitedly said yes and thats where our Fairy Tale started.
The planning process was always going to be hard for us as we live in the UK. However, Lucy was turning 30 in June 2011 and I was going to surprise her with a trip to New York as shes always wanted to go there. We therefore, extended our trip by 4 days and flew from New York to Orlando and met our then wedding planner Carol Mikles and floral planner Elizabeth Sutton. Within those 4 days we chose our meals for our reception, our wedding cake flavours and style, picked out which linens would go best with our colour scheme, kind of decided on the decor for table, floral arrangements and colours, visited the Wedding Pavilion and the Whitehall Room, met our officiant and also had an engagement session with our photographer Mike Richards. You could say within those 4 days we were there we were very busy!
Review
I would like to now go through all the people and vendors connected with our wedding and let you know how they marked out of 10 for their services and part within our wedding.
Disney Wedding Planner - Jamie Betz 10 / 10
Due to circumstances we had to change our wedding date which resulted in being assigned a new wedding planner, Pamela Mattack. Our first communication with our new planner was a voicemail just introducing herself. Emails were exchanged but it was mainly with Pamelas assistant, Jessica Rawlings. After time, we both felt we needed to speak to Pamela as things were not moving along as we thought they should be and at this point we still hadnt actually spoken to her! To cut along story short, we decided we wanted yet another new planner after a telephone appointment with Pamela, as we found her very unhelpful, came across as not interested and not very approachable. We were then assigned Jamie Betz. What a breath of fresh air, approachable, bubbly, full of ideas and opinions, if only we could have had her from the beginning. She replied to emails usually within 2 days and even set up an appointment for us to listen to the organ in the wedding pavilion when we arrived in Orlando. If any of you get her assigned to you, you are in good hands.
Disney Floral Planner - Elizabeth Sutton 8 / 10
I thought Elizabeth was very good at getting back to us quickly. Her messages were sometimes short and sweet but most of the time she understood what we wanted. There was alot of going back and forth on our choice of flowers and this became confusing as in America some of the flowers are called different names as to ours in the UK. After setting up a telephone appointment this was all made clear and we were both happy that we were going to get the flowers we wanted. There was a little problem on the actual day of the wedding with some colours of the flowers not being quite right but they were taken away and changed to what we wanted. Upon our arrival back to the UK Elizabeth had sent us a congratulations card through the post. I personally thought this was a lovely gesture and a nice touch.
Ron Rosenzweig - Officiant 10 / 10
Lucy and I are not religious so we didnt want an officiant who was either. We chose Ron because he ticked all the boxes and we liked his choices of vows we could select from. We met him back in 2011 when we were in the middle of our busy wedding planning as we thought it was very important to meet the person who is going to marry you. We werent disappointed, he was polite, easy to get on with and knew what we wanted. We chose our vows and emailed them to Ron who said he would know them off by heart. On the actual day he did what he said he would do. He was fluent, clear and precise and didnt get any wording wrong. Im so glad we chose Ron to marry us.
Hair and Make Up - Beaute Speciale 8 / 10
This section isnt really my domain as I didn't actually have any hair or make up done by them. Lucy and I had booked them to do Lucys, the bridesmaids, maid of honour and the mother-in-laws hair and make up. At the beginning emails were exchanged to determine what costs would be involved and what times we would need to start etc. This at the beginning was a bit confusing and frustrating as we wanted them to start at a certain time but they insisted on starting a good 2 hours before we wanted them to. After a few more emails we all agreed on times and we paid our deposits. We had booked them for Lucy to have a hair and make up trial, this way she will know what her hair and make up would look like on our wedding day. Obviously we had them booked for the wedding day and also had them booked the day after our wedding to do another hair and make up for our Magic Kingdom Bridal Portrait Session. In all I was very impressed with their work, Lucy looked stunning, her hair and make up was perfection to me on all three occasions. Lucy however, said that she loved what they did and the girls that did the hair and make up were lovely too, but the curls in her hair fell out a bit too quickly for her liking which disappointed her.
Videography - GoNorth Films 10 / 10
Morgan Hopfensperger who owns and operates GoNorth Films was our last vendor to choose. We wanted someone who brought something different to the table in terms of style and editing. We loved his style, the way he would flow each frame of the video with one another and we also was super excited about his Love Package. This was a separate video where he would follow you around one of the Disney Parks on a different day and videograph you and create another video of you. Morgan was great throughout to deal with, very approachable and very energetic. One thing that impressed me with Morgan is that he only wanted half of his fee being paid as a deposit and the remaining fee to be paid once hes sent you a first draft and then you go back with changes. As it was, we made a few changes and he in fact did 3 drafts for us at no extra charge. Morgan was great, not only at his job but as a person too.
Photography - Mike Richards 1 / 10
Writing this part leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth and slightly sad. When we first met on our engagement session in 2011 we felt at ease, got on very well and when we left our engagement session we were so excited to be working with him. How wrong could we have been. Throughout the process of dealing with Mike he was slow at coming back in emails, in some cases I had to email him several times before he came back. When we first booked him he was working with his then wife Lauren and they were known as Mike+Lauren Photography. Unfortunately, they decided to separate so naturally we were upset, not only because we didnt know where we stood but mainly for them as they seemed a great couple. We were assured this wouldnt change things for us and that Lauren would still be our second shooter as Mike was always the main one. However, after time we were told she would no longer be the second and we wouldnt know who that person would be until a month before our wedding.
During the few months building up to our wedding Mike took on new projects, mainly videography with his new girlfriend and they called themselves 829films. This didnt concern me as I thought he was a professional and would focus his attentions on our wedding when we needed him to. We changed our contract in the build up too, we originally booked him and the second shooter for 10 hours but we paid an extra $300 so they could be there for 12 hours. The reason for this was because we wanted someone to be with me when I was getting ready and someone with Lucy while she was getting ready. Another reason was that we had booked the Grand 1 Yacht to watch the Wishes fireworks which was last thing at night. Anyway, lets go forward to 5 weeks before we flew out to get married. I emailed Mike to arrange a telephone appointment to go over things, just like his contract stated. His reply was that he was moving house and shooting a video commercial, so between that and his family he didnt have any time. At first I was a little bit annoyed but because I am an understanding person I emailed him the wedding timeline. He replied to say it looked great as we had not only booked the Grand I as a surprise for our guests but also we had booked Mickey and Minnie too.
Now to the actual wedding day, Mike turned up on time and he was with Lucy, the second photographer who was meant to be with me turned up 45 minutes late but we did get a message via facebook telling us this the day before so we were fine with it. The day went by so quickly and everything seemed to go smoothly. Time was approaching where me and Lucy wanted to leave our guests and have photographs taken inside the Grand Floridian and then outside the wedding pavilion because we had seen a few pictures of other couples pictures taken there at night. I told Mike and he was fine with it and I said we are then heading to the Grand I Yacht which he said he didnt know anything about it. I said it was on the timeline that I had given him but Mike said he must have forgot. Anyway we did the photos we wanted and headed to the Grand I. I realised that the second photographer wasnt there but didnt say anything at the time as we only had the yacht for one hour so timing was key. On board Mike took a few pictures of me and Lucy and went back inside the yacht where he sat next to his assistant, who just so happens to be his girlfriend and business partner in 829films.
In his contract he stated he would get online proofs up on his website within 4 weeks from the date of the wedding, we got ours after 5 weeks. Again I was slightly annoyed as looking at his 829films facebook page he was taking on quite a bit of work for other Disney brides, a few which Lucy had recommended and in fact 829films first video shoot they did was because of Lucy recommending them to a fellow DisBride. Pictures were eventually put online and the majority of them I was happy with, Id say about 75% of them. Elements which disappointed Lucy and I was the lack of editing and attention to detail, but more heartbreaking was missing shots. He promised to airbrush out the crane overlooking the castle when we were having pictures taken at the Picture Point. However, nothing like this was done, plus a majority of pictures were at a tilt and some were even blurred. There was no pictures of my reaction when Lucy walked into the wedding pavilion, my father-in-laws speech or any pictures of our guests on board the Grand 1 Yacht, just a few of Lucy and I which were mainly taken from the side.
We sent Mike a polite email saying thank you and that we were disappointed with a few pictures, asked about missing photographs and the whereabouts of our second photographer. His reply was a total shock and we couldnt believe what we read. He took no responsibility whatsoever, he blamed our videographers for getting in his way, he even went as far as to criticise their equipment! He also went as far as to blame Lucy and I for selecting the layout of the table used at the reception and the room it was held in. He even expressed his opinion to say that he felt it was excessive to have 2 photographers and 2 videographers for our small wedding. Because we came from the UK there were only 12 of us, but he knew about this from day one, but he was happy to take our money for the second shooter and the extra 2 hours though! At no point did he say sorry, he simply said he overlooked the edits of the crane, the tilts of some pictures could be fixed, the reason for no father-in-law pictures was that our wedding planner hadnt informed him. However, he had a timeline of all the days events and what times these were taking place, plus we have the father-in-laws speech on video which was filmed by our videographer, so our question is where was Mike? And finally, Mike himself made the call to send the second shooter home without letting either myself or Lucy know, the reason for making this call was because he could cover everything after the reception himself. With him making that call we lost photograph opportunities which we can never get back.
Several emails were exchanged over a period of a few days, yet he was still taking no responsibility or saying sorry. I would go as far to say some of his emails were rude, personal and on the brink of being nasty. Eventually, he said he wanted to help and we should work together but if anything he was doing the complete opposite. In the end Lucy wanted to speak to him in person which took place and the conversation lasted a good 55 minutes. The outcome was that he would edit the pictures and will consider some form of reinbursement for the second photographer not being there for the full 12 hours. Three weeks went by since that conversation took place and still nothing from Mike, yet he was still busy with his other projects, mainly 829films. It felt like he was prioritising other work before ours and wasnt interested in Lucy and I anymore, afterall, he had our money a good 3 months before our wedding took place. I sent an email demanding to know what the status was with our pictures and said that weve been very patient but these are now 8 weeks late and to make matters worse he had closed his website down so I couldnt show family or friends any of our wedding pictures which I found embarrassing and very upsetting. The reason for the shutting down of his website is that he said he was no longer photographing weddings, just videography now within his new business 829films. Totally unacceptable! This however is now not the case, hes now added photographer back into his business but under his new name of 829films. Looking back now I find it very strange that a professional photographer who states he has many years of experience, his name is well known in the photography business and has won endless awards would change the name of his company 3 times within the space of 2 years?
Eventually, 9 weeks late, we received our wedding photographs on DVD. There was no note or a letter of apology for the delay, just the dvd in a black envelope. Mike reinburst us $75 which took 15 days to process. Im not too sure why it took that long to pay us the money back as he insisted on the 15 day rule and making us wait for the refund. This was paid via paypal but not from his paypal account as he said he had deleted it. I did ask Mike why we should wait 15 days for the refund but he gave no reason, infact he just ignored any emails. This came as no surprise to me as he had treated us poorly in the remaining stages, so reinbursing us the $75 wasnt going to be any different. How different he was when it came to me paying him the remaining balance, 3 months before I was meant to! To me $75 wasnt anywhere near enough but because I live in the UK and wanted to put an end to it I accepted the amount so that Lucy and I can move on and never have to deal with Mike Richards again.
The unfortunate aspect is that everytime I look at my wedding pictures or even think of Mike it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Mike did take some great pictures but that is overshadowed by the experience of it all. Mike Richards isnt as he seems, he posts kind hearted messages on his facebook page and his website, but if anything goes wrong or you are not happy with something, then expect a different Mike Richards. His slogan he uses is We love, LOVE. I can assure you we didnt get any feeling of love in dealing with Mike Richards!
In conclusion, to describe Mike he was very slow at responding to emails, rude, unprofessional, lied on occasions but what really upsets Lucy and I the most is that he seemed like he didnt care and more importantly he never actually said sorry.
The planning process was always going to be hard for us as we live in the UK. However, Lucy was turning 30 in June 2011 and I was going to surprise her with a trip to New York as shes always wanted to go there. We therefore, extended our trip by 4 days and flew from New York to Orlando and met our then wedding planner Carol Mikles and floral planner Elizabeth Sutton. Within those 4 days we chose our meals for our reception, our wedding cake flavours and style, picked out which linens would go best with our colour scheme, kind of decided on the decor for table, floral arrangements and colours, visited the Wedding Pavilion and the Whitehall Room, met our officiant and also had an engagement session with our photographer Mike Richards. You could say within those 4 days we were there we were very busy!
Review
I would like to now go through all the people and vendors connected with our wedding and let you know how they marked out of 10 for their services and part within our wedding.
Disney Wedding Planner - Jamie Betz 10 / 10
Due to circumstances we had to change our wedding date which resulted in being assigned a new wedding planner, Pamela Mattack. Our first communication with our new planner was a voicemail just introducing herself. Emails were exchanged but it was mainly with Pamelas assistant, Jessica Rawlings. After time, we both felt we needed to speak to Pamela as things were not moving along as we thought they should be and at this point we still hadnt actually spoken to her! To cut along story short, we decided we wanted yet another new planner after a telephone appointment with Pamela, as we found her very unhelpful, came across as not interested and not very approachable. We were then assigned Jamie Betz. What a breath of fresh air, approachable, bubbly, full of ideas and opinions, if only we could have had her from the beginning. She replied to emails usually within 2 days and even set up an appointment for us to listen to the organ in the wedding pavilion when we arrived in Orlando. If any of you get her assigned to you, you are in good hands.
Disney Floral Planner - Elizabeth Sutton 8 / 10
I thought Elizabeth was very good at getting back to us quickly. Her messages were sometimes short and sweet but most of the time she understood what we wanted. There was alot of going back and forth on our choice of flowers and this became confusing as in America some of the flowers are called different names as to ours in the UK. After setting up a telephone appointment this was all made clear and we were both happy that we were going to get the flowers we wanted. There was a little problem on the actual day of the wedding with some colours of the flowers not being quite right but they were taken away and changed to what we wanted. Upon our arrival back to the UK Elizabeth had sent us a congratulations card through the post. I personally thought this was a lovely gesture and a nice touch.
Ron Rosenzweig - Officiant 10 / 10
Lucy and I are not religious so we didnt want an officiant who was either. We chose Ron because he ticked all the boxes and we liked his choices of vows we could select from. We met him back in 2011 when we were in the middle of our busy wedding planning as we thought it was very important to meet the person who is going to marry you. We werent disappointed, he was polite, easy to get on with and knew what we wanted. We chose our vows and emailed them to Ron who said he would know them off by heart. On the actual day he did what he said he would do. He was fluent, clear and precise and didnt get any wording wrong. Im so glad we chose Ron to marry us.
Hair and Make Up - Beaute Speciale 8 / 10
This section isnt really my domain as I didn't actually have any hair or make up done by them. Lucy and I had booked them to do Lucys, the bridesmaids, maid of honour and the mother-in-laws hair and make up. At the beginning emails were exchanged to determine what costs would be involved and what times we would need to start etc. This at the beginning was a bit confusing and frustrating as we wanted them to start at a certain time but they insisted on starting a good 2 hours before we wanted them to. After a few more emails we all agreed on times and we paid our deposits. We had booked them for Lucy to have a hair and make up trial, this way she will know what her hair and make up would look like on our wedding day. Obviously we had them booked for the wedding day and also had them booked the day after our wedding to do another hair and make up for our Magic Kingdom Bridal Portrait Session. In all I was very impressed with their work, Lucy looked stunning, her hair and make up was perfection to me on all three occasions. Lucy however, said that she loved what they did and the girls that did the hair and make up were lovely too, but the curls in her hair fell out a bit too quickly for her liking which disappointed her.
Videography - GoNorth Films 10 / 10
Morgan Hopfensperger who owns and operates GoNorth Films was our last vendor to choose. We wanted someone who brought something different to the table in terms of style and editing. We loved his style, the way he would flow each frame of the video with one another and we also was super excited about his Love Package. This was a separate video where he would follow you around one of the Disney Parks on a different day and videograph you and create another video of you. Morgan was great throughout to deal with, very approachable and very energetic. One thing that impressed me with Morgan is that he only wanted half of his fee being paid as a deposit and the remaining fee to be paid once hes sent you a first draft and then you go back with changes. As it was, we made a few changes and he in fact did 3 drafts for us at no extra charge. Morgan was great, not only at his job but as a person too.
Photography - Mike Richards 1 / 10
Writing this part leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth and slightly sad. When we first met on our engagement session in 2011 we felt at ease, got on very well and when we left our engagement session we were so excited to be working with him. How wrong could we have been. Throughout the process of dealing with Mike he was slow at coming back in emails, in some cases I had to email him several times before he came back. When we first booked him he was working with his then wife Lauren and they were known as Mike+Lauren Photography. Unfortunately, they decided to separate so naturally we were upset, not only because we didnt know where we stood but mainly for them as they seemed a great couple. We were assured this wouldnt change things for us and that Lauren would still be our second shooter as Mike was always the main one. However, after time we were told she would no longer be the second and we wouldnt know who that person would be until a month before our wedding.
During the few months building up to our wedding Mike took on new projects, mainly videography with his new girlfriend and they called themselves 829films. This didnt concern me as I thought he was a professional and would focus his attentions on our wedding when we needed him to. We changed our contract in the build up too, we originally booked him and the second shooter for 10 hours but we paid an extra $300 so they could be there for 12 hours. The reason for this was because we wanted someone to be with me when I was getting ready and someone with Lucy while she was getting ready. Another reason was that we had booked the Grand 1 Yacht to watch the Wishes fireworks which was last thing at night. Anyway, lets go forward to 5 weeks before we flew out to get married. I emailed Mike to arrange a telephone appointment to go over things, just like his contract stated. His reply was that he was moving house and shooting a video commercial, so between that and his family he didnt have any time. At first I was a little bit annoyed but because I am an understanding person I emailed him the wedding timeline. He replied to say it looked great as we had not only booked the Grand I as a surprise for our guests but also we had booked Mickey and Minnie too.
Now to the actual wedding day, Mike turned up on time and he was with Lucy, the second photographer who was meant to be with me turned up 45 minutes late but we did get a message via facebook telling us this the day before so we were fine with it. The day went by so quickly and everything seemed to go smoothly. Time was approaching where me and Lucy wanted to leave our guests and have photographs taken inside the Grand Floridian and then outside the wedding pavilion because we had seen a few pictures of other couples pictures taken there at night. I told Mike and he was fine with it and I said we are then heading to the Grand I Yacht which he said he didnt know anything about it. I said it was on the timeline that I had given him but Mike said he must have forgot. Anyway we did the photos we wanted and headed to the Grand I. I realised that the second photographer wasnt there but didnt say anything at the time as we only had the yacht for one hour so timing was key. On board Mike took a few pictures of me and Lucy and went back inside the yacht where he sat next to his assistant, who just so happens to be his girlfriend and business partner in 829films.
In his contract he stated he would get online proofs up on his website within 4 weeks from the date of the wedding, we got ours after 5 weeks. Again I was slightly annoyed as looking at his 829films facebook page he was taking on quite a bit of work for other Disney brides, a few which Lucy had recommended and in fact 829films first video shoot they did was because of Lucy recommending them to a fellow DisBride. Pictures were eventually put online and the majority of them I was happy with, Id say about 75% of them. Elements which disappointed Lucy and I was the lack of editing and attention to detail, but more heartbreaking was missing shots. He promised to airbrush out the crane overlooking the castle when we were having pictures taken at the Picture Point. However, nothing like this was done, plus a majority of pictures were at a tilt and some were even blurred. There was no pictures of my reaction when Lucy walked into the wedding pavilion, my father-in-laws speech or any pictures of our guests on board the Grand 1 Yacht, just a few of Lucy and I which were mainly taken from the side.
We sent Mike a polite email saying thank you and that we were disappointed with a few pictures, asked about missing photographs and the whereabouts of our second photographer. His reply was a total shock and we couldnt believe what we read. He took no responsibility whatsoever, he blamed our videographers for getting in his way, he even went as far as to criticise their equipment! He also went as far as to blame Lucy and I for selecting the layout of the table used at the reception and the room it was held in. He even expressed his opinion to say that he felt it was excessive to have 2 photographers and 2 videographers for our small wedding. Because we came from the UK there were only 12 of us, but he knew about this from day one, but he was happy to take our money for the second shooter and the extra 2 hours though! At no point did he say sorry, he simply said he overlooked the edits of the crane, the tilts of some pictures could be fixed, the reason for no father-in-law pictures was that our wedding planner hadnt informed him. However, he had a timeline of all the days events and what times these were taking place, plus we have the father-in-laws speech on video which was filmed by our videographer, so our question is where was Mike? And finally, Mike himself made the call to send the second shooter home without letting either myself or Lucy know, the reason for making this call was because he could cover everything after the reception himself. With him making that call we lost photograph opportunities which we can never get back.
Several emails were exchanged over a period of a few days, yet he was still taking no responsibility or saying sorry. I would go as far to say some of his emails were rude, personal and on the brink of being nasty. Eventually, he said he wanted to help and we should work together but if anything he was doing the complete opposite. In the end Lucy wanted to speak to him in person which took place and the conversation lasted a good 55 minutes. The outcome was that he would edit the pictures and will consider some form of reinbursement for the second photographer not being there for the full 12 hours. Three weeks went by since that conversation took place and still nothing from Mike, yet he was still busy with his other projects, mainly 829films. It felt like he was prioritising other work before ours and wasnt interested in Lucy and I anymore, afterall, he had our money a good 3 months before our wedding took place. I sent an email demanding to know what the status was with our pictures and said that weve been very patient but these are now 8 weeks late and to make matters worse he had closed his website down so I couldnt show family or friends any of our wedding pictures which I found embarrassing and very upsetting. The reason for the shutting down of his website is that he said he was no longer photographing weddings, just videography now within his new business 829films. Totally unacceptable! This however is now not the case, hes now added photographer back into his business but under his new name of 829films. Looking back now I find it very strange that a professional photographer who states he has many years of experience, his name is well known in the photography business and has won endless awards would change the name of his company 3 times within the space of 2 years?
Eventually, 9 weeks late, we received our wedding photographs on DVD. There was no note or a letter of apology for the delay, just the dvd in a black envelope. Mike reinburst us $75 which took 15 days to process. Im not too sure why it took that long to pay us the money back as he insisted on the 15 day rule and making us wait for the refund. This was paid via paypal but not from his paypal account as he said he had deleted it. I did ask Mike why we should wait 15 days for the refund but he gave no reason, infact he just ignored any emails. This came as no surprise to me as he had treated us poorly in the remaining stages, so reinbursing us the $75 wasnt going to be any different. How different he was when it came to me paying him the remaining balance, 3 months before I was meant to! To me $75 wasnt anywhere near enough but because I live in the UK and wanted to put an end to it I accepted the amount so that Lucy and I can move on and never have to deal with Mike Richards again.
The unfortunate aspect is that everytime I look at my wedding pictures or even think of Mike it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Mike did take some great pictures but that is overshadowed by the experience of it all. Mike Richards isnt as he seems, he posts kind hearted messages on his facebook page and his website, but if anything goes wrong or you are not happy with something, then expect a different Mike Richards. His slogan he uses is We love, LOVE. I can assure you we didnt get any feeling of love in dealing with Mike Richards!
In conclusion, to describe Mike he was very slow at responding to emails, rude, unprofessional, lied on occasions but what really upsets Lucy and I the most is that he seemed like he didnt care and more importantly he never actually said sorry.
