File this one under “you always get what you pay for … and then some.” A recent East Coast bride was on a very tight budget (as many brides are these days) and, while browsing for vendors on Craig’s List, found a great price on a wedding cake that she just couldn’t pass up.

Her wedding planner, Andria Medeiros with Infinite Events, had warned her against booking any vendors from Craig’s List, but the bride insisted on using this particular vendor, feeling that they could handle her simple request of creating a cake with an “outdoorsy” theme.

She was expecting a cake that was very elegant and pastoral, one that captured the lush ambience of their outdoor wedding. Instead, what she got was a flat cake with neon green icing, a blue river running down the middle of it and small wolf figurines scattered on the surface, presumably howling in laughter at being part of this atrocity.

To add insult (or accident, as it would be) to injury, when delivering the cake, the baker’s vehicle was rear-ended and the cake itself smashed into the dashboard of the vehicle, leading to the demise of a few wolf figurines. “In my opinion, it was the best thing that could have happened,” said Medeiros. “This saved the bride the embarrassment from having to display the horrific cake to her guests.” Instead of letting her guests view this literal car wreck of a cake, the bride had it cut up into slices in the kitchen and served buffet style.

The moral of this story is to make sure that the vendors you hire for your wedding are true professionals and not unproven part-timers who don’t really have the skill to pull off what you envision. “Don’t book people who do this for fun or as a hobby,” reminded Medeiros. “Use a legitimate business whose reputation is on the line. And if you must use Craig’s List or even a friend of a friend, request three references and multiple examples of their work.”

And, if you do hire an amateur, be specific about what you want … and don’t want (say, for example, wolves).

Have a wedisaster story of your own or know of one that is worth sharing … tell us about it.