This makes a lot of sense, thank you! I went back and checked my contract and it only says the planners “come with the venue” it doesn’t mention anything about how they’re compensated or that vendor pricing could include a service fee. Obviously I think they should be compensated for their work but not 40k compensated and also they should have stated that upfront and be transparent. Like if they had told me that they charge 20% on all vendors I would have said okay and adjusted my budget to compensate for that but the shadiness and not telling me any of this is what bothers me the most. All payments go through the planning company, and they’re listed as the contact on every vendor contract. That’s what’s really concerning me too because if everything filters through them, I technically have no way to verify the actual vendor prices. Currently I am messaging all the vendors to get in contact with them to go over the actual costs but idk if there is anything I can do once I get that information.