The worst, most unprofessional wedding coordinator ever. Do NOT use Michelle Cata if you want your wedding day to run smoothly. Everything seemed promising when we first met Michelle and her company, Arenlace Events, at the San Diego Bridal Bazaar in September 2023. She appeared passionate and ambitious, so we hired her for our August wedding. Unfortunately, it turned into a logistical nightmare. Michelle and her team are disorganized, careless, lack attention to detail, and are often unavailable. You may end up doing much of the work you hired them to take off your plate.
One of the most troubling issues was Michelle’s attempt to alter our contracts with vendors behind our backs, coupled with her unprofessional behavior, which included yelling at vendors and making demands beyond their scope. This was particularly upsetting as we had carefully chosen vendors with whom we had great relationships.
Basic tasks were mishandled, such as placing table numbers, which resulted in our guests being misdirected. None of the table numbers lined up with the name cards at the seats, and my husband and I had to walk around and redirect all 150 of our guests to where they should be sitting. Despite informing Michelle of important timeline changes 10 days before the wedding, she failed to update the schedule, causing confusion among vendors. On our wedding day, we were pulled away from our celebration multiple times to address issues that should have been managed by Michelle. Although Michelle claimed she had updated the timeline and printed it out, giving it to every single vendor on our wedding day, it was proven to be a lie. We asked all of the vendors, and none of them received the final timeline from Michelle or her team.
Adding to our frustration, when it was time for dessert, plates and utensils were not provided, forcing our guests to eat with their hands. Michelle’s poor time management also meant that our reception venue was not set up on time, resulting in the loss of important photos of our beautifully decorated space.
As a final disappointment, Michelle and her team neglected our post-wedding cleanup plan, leaving items, including my bouquet, in poor condition overnight.
In summary, hiring Michelle Cata and Arenlace Events was a major regret. If you want your wedding day to run smoothly, please do yourself a favor and book any other wedding coordinator/planner to avoid a disaster like this one.
