ST. LOUIS — For Tina Allumns and her husband, their wedding day in St. Louis was supposed to be a celebration of love. Instead, it turned into heartbreak.
“Justice needs to be served. My wedding was sabotaged," she said.
Tina said the chaos stemmed from her wedding planner, Elle Affair Event Planning LLC. She said she paid about $10,000 for services that were never delivered.
“This is something a kid could put together... I didn’t get my decorations. The runner that was put down, it wasn’t a full runner... We didn’t have a head table. The DJ was playing all the wrong music," she said.
But Tina admits her mistake—she never checked the company’s accreditation with the Better Business Bureau. She never spoke with past clients, and she ignored her gut feeling when something seemed off.
“I'm grieving, I'm still grieving about this," Allumns said.
“It's very, very disappointing," said Sherman Allumns, her husband. “We just put our trust, all our trust in her, and didn't follow up behind what she was doing.”
When 5 On Your Side reached out to the wedding planner for an interview, they declined to comment.
“There’s low barriers to entry," said Creighton Cohn, a St. Louis lawyer.
Cohn said the wedding industry is a prime target for unscrupulous vendors. He said court records show the apparent owner of Elle Affair Event Planning has a history of financial trouble, including unpaid taxes.
“You don’t have to have licensing and registration and things like that. It’s not a largely regulated industry," he said.
He warns that many businesses are limited liability companies, or LLCs, shielding owners and leaving couples with limited options to recover their money when things go wrong. But there are steps you can take to protect yourself. Experts urge: Research vendors thoroughly. Verify registration with the Missouri Secretary of State and check for lawsuits using Missouri’s CaseNet.
Read every contract carefully. Ensure terms clearly outline what happens if services are not delivered. And avoid large upfront payments. Pay small deposits and finalize payments closer to the wedding.
“I feel robbed, like we just got scammed. What happened was a nightmare to me—it was nothing we paid for," Tina said.
Despite everything, Tina said her husband’s love has been her silver lining. Her message to other couples is clear: Weddings are emotional, expensive and high-stakes. Don’t let a bad planner turn your dream day into a nightmare.
According to The Wedding Report, a research company, the U.S. wedding industry is worth about $65 billion, with the average wedding costing about $33,000. Experts told the I-Team tighter budgets are pushing couples to scale back and focus on priorities beyond a single day.