‘PLANNERS’ DITCH
Weddings in paradise promised; the reality was ‘disaster’. Brittany Keogh reports.
KIWI couples have had their dreams of a romantic Cook Islands wedding ruined after a pair of Auckland-based planners failed to organise basic services for their big day.
The couples claim they paid Auckland-based Paradise Wedding Desires thousands of dollars to organise their weddings, but after arriving in Rarotonga, they were told services they’d booked, such as hair and makeup artists, photographers and caterers, were not available.
The two men believed to run the operation, Charls Ingaua and Remi Wearing, have told out-ofpocket brides they are closing the business. The pair, both Auckland-based Qantas flight attendants, are now being investigated by Cook Islands police.
One of the affected Kiwi couples, who will tie the knot in the Cook Islands next weekend, were informed in January that Auckland-based Paradise Wedding Desires cancelled their booking due to ‘‘unforeseen circumstances’’.
The bride-to-be considered calling off the wedding but decided to arrange everything herself at the last minute given that her guests had already paid for flights.
In an email seen by Sunday News, Ingaua told the woman he was closing the business and would refund her $2000 deposit.
Ingaua said the cancellation was due to a pending legal investigation held late last year. But the woman said she was yet to receive her refund.
Australian Tegan Iakimo, 36, and her husband Jerome, 32, paid Paradise Wedding Desires $9900 for their wedding in September, but Iakimo said the occasion was a disaster.
Her makeup artist and photographer never showed up and the alcohol they had organised through Ingaua was never provided, she told Sunday News.
‘‘The level of failure was atrocious. I spent the entire day in tears. A bridesmaid had to do my hair.’’
The vendors Ingaua was supposed to organise subsequently told her they’d never received bookings.
Ingaua admitted in emails to the Iakimos that the wedding had been a failure and said he would refund them 90 per cent of their payment. But they’re still waiting for the $8910 six months later.
The only silver lining for Iakimo was that she got to marry the love of her life in ‘‘paradise’’.
Although she wanted her money back, Iakimo’s chief motivation for speaking out was that she did not want other people to go through the same experience.
Sunday News understands the men allegedly collected more than $20,000 from cancelled weddings.
Rarotongan newspaper the Cook Islands News had reported on at least four other cases where New Zealand and Australian couples – as well as local wedding vendors – were allegedly left out of pocket.
The couples said Ingaua and Wearing had apologised and told them they’d refund their money. The men had emailed them screenshots of what appeared to