Wow Kay, this is why I hate dealing with a third party! I would try making one more phone call before calling the whole thing off. Problem is, who do you call? It should be the father since he is supposed to be sending the check. But then why wasn’t the contract sent to him instead? I say listen to your gut feeling, no pay-no play. In the future I would make it clear that whomever is sent the contract will

Wouldn’t touch this with a ten-foot pole. Honestly. It’s certainly admirable to have a sympathetic heart, and I commend you for it, but I have a feeling you are just getting jerked around here. Unless this is some sort of a last-minute wedding in and of itself, then there is really no excuse for this kind of slip-shod planning. It’s just not worth the stress on you, IMO.

Karen

Yes, I have been involved in some dicey last minute deals over the years also – and I really understand that you don’t want to leave a bride high and dry if it’s due to someone else who has dropped the ball – I would call the venue where the wedding is going to take place and ask if they have been paid and if they know that other vendors have been paid – or not paid as the case may be – that will give you a clue whether it’s just your part or whether the whole thing is totally disorganized – if they have been paid, you could ask who they dealt with and go to that person and explain the situation –
good luck
John

They stopped payment on the check?

What nonsense!

Well, yeah, they probably will, but what of it? They can only badmouth you to three groups of people;

1. Other musicians, most likely other harpists, and we’ve all heard the “they backed out on me!” story often enough to know what that’s worth.

2. The other wedding vendors, who by now know all about them and what their stories are worth. After all, they’ve been dealing with them, too.

3. Their friends, who are probably just like them, so they’re doing you a favor by steering them away. 🙂