Seattle Officiant Canceled 3 Hours Before Ceremony
Susan Waterworth, a Seattle-based wedding officiant and owner of Appa** ionata Weddings, canceled three hours before a wedding on Saturday, July 28, 2007. She said she was in a car accident the day before and was too drugged up on painkillers to do her job. Since she was also the day-of planner, the bride and groom and some of the wedding party had to scramble to coordinate last-minute plans and to find a replacement officiant during moments that otherwise should have been as relaxing as possible.
Car accidents happen, but Susan did not have a backup plan in the event of an emergency, nor did she offer to return the bride and groom`s money. As of July 29 -- the Sunday following the wedding -- she had the wedding license and blocked incoming calls, preventing the bride and groom and everyone else from contacting her. When the bride and groom visited her place of residence, she did not answer the door.
Also, she knows and lives within a mile of the wedding photographer. If she knew a full day in advance that there would be a problem, she could have at least told the bride and groom earlier and had the photographer stop by her place to pick up the license before going to the wedding.
It`s impossible to give Susan the benefit of the doubt because she handled the whole thing so horribly. Even if she was in an accident, she should have done all she could do to make good. She obviously did not stay in the hospital, and even if she didn`t get out of the emergency room until the early morning hours of the 28th, she could have given more notice and called another officiant.
Anyway, you stand warned.
Posted by Guest; updated 08/01/07
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When I was reading this, I could hardly believe it because I just had a similar experience with Susan Waterworth for my wedding! Please tell me... Have the bride and groom had any success in getting their money back from Susan? If so, please tell me how they did it! Just like in your story, we can`t get her to communicate with us.
Posted by AJ; updated 08/26/07
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Posted by Sue B; updated 08/26/07
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Hi AJ - We did eventually get our deposit back.
I`m hesistant to talk about it too much because (A) We feel extraordinarily lucky that we were able to find a great officiant (Debbi Lester) an hour before the wedding, and (B) I don`t know for certain what Susan`s situation was.
Anyway, I hate to say this, but it seemed like it took the threat of legal action to get a serious response. The week after the wedding, she told us she would mail the deposit back to us, but didn`t; then offered to meet with us but later backed out saying she couldn`t make the time we proposed (8:00pm on a Wednesday evening).
It`s just inexplicable. All she would have had to do is drop a check in the mail when she said she would, and the whole situation would have stopped right there. But she didn`t, so we got angry and frustrated and finally had to give an ultimatum.
Very unfortunate, but again I prefer to focus on how completely fortunate we were to have found a wonderful officiant on incredibly short notice. We`ll remember that forever: we`re trying really hard to forget Susan.
Posted by Joel; updated 09/05/07
