Espace Wedding

The P.E.I. Hairdressers Association is warning brides-to-be about an ongoing scam that has the potential to leave wedding parties without a hairdresser on their special day. 

The association recently took to social media to offer to verify hairstylists booked for weddings are legitimate and licensed, after at least a couple of brides lost their deposits to someone they’d hired online.

Speaking of one such bride, association executive director Sherri Runighan said the stylist “ghosted her; she never responded” to further attempts at communication. 

“We just don’t want people to be putting their deposits on a service, and then they’re either no-showing or, you know, they’re losing communication after the deposit’s been made.”

The association said several people came forward with the same complaint about the same person who was offering wedding hair services.

Runighan said the scam leaves a bad impression of the P.E.I. hairdressing community.

“This is totally upsetting to us. So then that’s why we decided to put out the post to the public … to educate them and let them know that they can reach out to us at any time.”

I think it’s so absolutely distasteful and unclassy.— Sylvia Wolters

“We are definitely not the only industry that’s going through this,” Runighan added.

She said the association is in the process of trying to get all beauty providers, such as those who offer esthetic services like eyelash curling and tinting, to be required to register with the association.

Runighan said it’s especially important for out-of-province couples coming to be married on the Island to feel they are getting safe, reliable and legitimate services.

Scammers ‘just scum’

Sylvia Wolters runs her custom wedding decorating business Relax… It’s My Turn from her home in Hunter River. She invites couples to her home to sit down over a cup of tea and talk about what they want, months before their wedding. Her goal is to provide affordable wedding decor.

She offers couples personal references and shows photos of her work. She doesn’t accept deposits, but does demand payment in full a few days before the wedding day, to ensure she gets paid.

“I think it’s so absolutely distasteful and unclassy. So sad for these girls,” Wolters said of the brides who lost their deposits and were left in the lurch with no hairdresser.

“There’s not even words for people like that — just scum,” she said.

Wolters suggests the province or another reputable source should create a registry for all wedding-related businesses on P.E.I., including decorators, florists and photographers as well as venues. She said that kind of one-stop site could offer ratings and reviews, so that couples could be assured they are real and have a track record.

“It’s a very big trust issue,” she said of those booking destination weddings from out of province.

Even people booking in-province can run into issues, she points out, giving an example of a community hall she recently decorated that was a “blasted stinking mess” when her crew arrived to set up.

She said they spent hours ironing wrinkled tablecloths that had been stored, unfolded, in trash bags.

Wolters suggests that for now, brides looking for wedding hairdos book with a well-known salon that has a storefront, website, ratings and reviews, so they know they are legitimate.