A Not Awesome Experience with Awesome Events by Mark Cuevas

Disclaimer: Everything I’ve written here is based on my personal experience, how I felt about them, the impression they've left on me, and the actual transaction that transpired between us back in 2015.

Worst nightmare! That’s how I felt about my experience with Awesome Events by Mark Cuevas. 

When my husband and I started saving for our wedding he also started scouting for an event organizer/coordinator. He knew we will need one since our schedule at work is far from normal. We also don’t want to use our leave credits just for meeting suppliers. That’s what our restdays are for. He actually found two potential coordinators but we picked Awesome Events by Mark Cuevas because of the good feedback we read about them and their packages are already complete from photographer, videographer, makeup artist, prenup, invitation, bride and entourage flower arrangement, caterer, lively emcee to wedding cake, dove, bridal car, basically everything that you will need for a wedding. We were so rapt with all the good feedbacks they have on their website and on Facebook that when my friend announced that she will get married I didn’t hesitate to refer Awesome Events to her (well, I also informed her about the other supplier but she chose Awesome Events) even if I haven’t experienced working with them yet. Good thing they were able to deliver service on my friend’s wedding, otherwise, I would’ve felt guilty if their hard earned money (just like ours) went to waste. 

Here are my grievances.

1.       Traumatic experience with Annabelle Abarre – I’ve called their booking manager Annabelle Abarre to ask her availability to meet us up. She said she would have to check her schedule and will just text me with an update. I’ve waited for 2 days but got no text message or phone call so I called her again. This time she instructed me to text her my wedding details. She agreed to meet us at Starbucks Mall Of Asia on January 10 (Saturday) but forgot to tell me what time in the afternoon. I texted her a day before to confirm our meeting but as expected she didn’t respond. My husband decided to be there before lunch so we could meet her right away in case she replies to my text message but it was already past 3pm and she hasn’t confirmed what time she would be meeting us so I called her (again). She was already at Starbucks when I called, but still talking to another client. I get it, she has to maximize her time and meet as many potential clients as she can in a day but she could have responded to my messages and informed me what time she will be available for us. 

Finally, it’s our turn to talk to her. It was our first time to hire a coordinator so we’re not sure what to say. We were both expecting that Annabelle Abarre would initiate the conversation and discuss their packages, ask our wedding ideas and what we would like on our wedding, but instead, she just let us sit and talk while she was browsing her phone. It felt awkward because I’m not sure if she’s ready to listen to us or should we wait for her until she’s finished with whatever she’s doing with her phone. While she’s busy with her phone, we started telling her our plans. We just wanted 60 guests and our target budget is only 150,000 pesos. I know, I know, that’s unrealistic budget if you are planning for a church wedding no matter how simple it is but we were just trying to haggle with her. As soon as she heard us said that, her face went from :) to :/. Right at that moment I already had an inkling that she might not entertain us the way she entertained my friend because we can’t afford their service. It was obvious that she didn’t want to prolong our conversation. Kulang nalang sabihin nya “hanap na lang kayo ng iba. Thank you.” Their website said that they accept customize package so my husband and I started discussing to her the package and modification we wanted. That’s the only time she informed us that for provincial wedding, we can only choose from their  awesomized package. (take note: I gave her my wedding details including the location of the venue and church when I texted her before our meeting. She could have told this right away to help me decide whether I would still want to hire them or not). We were not expecting that since it was not specified on their website, but that’s not all, we were also shocked to know that the price of their packages doesn’t include other charges. She probably felt that we are not affluent that’s why she said “Nahihiya ako tuloy ako sa inyo sabihin yung service charge at out of town fee namin”. AWESOME!! She just told us that the cheapest package we can avail is worth Php140,000 plus Php42,000 for the service charge and out of town fee. She didn’t force us to decide at that time. She let us think about it and said that we can meet her on their next event in Silang once we are decided if we will take their service.  

2.       My husband and I decided to just get their service because we thought it might be worth it since it will save us a lot of time to look for different suppliers for caterer, make-up and photo/video. So, on January 18 we decided to go to their event in Jon-She Resort in Pooc, Silang so we could give her our non-refundable reservation fee of Php10,000.00. They have a wedding that afternoon and we agreed to be there at 2pm. She said it’s better to visit them when they have event so we could see how they prepare things and we could also have food tasting. I was surprised to get a message from her that day at 4:30 in the morning. Yes! She went out of her way to send me a text message to remind me that she will meet us that day. Was it because we’re going to pay her or did she finally become thoughtful since I will now become one of their clients? Hmmm..  

We arrived at Jon-She about 30 minutes before 2pm. The place looks busy because they were setting up the tables and chairs, and it’s been raining the whole day too. We went inside and look for “Miss” Anne but it seems like she has not arrived yet. Oh no! One of their staff invited us to sit at the stage where they were setting up the backdrop for the newly wed, he said Anne went out to buy something.  Everyone has their own business and nobody seems to know that Anne was expecting us. By this time, I texted her to say that we were already at the location. She responded after 2 minutes with “ay nasa bayan po ako. Nid ko po hanap wire extensions”. Low and behold! We must be really a valued client because she never responded that fast prior to this day. Although, if we were that important to her, shouldn’t she be there at Jon-She Resort to welcome us and sent someone else instead to buy the supplies? Another hmmm… 

I replied and told her that we will wait at the resort. She replied again and told us to just look for Larizza. We asked the manongs who were probably on break and drinking coffee while waiting for the rain to stop where Larizza is. Fortunately, she was on the location but was sleeping somewhere near the restroom entrance. Nakaistorbo pa yata kami sa pagpapahinga nya. Larizza was probably in her mid 20’s. She approached us after a few minutes of hesitating to entertain a potential client. As soon as she went to where we were sitting, she started explaining that she’s tired and sleepy because they were already awake as early as wee hours to prepare the place. That’s fine. I understand her situation. She was nice in explaining the package and took note of what we wanted to modify and said that she’ll inform “Miss” Anne about our requests. We were almost done discussing our plans when the great “Miss” Anne arrived. Or should I say the “late” Miss Anne?! (pun intended) 

 

3.       I was expecting her to apologize that she was not there when we arrived but that didn’t happen. When she saw us she smiled and asked Larizza “Ano na?”. She went ahead and updated her of what we have talked about. I thought she’ll take over and continue the discussion, after all,  she IS the BOOKING MANAGER but I was wrong. She stood right in front of the stage where my husband and I were sitting and gave commands to her staff. She was talking and joking with them as if we were not there. It was starting to feel awkward. My husband and I were sitting there waiting if she would still talk to us or should we already go. At last, she felt that we were waiting for her and finally turned her attention to us. Larizza showed her our contract and that’s when she noticed the modifications that we requested. 

4.       As I have mentioned earlier, we wanted to control our spending which is why we wanted to remove and/or replace some of the things included in their package. Our goal was to maximize and modify it according to our needs.

-          First is the cake – We didn’t need a three layer cake. We requested to just have a simple one layer cake and use the budget that they will saved from the cake for other supplies. I was stunned when Anne said that not all layers of the cake is edible, just the bottom part. Toink! They could have mention that on their website.

-          The place that we rented for reception includes tables and tiffany chairs for 100 guests. It was also right beside the church where we held our wedding so we didn’t need to rent a bridal car. We just wanted to use the money from renting these two to add one more photographer and videographer. Anne said "price will not be reduced since it is part of caterer's service".

-          I have a separate supplier for my bridal bouquet so I asked her to remove the bouquet and replace it with one more main dish. The bouquet only cost 2,500 pesos which means we could only add either a soup or pork dish (if I can still remember it right).

-          My friend’s wedding has mobile bar but only few of her guests ordered cocktail and so I also opted to remove this from our package. I think this was worth 3,500 or 5,000 pesos. We wanted to use that amount to cover part of the fee for the additional photographer and videographer.

-          We heard their acoustic band during my friend’s wedding and there was nothing special with their performance so again, we wanted to remove this and use the money for other supply. 

Our meeting ended after we gave our reservation fee (plus she was already busy chatting with her people while drinking coffee and requesting for biscuits). My heart was a little heavy because our plan didn’t went according to my expectation. Not all the things we’ve requested to be removed have equivalent amount so we just kept it. We were never offered to taste their food either since they were still preparing at that time. A few minutes after we left, Anne texted me to say thank you. My doubts on her was somehow eliminated after receiving that message. I  felt guilty that I judged her for not responding right away and for not engaging all the time whenever we’re talking. I thought now that we are officially their client, she’ll be more responsive and accommodating BUT it didn’t end like that. Nope. It was not a happy ending for us. It even became worst. 

5.       Before we left, she gave us our schedule of payment, email address where we should send our cake, stage/backdrop and table arrangement design, and the person we should contact for the invitation and pre-nup. We requested to have our pictorial on a weekend. Our plan was to have our pre-nup pictorial somewhere in Muntinlupa but Anne said we might have to pay additional fee because Muntinlupa is considered as “out of town”. Really!!! We will be paying them 15% out of town fee plus 15% service charge and now she’s telling me that we will have to pay another “out of town” fee for our pre-nup? Wow! That is too many hidden charges and information.

6.       Anne gave us the number of Suzette. She’s in charge for requesting a schedule for pictorial. Our wedding was still 5 months away but I wanted to secure a date for our pictorial to lessen the things we would need to do. I was hoping to finish everything we need at least 2-3 weeks before our big day (wishful thinking, hehehe). I texted Suzette the following day because I wanted to make sure that we get a weekend schedule and based on Anne’s word, they are usually fully booked during weekend. She replied to me immediately (Whoaa, I’m starting to feel loved) and said that she will check if they still have open schedule. That was January 19. I was expecting to get an update after a day or two or at least within that week but I never heard from her again. I sent another text message on February 3 to make some follow up but she never replied. She could have told me whether it was too early to request for a pre-nup schedule. I’m willing to cooperate with them. I mean, it was my first time to get married and unlike them, organizing a wedding is not my specialization. 

7.       While all of these are happening with Annabelle Abarre, I was also communicating with Mark Cuevas through Facebook. I was hoping he could help us talk to her (Anne - I think is her mom) to give us discounts or at least follow up with her so we could get immediate response but it was just useless. I don’t think he even talked to her about our requests. 

8.       My husband sent an email to Anne on January 27 attached the flower, cake and cake topper designs of our preference. She didn’t respond whether she received the email or if the design we wanted was doable or not. I was starting to lose confidence with Awesome Events. Our experience with them is so frustrating and makes me feel less important. My husband sent a follow up email on February 3 and after 6 days, Anne responded which for me sounded a bit rude. I wanted to reply to her email and educate her about email etiquette and customer service. She already reached my nerve and her response for me was discourteous. First of all, she never told us that there is a format for sending an email. Her instruction was to send them our preferred design for the cake, cake topper, backdrop and table arrangement. That is all! She didn’t mention anything about sending separate email for each items because she was busy talking to one of her staff asking for coffee and biscuits. My friend who had them as their wedding organizer confirmed that they were not ask to send an email in a specific format. Maybe this is a new process that they want to implement to their clients and I have no problem complying had she informed us ahead of time.  This was the turning point for me and my husband. We never contacted them nor replied to her email after that day. 

9.       I was expecting to get an update from their team even if we were not contacting them. We paid the reservation fee, they know our wedding date, they’ve done wedding planning a number of times so I’m sure they know the perfect time to start the invitation, have the pre-nup pictorial, meet up to discuss further wedding details, etc. None of these happened. The only time Anne bothered to text us was 6 days before our wedding. Great! Finally, our wedding date popped up in their calendar reminder. Their team really lacked commitment and integrity. If they cannot promise quality service and attention to their clients, then they shouldn’t accept too many contracts. I remember during our first meeting with Anne, I told her that we want Mark to be our emcee but she said Mark don’t usually attend out of town weddings specially when they have multiple clients in a day. My husband asked how many weddings they handle in a day and she responded with full of confidence while gesturing the number on her fingers “Hmm.. 3, 4, 5 weddings a day”. If this is true then I know now the reason why they can’t focus on their clients. 

Whoooa! Reminiscing my grouses to Awesome Events by Mark Cuevas brings back all my animosity against them. I remember telling my soon to be husband at that time not to hire any organizer anymore because we might get another incompetent bunch of organizers. I was feeling sad, frustrated, devastated, and depressed especially because we could no longer take back the reservation fee. Now, our budget is 10,000 pesos short. I was so ready to give up our plans and just settle for a much simpler wedding. No reception ceremony, no other visitors aside from our immediate family then we’ll just eat in a restaurant. For me, as long as we get married in a church then I am happy and contented. No more fuss and less expensive.

It was really a blessing from God that my husband was there to encourage me and help me recover from the bad experience we both had from Awesome Events by Mark Cuevas. He looked for other suppliers and presented it to me so we could set up a meeting with them before deciding. We had to hire separate suppliers for our wedding needs but I didn’t mind it. It was way better than dealing with the unprofessional folks of Awesome Events. We found the best caterer and organizer, excellent photographer and videographer, and a very nice make-up artist. They were all very responsive through text, call, and in Facebook. They worked with us to achieved our wedding dream and the rest was history. 

My suggestion to all soon-to-be-wed couples is to take time in searching for a wedding organizer/coordinator. Do not hesitate to insist what you want, after all, it is YOUR wedding and you are hiring them to HELP you fulfill YOUR wedding plan. The important key in hiring an organizer is if they are willing to share your dreams with them. They can give suggestions but they should never insist on what they want. If they push your ideas away then do not close a deal and look for another supplier. You should be looking forward on your wedding day with less stress and worries. It will also be helpful if you read or ask feedbacks about the organizer that you are eyeing to hire. Make sure that you get the value of your money and it’s even better if they will exceed your expectations.

Happy wedding preparation!

P.S. You may also check the stories I wrote about my husband's proposal, our pre-nup pictorial and wedding photos, how I made our wedding cord, where we bought our ring, and our wedding.


Edited October 12, 2016.

Got this from their website. This is also one of the reasons why we thought they are the best option during that time. Sadly, we fell for their incomplete advertisements that contain half truth of what they really offer.