I used to joke with brides when we met, “I’ll chase ya down if I can’t find you.” Never thought it would actually happen, till last month! And so the story begins…
The bride lived out of state, but had been in several months ago to hire us when she was in town shopping for many wedding pros. We collected all the usual info, name, address, email, phone number. You know, all the necessary details.
Little did I know, a simple typo and a bride’s neglect to update us on a new phone number would turn her world and ours upside down.
We contact brides via email about 8 weeks before the wedding to schedule the final consultation. A routine system, something I can do with a blindfold on and my hands tied behind my back. And standing on my head. Talented, I know.
So we sent the normal template email with a list of the dates and times available for her to come in and finalize, with the option to finalize via email if none of those work.
A day goes by. We hear nothing.
A week lapses. Crickets.
I pick up the phone. This isn’t usual!! We always hear back from a bride within a week.
Her phone number has been disconnected.
Great Scott! I have my first MIA bride!!!! (Cue the cheesey Dun, Dun, DUUUNNNN! music).
So I quickly go to my next favorite tool to find people, the internet. In particular, Facebook. I look her up.
EUREKA! I FOUND HER!!!!
At least I THINK it’s her (it was, just for the record). So I sent her a message. Since we are not friends on Facebook, my message goes to her “other folder” but since I used Messenger, she sees it. She accepts my messenger request three days after I sent it and read the message. BUT NO RESPONSE.
“Maybe it’s not really her” I thought, “Maybe it’s a look-a-like that lives in the same area.” Hmmmm……
Okay, on to the next idea!!
Unfortunately, this bride wasn’t getting married at a venue where I could just call the coordinator and say, hey, I can’t get ahold of Betsy, can you help me out!! Oh no, she was getting married on a farm about 45 minutes from my flower shop that was privately owned.
So my husband, being the savvy snooper that he is, does a property search on the county auditor’s site and finds the owner of the property. We look him up on Facebook, sent a friend request, a message AND we found his phone number online and called and left a message.
STILL CRICKETS!!!!!!!!!!
Where’s the hidden cameras?!?!? Seriously, this is a taping of a reality TV show and I just don’t know it, right????
The bride is now a week past her due-date to finalize, and I’m thinking, “WOW! My first MIA bride in 13 years.”
Suddenly, the phone rings at the flower shop. There is a very, VERY frantic bride on the other end– “You are doing my wedding in less than two weeks and I need to finalize!!!!!!!!” Ahhh….there she is!
After chatting (aka, calming her down), we realized that she had neglected to update me with her new phone number, and the coordiantor who entered her info typed her email address wrong! No explanation for why she didn’t message me back on Facebook, or why the owner of the property never got back with us, BUT the mystery was solved! The MIA bride had been found. We quickly reviewed her order with a fine tooth comb, she accepted it and paid and I ordered the flowers with no issues.
The wedding was beautiful…here is a pic of her tuscan-style guest tables!!
LESSON LEARNED: Exhaust your options when you can’t get ahold of a bride. Find her online. On Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter…try to find where she works and contact her employer. Contact the venue and any other wedding pros you know she is working with. Our last resort, which we didn’t have to do, was to mail her a certified letter explaining we had been trying to reach her and how, because in the contract she signed, there is a clause that if we don’t hear from you by 14 days before the wedding, the contract is voided (basically, we will assume you have disappeared for a reason); no flowers will be ordered and we will not be showing up the day of the wedding.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO: Create a policy of how you will handle and the exact steps you will follow if you ever can’t get ahold of a bride. Want a cheat sheet? A pre-written template for the first step of chasing down an MIA bride? Check out the $29, 30+ page eBook full of scripts and templates you can use for just about every situation (like this one) with your brides! CLICK HERE and go to the “Scripts and Templates eBook” section to check it out!
Ever have this or something similar happen to you? How did you handle it? Let’s share in the comment section below!
We had a situation where the Bride went MIA. She booked me in February, paid retainer, for a September wedding. Did her Engagement session & ordering session a $986 order)in March. Did her Step-Father’s 4 generation session in May.
Two weeks prior to the wedding we start trying to contact the Bride to do the final consultation. Nothing. She won’t return phone calls, emails, Facebook messages – nothing. We have had situations before where the wedding had been called off and they forgot to tell us. Three days prior to the wedding, when technically she’s in default of her wedding contract, I call her venue and ask if her wedding was still on. They replied that is was, but that their records did not indicate I was the photographer. They told me who was the photographer and I call her. She was just as surprised as I was that both of us had been booked to the same wedding.
I called the Bride’s phone number and left another message – “I know you have booked another photographer for your wedding, but since I still had a valid contract with her, it looks like she was going to have two photographers at her wedding and because I’m the official photographer, I could shut down the other photographer. It could get ugly – call me.”
Within 15 minutes, her mom sent me an email canceling our services. I replied to her that the Bride still owed $$$ for the engagement portraits and balance of the wedding contract (which is in our contract. Mom replied back later that I would have to take that up with the Bride. An email was sent to the Bride regarding all that she still owed and that it needed to be paid before her wedding, even though she had cancelled us. Crickets.
Three days after her wedding, I mailed her a demand letter by regular mail and Certified mail that the funds should be paid within 30 days or I would file suit in Small Claims court. Crickets.
On the 31st day, I filed suit for money she owed me plus court fees, and travel/mileage to court.
Long story short, we went to court and I prevailed. There a whole other story there, but just suffice it to say the Judge was amazed that the Bride had the attitude she had regarding this whole issue.
So, the moral of this story – document, document, document.
Well said, Dwayne! Thanks for sharing!!
Interesting story! Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure! Thanks for reading 🙂