One Fab Event

One AWFUL Event– this best describes Kelly Ferrell’s business. She is a complete scam artist who fails to deliver on her promises.
Here is my story: Before hiring Kelly, we met in a Regus office space off of Peachtree where she ‘claimed’ to have rented space. We were never shown her actual office and ended up meeting her in a conference room after hours. Looking back, it was quite a strange experience and should have raised some red flags.
From the beginning she created the impression that she was a capable wedding planner and In good faith, we moved forward in hiring her. This is when things took a turn for the worst.
Once she had received our money, there was little to no contact. She refused to give us her real cell phone number and had all calls sent to a google voice number. My fiancé who is very well organized and on top of everything had to constantly babysit the process to see if things were getting done. She kindly asked her to do things and it was like pulling teeth. We had no guidance or expertise to lean on. We were constantly being confronted with excuses and delays and disappointment after disappointment. She failed to do the most basic things you would expect from a wedding planner.
As time went by we were sick of giving her the benefit of the doubt and made the decision to fire her. We figured if the simplest things couldn’t get accomplished early on in the wedding planning process how is she going to deliver on the big day. This was a risk we were not willing to take because she has already proven to be both an un-​reliable and un-​professional business women.
Since there wasn’t anything accomplished under her wedding planning services agreement, we thought it would be reasonable to ask for a refund on our deposit. To no surprise, she refused any sort of compromise or refund staying true to her character as scum.
I am sorry to see the ladies below had similar and more drawn out experiences. We experienced the exact same things. It amazes me that someone that is such critical piece in a couples most memorable day can continue to conduct herself in this manner.
One piece of advice for anyone considering her — STAY AWAY!

I fired Kelli less than 2 months after she was hired and was scammed out of my money! Scam artist ALERT!!! PLEASE DO NOT BE HER NEXT VICTIM!
I like Cassi L. have been hesitant to write a review bc as you will read later I was threatened not to or Kelli would sue me. I have personally spoken to Cassi and Dominique H. and it was like reliving my horrible experience all over again! 3 brides from 3 different states with the same SCAM and experience or lack there of…
I was an out of town bride from Miami visiting ATL to preview venues on my own and interview planners. I narrowed my venues down to 3 venues. I interviewed some amazing planners with lengthy referrals and backgrounds everyone knew them around town. My last interview was with Kelli none of the venues had ever heard of her…
She interviewed well said I could get a ghost chair for $ 4(l now know that is not even remotely possible as they go for $ 14−25to the trade) she owned chargers she would throw those in (lies) and oh so much more. I was shown a cracked ipad with pics of a «wedding» (and my Fiancé pointed that out to me privately that they all looked like editorial shots, some even had the heads cropped out as if she didn’t have the right to use them, look at her website same pics).After seeing her price for full planning it was $ 3750 ½ if not a 3^rd of what other planners were charging that should have been one of the many red flags, but thats what SCAM artists do they lure you in.
After our meeting Kelli was all over me via email, and even said she was going to a fab Tom ford makeup event and would send me a goody bag. I got a lot of push back from the fiancé that he had a bad feeling about her and it didn’t seem kosher. Kelli kept referring to my fiancé by the wrong name also which should have been another red flag… But of course I hired her.
I get the contract and its not filled in at all and then I get a 2^nd and my name only is on the contract not my fiancé’s. She’s pushy about getting it signed ASAP so she can go start working for us. She also pointed out that if I was going to pay with pay pal I would incur a fee and asked for me to make a deposit instead of course she did… now I have no claim to my own money no protection.
My MAIN point I made when I hired her in early Nov is I want to lock down the venue before Thanksgiving and bc she has never been to any of the venues I asked that she went and put together a budget based on each venue. Well Task one go to the first Venue she MISSED the first meeting. And she was MIA no call no email, and I noticed my texts weren’t going through, later I find out I have a GOOGLE VOICE #!! Not even her real # 14 days later when she finally calls me I request her phone # and was told she does not give her # to clients. Her excuse for her being MIA was she was on PAIN PILLS bc she fell. ok I give her a pass she says she’s mailing me my tom ford goody bag as we speak…(never got that, just shows her character)…
After that radio silence 20 days go by!!! I finally got in touch with her «Assistant» who says Kelli is on vacation! At this point I remotely took things into my own hands and got proposals and venue costs negotiated myself even room blocks Kelli did Nothing. I called her repeatedly and let her assistant know that I needed to speak with her. Finally 20 days later I call her at 4pm and she calls back at 8pm, she remembers zero about what we prev discussed or my wedding? and is very vague while I try to figure out what’s even going on…
After that conversation my fiancé had it and said I was being too nice, so I wrote an email and said these are the things that need to get done and I had concerns, I also said her lack of communication did not match my communication style. Low and behold things get put in planning pod all of a sudden… Those things had deadines she created never were done…
When that happened that was it! I nervously scheduled a call to sever ties with her, and that was such a terrible experience she informed us just like the other brides that she went «Above and Beyond» and right away said I would not be getting any of my money back. She was giddy while she was talking the SCAM artist was thrilled she did NOTHING and got a portion of her fee. I asked her what claim she thought she had to our money and she couldnt come up with anything and actually screamed at me .just bizzare… After a bunch of unprofessional banter I aksed that we resolve this and said how long for her time whats her hourly rate as she spent nearly no time… nope she refused and said never to call or email her again and do not write a review or she will sue me!
She blcked me from social media as she did the other brides what stand up professional would do that? WARNING she is out to keep your money not plan your wedding!
Also Marsha S is her! She joined Unilocal only after the brides came fwd. Glad We could pay for some new Red Bottoms for this scam artist! Put a stop to KELLI

I have been hesitant to share since my wedding in October — I keep thinking maybe I was an anomaly asking myself what could have gone wrong constantly. After I read Dominique’s review, I was shocked to find she had the EXACT same experience I had down to getting all the other couples contract info on the same day. Throughout the process, there were so many red flags — no returned emails, sending proposals that were 2−3x higher than what I pulled on my own, late for every appointment we had, and vendors reaching out saying they hadn’t heard from her. I learned quickly that I would have to take notes after each meeting to send to her and even then she would not remember what I told her and ask the same questions over and over.
I began to REALLY panic the month of the wedding when she wouldn’t return my calls or emails — I look back now and realized I should have looked elsewhere for help but just thought she would pull through for the event.
The week of my wedding, we still hadn’t wrapped up some important details so I began to reach out to vendors myself to close everything out. It was a destination wedding for us and I arrived a few days before the wedding. I was so stressed out but had to work on vendor details because she finally started responding the week before. Three days before the wedding I’m waiting in a hotel lobby for her to show up for over an hour and missed dinner with my family and friends who just arrived in town.
I won’t go into the details of how bad showing up with a 100 guests to the rehearsal dinner with nothing set up felt (my family and I had to run around setting up before the guests arrived) because Kelli claims we didn’t pay her for that BUT the wedding day was a nightmare too. I cried the day of, the night of, and everyday for the next two weeks on my honeymoon. I still have days were I get so upset about it.
There were so many details she missed, so many mistakes — she truly didn’t understand how to run such a complex event. From the wrong father/​daughter dance song, to not knowing timing on walking down the isle, to having «assistants» who just sit and watch — I can make a list of items that went wrong. Our hair and makeup artists were trying to help as much as the could — carrying my bouquet, finally getting lunch sent at 2pm after Kelli said she would get it, helping me iron the wrinkles out of my dress, etc. During the event, friends and family kept coming up asking if we needed help. People still tell me how the wedding was beautiful but they were sorry about how bad the planner was. She could not execute on all the details we put so much time and money in to.
I am 100% confident that without the wonderful people at the Georgian Terrace Hotel and all the amazing vendors stepping in to help, it could have been a lot worse. I was nice all the way up until the day because I really just wanted it to work out but after just felt so cheated.
After, Kelli told me the same thing she told Dominique — she said she went way above and beyond and I was in the wrong. I would have paid double to not go through that experience. When I look back, I should never have hired someone who posts more selfies and pictures of themselves on social media than wedding details and client pictures. I should have gone to a planner who actually had reviews. Even if every other vendor is amazing unfortunately the planner is the most important part. Since writing this review I have had another bride reach out to me, she was a victim of Kelli’s too. So PLEASE research, research, research before you choose a planner and if there is no references look somewhere else! It’s the most important investment you make!

Long story short, I ended up firing Kelli three weeks before our wedding. I know what you’re thinking (crazy bride, right?) — wrong! I literally felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders after we terminated our contract. I should have gone with my gut feeling from the beginning when she sent us our e-​contract and it had another clients name as the bride & groom, but I let it go…
Kelli started off as very a professional planner and seemed to understand our vision. But as time got closer, I began to notice a dramatic difference in her work. She started missing phone conferences; she also missed our venue walk-​thru (and never called, emailed or texted us letting us know she would not be able to attend). Prior to signing the contract it took less than 24 hours for her to respond back to e-​mails. After signing the contract, we were looking at a 48 – 72 hour turn around (and occasionally a week would go by prior to her responding).
She was not communicating with any of the vendors that we booked. For example, we booked her at the beginning of April and she still had not reached out to our venue as of July 1^st (keep in mind our wedding took place on July 25^th). All of our vendors were still contacting me inquiring about wedding details, timelines, etc. She was telling me that she had been in contact with the vendors, however none of them had heard from her. She was very slow on providing us with vendor recommendations and the recommendations that were provided were far out of our budget! Every time I asked for recommendations for more reasonable vendors it would either take a very long time to get back with us, or the recommendation was never provided. I think I could have looked past the missed calls and appointments had she been a bit more professional after I emailed her regarding our concerns.
Instead of apologizing and taking a little fault for her actions she insisted that she was going above and beyond her duties and pretty much made it seem as though she had done nothing wrong. Still to this day she has not apologized. It frustrates me because we did pay her (1 out of 3 installments) and unfortunately that money will not be refunded.
I was a very easygoing bride and the worst feeling is having someone take advantage of you. Weddings are not cheap!
Any who, I say this in the nicest way possible — think twice (maybe even three times) before hiring Kelli with One Fab Event! I gave her 1 star because the one good thing that came out of hiring her was her suggestion to use Über for our transportation and that was a hit!