It pains me to have to write this blog post but it has become very apparent our infamous wedding scammer is back and in full swing as I hear of more and more couples falling prey to her.
I thought it was a one off she had got away with last year and you can read more about this here but now it appears it isn't a one off anymore.
As the one who has always stuck their neck out to protect our wedding industry and the person everyone contacts when the proverbial hits the fan, I feel it is important to write this post.
Legally I would be unwise to name and shame but what I can tell you is how she operates and has done for years.
If this blog post helps one couple or supplier it will be worth it.
The contents of this blog post have been written without predujice.
The History of the Marbella Wedding Scammer
I was first aware of this woman when I worked with a florist and I am going back years. I was marketing both mine and the florist's business when she enthustically popped in to say hello and introduce herself.
She was charming, as all scammers are, my florist friend took an instant dislike to her and said the vibes were off, I should have listened but thought this lady was genuine so persuaded my florist friend to give her a chance, she wasn't sold.
Next we are being asked to provide floral arrangements for her to present to a venue promising my floral friend a contract if they liked them.
In she flew, was in a rush promising to deliver the flowers and containers back the next day so we could sell them in the shop, they were never returned. Our first taste of the scammer but shrugged it off as guessed she was a busy lady as she told us she was!
More alerts to the Marbella Wedding Scammer
A client contacted me about organizing a wedding at Tikitano, as I write this post I am going back years so any venue or person mentioned during this story is not relevant now but it was at the time.
I went along to Tikitano and was met by the scammer, didn't think much of it at the time but it appeared she was running the show. I was shown all the 'rather crap' decor she could provide and introduced to her husband who was also a 'celebrant'.
My memory here is vague but for some reason I looked them up in the old days of the internet and I came across a blog about how the husband had ripped off someone over laptops, another blog post from a very angry cake maker and another one detailing how they had ripped off a priest to the tune of 5k.
I decided then this was a person to avoid and after this steered clear. I have no idea what made me want to look them up but obviously something felt off.
The Wedding Scams Continued
The wedding industry is a close bunch of planners and suppliers. I kept hearing stories of businesses not being paid.
Caterers, florists, musicians you name it they were turning up to work at her weddings and being told so many lies as to why she couldn't or hadn't paid them, sadly using all sorts of excuses such as a death in the family, an accident, illnesses, it was pitiful and the lies kept coming.
Currently her husband is apparently at deaths door yet he popped up at a venue last week?!
After a publication in the Confeti magazine revealing her antics in 2016 she went underground and fled inland we believe to Coin, but then a few years later popped up at Monda Castle, one of our venues here. She was the 'wedding coordinator'.
I was alerted by a hairdresser who had been scammed and said you never guess who I saw today....
I called Monda Castle to give them a heads up as knew one of the new owners who had previously run the Santa Fe in Coin but got the partner who wasn't interested. Don't blame him as he didn't know me at all and it seemed everything was going well until last year.
How does the Marbella Wedding Scammer Operate?
She sidles into 'venues' and presents herself as the 'wedding coordinator'.
Deposits are paid to her then it all goes tits up and as far as we can work out she then offers her services to move their deposits to another venue.
It all then gets very 'messy', clients become confused or just feel they are playing a game with her, she becomes unavailable and then the increasing frustration starts.
I have spoken to a few couples and been kept up to date with other planners who have been contacted, the stories are always the same.
Currently we are intrigued as to how she gets clients as of course there is no internet presence as there would usually be with any other company and yet it hasn't rung alarm bells with the clients who have been scammed.
I have asked them as to why they didn't check her out online and they have all said they were kind of bamboozled into using her as they didn't want to lose their money. It was only after when things were going terribly wrong they started searching online and didn't find much. There is a surprise.
What they have found out about the Wedding Scammer in Marbella?
That yet again another UK company had been dissolved in February 2024, the one they made payments to supposedly booking venues and suppliers on their behalf which didn't happen.
That there is no internet footprint at all, no website, no Facebook or Linked In profile and a teeny tiny Instagram page.
And the fact, sadly, they have lost their money.
Denuncias have been made but the police here will do very little as there is not a lot to go on and no office or address.
So where are we now with the Marbella Wedding Scammer
It becomes more apparent she is on a roll again, her confidence is back in full swing so now wedding world has stepped in to stop her. We don't want our wedding industry's reputation here in Marbella ruined by one person, we are astonished and angry.
We are speaking with clients, venues and suppliers to try to squeeze her out so she cannot operate here anymore. Most of them have reported back with problems already which is extremely worrying.
If you have been affected please do get in touch. I am more than happy to help, as are many of my wedding planner friends here as we wish to put a stop on her scandalous activities.
The reason I write this post is that there is finally something online and will become searchable as so many feel angry they were fooled by her and think they were the only ones. You weren't.