Complaint Review: The Wedding in A Box/ Creative Contact/ Phyllis Franks

BEWARE of Phyllis Franks, owner of The Wedding In A box/ Creative Contact in Winston-Salem and Kernersville, NC.

We hired her to simply coordinate our wedding.  Everything was planned perfectly, all she had to do was follow directions that were given to her in an agenda, iteneary, and the program for the wedding. She did the complete opposite.

When the hostess of my wedding reception offered to assist her, she declined.  She did not put out my guest registery book.  To this day, I have no clue of all of our guest that came to our wedding and no way to send thank you cards.

In a traditional wedding procession (christian), it is customary that the mothers of the bride and groom are seated before the wedding party comes in.  On the wedding program, it was listed that way.  Phyllis totally ignored protocol and the order of the wedding ceremony program, and did HER OWN THING.  She rearranged the order of the ceremony WITHOUT MY APPROVAL. Rather than allow me to come out when all of the wedding party is in place at the front of the room, she called me in the hallway while everyone was in line waiting to walk the aisle.  Instead of the bridal entrance that we discussed, everyone was able to see me in the hall way before I wlked down the aisle.  Not the wow factor entrance that I wanted and waited for all my life.

During the rehearsal, she screamed, yelled, and used profanity at our wedding party.  With statements like, " Excuse me PASTOR but if I have to be a b***h, I will be a b***h."  UNPROFESSIONAL and VERY DISRESPECTFUL!  I admit, there were some that were a little noisy but no reason to cuss at them.  That could have been handled better than it was.

She was also given a seating chart for reserved tables to ensure that immediate family, wedding party,guest with special needs, and guest invited by my mother-in-law would have a seat.  She DIMISSED THE SEATING ARRANGEMENT. 

A few of my guest left the wedding because she cussed at them.  Not to mention that my mother-in-law was not too happy with me because her family was sitting in the balcony seating.

Now to the top teir of our wedding cake.  SHE DISTROYED IT! She wrapped it in aluminum foil smashing it rather than using the box that the baker gave us.  It was taped to the wedding cake box that contained the wedding cake.  No way for her to miss it.

I called the city and county government offices and found out that she DOES NOT have a business license at all.  She appears to be legit, with her advertisements but she is not.  The day after our wedding, I went to file a complaint with BBB.  I had to get her address from her website.  When I went to her website, she had a nice message that read. " AS OF MAY 01, 2010, THE WEDDING IN A BOX HAS CLOSED ITS DOORS FOR HEALTH AND EMOTIONAL REASONS." Only to reopen her site  2 weeks after our wedding.

WHEN INTERVIEWING A EVENT/WEDDING COORINATOR, BE SURE TO ASK TO SEE THE LICENSE,TELEPHONE PAST CLIENTS, ASK TO SEE VIDEOS OF WEDDING/EVENTS THAT THEY HAVE DONE.  ALSO DRAFT A CONTRACT OF YOUR OWN FOR THE VENDOR TO SIGN.  THIS PROTECTS YOU!  YOU ARE NOT ONLY ASKING THEM TO ASSIST YOU BUT THEY ARE WANTING YOUR BUSINESS. HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE AND MAKE SURE THEY COMPLY WITH YOUR EVERY WISH.  IT IS NOT BEING A BRIDEZILLA OR GROOMZILLA BUT IT IS GETTING WHAT YOUR MONEY PAID FOR!

IF YOU ARE IN THE TRIAD AREA OF NC (GREENSBORO/WINSTON-SALEM/HIGH POINT/LEXINGTON/KERNESVILLE) AND ALL SURROUNDING AREAS, AVOID THIS COMPANY LIKE THE PLAGUE.

I was taught that people are remembered for 1 of 2 things; PROBLEMS YOU SOLVE  or the PROBLEMS YOU CREATE.  The Wedding in a Box/Creative Contact/Phyllis Franks will always be remembered for the problems that she caused.