In this episode of the Engage wedding planning podcast, host Jamie Wolfer fields live calls from listeners dealing with urgent wedding planning challenges. The primary call comes from Rachel, whose photography company abruptly terminated their contract after she expressed dissatisfaction with an engagement shoot. Jamie guides Rachel through reviewing the contract, securing a full refund, and deciding whether to continue with the vendor. She validates Rachel’s emotional response, advises taking time to grieve, and recommends practical next steps: posting the situation in wedding‑focused Facebook groups to quickly source replacement photographers, and using the extra time to reassess the budget. The episode then shifts to Mariela’s question about alternative groom attire, with Jamie suggesting jumpsuits, linen pants, and other non‑traditional options. Finally, Mariela asks for help narrowing down jewelry and hairpiece choices; Jamie advises a simple, veil‑compatible approach, using Pinterest for inspiration and in‑store try‑ons. Throughout, Jamie promotes her Master Plan course and related budgeting tools as deeper resources for couples needing ongoing support.
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Well, hello, lovely humans, and welcome to Engage, a wedding planning podcast for the modern-day couple. I'm your host, Jamie Wolfer, and I truly believe that wedding planning does not need to be complicated or time-consuming. I kind of picture these episodes like jumping on a quick phone call with your wedding planner. You get your answers and you go on your merry way, because sometimes not all of us have an hour to dedicate to listening to super long podcasts or super long intros. So without further ado, let's just jump right on into it. Today's episode is going to admittedly be a little bit all over the place. You see, every single month I sit down with all of the I was going to say constituents. They're not constituents. The people over in the Master Plan course and answer your questions in live time. So if you find yourself struggling and really need to sit down and speak with a real life wedding planner, I would love to be a part of your wedding planning journey. Join us over in the Master Plan today to get your questions answered. Until then, take a listen. Rachel says, new to the call. I literally just got off the phone with my photography company. Why? Why? I was like, hey, we're not keeping roll here. You can come and go as much as you want to, but I'm so glad you're here. Oh, I think they just fired— wait, oh, I think they just fired me. I was told because I wasn't happy with my original engagement photographer, they no longer think we are a good fit.
No, honey!
Oh my gosh, wait, wait, what?
Yeah, I could cry. Actually, I did.
Yeah, Rachel.
Yeah, so basically, I, I had this photographer. I saw them at a wedding expo like COVID, so I knew that I wanted to go with them. And basically, I— we got our engagement session done back in November, and I reached out and I was like, hey, he was great, super nice, but I just wasn't really happy with the quality of the photos. Like, is there anything we can do? And they seemed like really upbeat and fine with it. Um, and then I don't know, I don't know what happened, but today, um, I had followed up with them and was like, hey, haven't heard from you guys in a little while, just like checking in how— because basically I had to give recommendations on other options for our engagement session places. And basically he was like, hey, do you have time for a call? And I guess, um, the photographer that they reassigned me to is now intimidated because the original photographer that we went to, I guess, was the best of the best in their company. And so basically he said We don't think we're the right fit, but if you want to, we can assign you to two other ones, but basically our best two, like, aren't going to work for you.
Okay. I never do this. Do me a favor and send me your contract.
Okay.
I'm going to have you send it to hello@wolferandco.com because you can't just cancel.
Uh, he did say that I could have like a full refund, but he was like, Yeah, you have 6 months, so you'll be fine. But you know, if you decide not to go with us, then like, just let us know.
Okay, so good, good that they already offered that off the bat. That's huge. Um, you can totally find a photographer in 6 months. That's possible. But I get that right now your brain's gonna stay in like the— nothing feels good right now. Like nothing I say is going to solve any of this. Um, but the fact that they're already offering a full refund is really big. That's bizarre. That's like borderline wacko. The fact that— the fact that they would say, because you weren't pleased with the first round, instead of being like, let's go again, send us locations, which they did do the first time around, to then say that because you spoke up that they're intimidated by you. I don't care for that at all. That's weird.
That's not normal. What email did you say to send it to?
Send it to hello@jameiewolferandco.com. Yeah, because I mean Luckily, what I was going to do is, uh, review the cancellation policy that they have in there. The question is, do you want to work with them anymore?
I feel like it's, it's leaving a bad taste in my mouth now. I'm nervous. Could something happen day of wedding and then say, oh, sorry, your photographer is sick? Like, no. I, I talked to my fiancé and he was like, I was copied on all of your emails. All you were doing was following up. You gave them 2, 3, 4 days. In between responses before you followed up. And so I just don't, I don't know what happened today, but yeah, I will definitely send that over to you.
That's a, that's a super unprofessional and very weird thing to do. I've never heard of that. That's so, um, so now that you're kind of looking at the building blocks again, don't do this tonight. Maybe don't even do this tomorrow. Give yourself time to grieve a little. You're allowed to let this suck. Okay. But maybe next week, next week, Monday, get in a Facebook group. And again, Facebook groups are my wedding Google because you can go in there and be like, here's what happened. Here's our budget. You don't even have to explain what happened if you don't want to.
Okay.
Long story short, we lost our photographer for reasons outside of our control. We, here's our budget. Here's what we're looking for. Um, and here's our price range. Oh, I said budget. Um, and then here's our date. Does anybody have anybody? So you might get pitches from different photographers. You'll still have to filter through it. The mental load and the administrative work that this just opened up for you, I'm not going to belittle. I know that sounds exhausting, but at least you should have a lot of sources really quickly. Okay. Okay.
Thank you so much. I will definitely look into that.
You are very welcome. And I agree, I would not want to work with them anymore.
Yes, definitely, definitely not happening.
The whole day, just be like, oh, I'm so uncomfortable, which is making it great in photos. Right, right, right.
All right, thanks, Jamie.
Oh, I'm so sorry this happened. You have every right to be frustrated. That's, that's wild. That's a first. Sitting here listening to a podcast is all fine and dandy, right? But sometimes you need an actual person to be asking some of these questions to. And you may be sitting there going, you know what, Jamie, actually, yeah, that, that makes a lot of sense. I would love to be able to ask you these questions. Guess what? You need to join the Master Plan. You've heard me talk about it, but do you know why I love it so much? You get over 10 lessons that walk you through planning your wedding with videos and spreadsheets and other detailed resources along the way. Join me and my virtual clients over in the master plan and get all your wedding planning questions answered. Literally thousands of couples have gone on this journey with me, and I'd love for you to be next. Check it out at wolferandco.com TMP. That's wolferandco.com TMP. Listen, wedding budgets suck. They're just like the actual worst. And the hardest part for me is that weddings are not cookie cutter. They're not one size fits all. And I think it's important to make sure that you're budgeting according to your priorities. Build a budget that works with your vision and you'll be on the path to planning a wedding that you really want. So if you want my recommendations for making your perfect budget for you and your partner, head on over to weddingpriorities.com. Uh, Mariela says, my future wife is wearing a dress. I'm not comfortable in a dress. Uh, don't want to wear a suit. What's left? Jumpsuit is all I can think of. Yes, jumpsuit could be. And again, it doesn't have to be form-fitting. Um, and so that's, that's the part where I'm like, I totally get where you come— what do you normally wear? What is normally comfortable for you? And then do you feel like wearing a version of that on your wedding day? You know, if like I've seen, um, a bride wear like flowy linen pants and like a structured top in ivory or all white— stunning. You know, it's— I think I think there's a lot that you can do with this and really make it yours. And just pick white if you want to. Do you have any resources for putting together a wedding look together— or putting a wedding look together? Sorry. I already have my dress, shoes, and veil, but I'm not sure how to get my options narrowed down for jewelry and hairpiece. Researching and putting all of this together has honestly been one of the most fun parts of wedding planning for me, but I don't want to overdo those final touches. That's smart. I see that. For reference, our wedding is in May and has a light romantic spring garden floral vibe. Jamie Wolfer. My dress has billowy sleeves and princess neckline, and I will be wearing a chapel-length veil. So as far as putting a wedding look together, um, I feel like something— it depends on how your brain processes better, um, or processes things best. Do you like— I would scroll, if I were you, I'd scroll the heck on, uh, on Pinterest and see what you like. I also feel like especially if you have billowy sleeves princess neckline, veil. I would be more inclined to go a little bit more simple with the jewelry and let those pieces shine. But to get back to putting together a wedding look, looking on Pinterest and then getting out there and physically trying things on, okay, um, that could be another really good option for you. This bug is gonna drive me insane. That could be a great option for you. So yeah, I'm the type that just tries it out. What would you guys do if you're in the situation, you're trying to figure out what jewelry and what hairpiece you want? And then as far as your hairpiece is concerned, do you want it to function to hold your veil in, or do you want it to sit on top of your veil? Is it going to be there the entire day, or is it only going to be there during the ceremony and you're okay if it leaves? Do you want it with the veil, underneath the veil? Again, we're worried about snag— again, I haven't said this yet, we obviously worried about snagging. Do you want on one of the sides? So that's what I would do. I would scour Pinterest, take the dress to a place where you can try. That could be an idea, although it might be a little bit more ordeal to get into a wedding dress, let's say, Could you imagine being at like Nordstrom's being like, I'm just gonna put my dress on and then come try this? Although I like the idea. Um, okay, unless you mean take a place where you can try the jewelry. That might be what you meant. But could you imagine? That would be kind of funny.
Fun day though.
Yeah, that would be really fun.
That—
I didn't really answer your question about how to put together a wedding look. Scroll Pinterest, try jewelry on. I'd say go simple and then maybe answer some functional questions about what you want the hairpiece to do. If you are struggling with wedding planning and you have questions and you just need someone to listen and to chat with, come join us in the Master Plan Community over at themasterplanwed.com. I would love to have you in there. Thanks so much for listening. If you haven't done so already, subscribe, jump on over to wherever you're listening to this podcast and leave a 5-star review so we can let the podcast people know that Jamie knows what she's talking about sometimes. And until next time, bye guys!
