There was some sort of contract. It just wasn’t submitted with the complaint.
It will be up to the court to decide whether there was an implied contract and what the terms were… What a mess. Sounds like it could be a very expensive lawsuit! $1.8M in unpaid bills. Lovely.
Ya beat me to it, @austinmshauri. Who knows what was said between the parents of the bride and the party planner. Perhaps there is a contract (like her sample from the book) and probably there are emails and/or texts that have or will be provided as evidence. Any attorneys here who have access to the link BB provided?
An “oral or implied” contract doesn’t carry much weight.
Well, some contracts are not enforceable unless they were on paper (there is more to that).
The parents probably got a little dazzled with Weiss (well known) handling the wedding. Then they probably didn’t want to look like they were nickle and dime-ing everything.
I’m amazed Weiss fronted as much money as she did for staff, travel, vendors (whichever vendors she paid), etc.
Better communication all-around was needed. Yes I have a flair for the obvious. 
Re: post# 43. True that. As they say, “an oral contract is not worth the paper it is written on”. But it sounds like there are some documents or written communications.
Indeed. I recalled reading from a friend’s business law text that if the transaction amounts exceeded a certain amount well below $1 million, the contract would have to be in writing to be legally enforceable with a few rare exceptions.
And even if an oral contract was valid, they’re not prudent as if there’s a dispute, it essentially ends up being one party’s word against another unless there’s indisputable evidence favoring one party.
43 Toledo - oh, it CAN. For instance:
http://www.klgates.com/klng-obtains-48-million-award-for-client-in-oral-contract-dispute-11-03-2005/
It will depend on the facts of the case and the parties’ communications. I hope some tabloid will spend $99 to get the complaint. Then we can have a CC party interpreting the terms! 
I’m a fan of the personalized napkins. I made napkins for S1’s wedding out of various fabrics in their color scheme and planned to make a quilt for them out of it. Alas, didn’t get to do that.
I liked the green and white fabric – cool that MOB made the flower girls’s dress! I did find heel covers, brownie station and 3500 roses stuck in the ground to be a bit over the top. I would be annoyed if I had asked for my dogs to be in the pics and then they weren’t (though in the Brides spread, there were a few pics with them).
The parents clearly didn’t have a chat about the budget and that it should have been documented in a contract, and the planner was out of line in doing things without the client’s consent and making purchases out of her business funds instead of whatever the client would have given as escrow towards the event.
So this is what wretched excess looks like, I guess!
Serious question: Are the wedding families really supposed to provide heel covers at a garden wedding? I would think people would bring their own or wear sensible shoes.
In some of the pictures you can see the wedding guests wearing green pashminas so protect them from the rain. Since they match the wedding colors I am sure they were provided by the wedding families.
And I hope someone was assigned to pick up the dog poo and then to rinse off those grass spots afterward. Otherwise, heel covers are to no avail and the shoes of us guys would get messed up, too.
@SouthFloridaMom9 I doubt this couple was dazzled by Weiss. This is a VERY wealthy family and they’ve dealt with people a heck of a lot more impressive and accomplished. That includes Hollywood types. (google)
The fact that Weiss did front that much money is part of what makes me suspect that she didn’t put a budget in writing because she knew darn well that they wouldn’t want to spend as much as she intended. $48,000 for travel expenses?!!! I’d question that too.
Remember that Weiss is the one who filed the law suit. She’s not worried about her rep.
These things are supposed to help stop stilettos from sinking into the grass https://thesolemates.com/ If you are going to spend $1000 on tylenol bags for hangovers, why not stiletto heel protectors?
Hope that was Advil in those bags, not Tylenol!!!
And for a different take on wedding planning and expenses:
“With each social expectation for weddings, I asked myself: “Does this achieve the goal of making the people at my wedding feel loved and appreciated for the role they play in my life? Will it help strengthen my marriage and the promises we made to each other?” If the answer was no, I didn’t waste any more time.”
Well the article says Tylenol, @BunsenBurner. Guess their livers took a hit!
That was awesome @yauponredux
I am so glad she wrote about it in the NYT. She is super smart IMHO.
I didn’t read the articles listed in this thread, but I get the jist from your comments. The whole thing kinda has me hoping DD will go for a romantic elopement some day (far, far in the future) 