Not a great experience with Modern Elopement
Unfortunately, we did not have a positive experience with Morgan and her team. We hired them on November 7th, 2022, for our wedding in July 2023. While our initial conversation with Morgan was pleasant, that was the only enjoyable interaction we had with her throughout the entire process.
When we first spoke with our wedding planner, Jade, we confirmed that we would need transportation to and from our hotel. She assured us she would take care of it and send us a website to select our add-ons. We completed our wishlist on January 23rd, but Jade didn’t respond until February, stating that she needed more time to review it. I followed up with her every two weeks, but it took one to two weeks for her to reply. This created unnecessary frustration, and it wasn’t until mid-April that we started to see any progress. At that point, they suddenly pushed us to make quick decisions. The whole point of booking 9 months in advance was to have everything settled early, with minimal stress and clear budget expectations. Unfortunately, due to their lack of planning, this process was chaotic and ended up costing us much more than we anticipated.
From the start, there was little transparency when it came to wedding locations, dinner options, and pricing. The estimates they gave us were always vague, which was frustrating given their experience in the industry. I wanted to confirm where our reception would be based on the Lookout 1 option in Maui, but they were evasive, which left us uncertain about whether transportation would be necessary. Fortunately, my now-husband found our preferred location (Gannons, now called Gather Maui) online, and we were able to make a decision based on his research.
I had specific requests for my wedding day, such as receiving pictures of the reception setup in advance, ensuring the cutlery was polished, and that the tablecloths were ironed. None of these requests were honored.
During the planning phase, they changed our dinner location within Gannon’s without consulting us, rearranging the seating to accommodate a double-wide dining table. Our table was supposed to be 24 feet long, but they ended up placing a 15-foot table, making our guests feel cramped. To make matters worse, there was no air conditioning, only a couple of ceiling fans, which left everyone sweating. There was even a larger, available space that could have been utilized, given the minimum food spend. You’d think a wedding planner would consider these details to ensure a smooth setup. At no point were we informed of these issues, despite paying for an extra planner to oversee the setup.
One of the first things we approved was transportation. However, they didn’t confirm pricing until two weeks before the wedding, and by then, it had doubled from the original quote. The extra charge was to accommodate four additional guests, but the cost was unreasonable. We ended up having my in-laws drive themselves in their rental car. On the wedding day, two vehicles (a sprinter van and another van) showed up. The groom wasn’t able to reach the planner in time, and when the driver said it wasn’t an issue to board the vehicle, we were later charged for these unforeseen costs. Whether the blame lies with the transportation company or Modern Elopement, we’ll never know. What we do know is that they withheld our wedding video and photos until they could sort out the issue with the transportation company. We didn’t receive our wedding video and photos until more than three months after the wedding, despite them being ready within weeks.
Once we received the photos and video they started distributing them to their vendors I started seeing them on social media. As per our contract, we only were required to notify them in writing of our wishes not to have our wedding photos distributed for them to stop. I did this on October 27th, 2023 and Jade confirmed that she would pass along our wishes to their vendors. Imagine my surprise when on March 20th, 2025 I see my wedding pictures plastered on their social media’s and website. I requested they remove it and when they ignored me I started leaving messages on the reel and emailed them on their honeybook portal as well as their regular email. Morgan sent a condescending response and left my wedding pictures up and then blocked me.
Additionally, when they tried to bill us for the extra transportation costs, they removed me from the HoneyBook portal, which I found unprofessional.
Lastly, during the reception setup, one of the planners left the invoice for our party favors in my suitcase. Modern Elopement was given a disount and charged me the 20% planner fee on the regular price for ordering these items, which makes me wonder what else they might have overcharged for.