fanie13's reviews

We originally were assigned another DJ who seemed really competent, but after meeting with Brady, my now-hubster asked him to work our wedding since he felt more comfortable w/him instead of the other DJ. Brady and his company in general were really great to work with - flexible, friendly, professional, accommodating, experienced, and Brady clearly enjoys what he does. He met us at our venue for a once over and gave us great suggestions for our timeline, since we were creating it ourselves and we really didn't know what would work. He pronounced our 15 letter last name w/o any probs! We did the Creative Lighting Package and the room looked great.

Overall, we'd recommend Brady/PropsFX in a heartbeat. (We also booked our videographer, ProVideo FX - Drew, through Props FX and we loved him also!).

One of my favorite vendors so far! The owner, Taka, was immediately warm, friendly, and gave us the sense that he was trustworthy and reliable (I've been to a few weddings where the florist has been late and is still setting up while guests are entering). Taka also did not nickel and dime us, which really helps a lot as sometimes your plans change, not to mention that he threw in a lot of stuff for free (decorating the cake, toasting flutes, and cake servers, providing flower girl petals, etc). He's willing to set up stuff for me that's not flower related (i.e. my aisle runner that I'm purchasing separately) and he really tries to help you stay on budget.

He does have a $3000 minimum which initially was a little offputting, but after meeting with other florists (who do nickel/dime you), it ended up being the same, if not more since Taka was willing to do a lot more stuff for us. Oh, and his arrangements are beautiful! We had our appointment where he showed us our centerpieces and they were great. I also just went to my friend's wedding recently who also used him and they were beautiful. I can't recommend him enough!

I'm using them for chair covers, chair ties, and satin tablecloths or overlays. The stars are for the prices and promotions. They are sometimes difficult to work with. They are very prompt in e-mails, but sometimes I need to ask for things several times. They try to get you to do as much online as possible, even when I prefer to do things in person or on the phone. At the store, the girl made it sound like it wasn't a big deal to rent a chair cover for a few bucks to try it on our chairs. She failed to mention that they rent them for minimum one week and they charge you each day you're renting ($2 x 7 days = $14 for one chair cover). I called them to ask about renting a sample chair cover and they said they only shipped the samples and could not arrange for pick up from the store, even though the store is 10 min away from my house. They tried to push this "deal" of $20 for 5 covers and 4 chair ties, but all I wanted was one chair cover. When they finally answered my question of "how much will it cost for one chair cover," I found it it would've costed $30 with S&H. Then I read my contract and it said I could pick up a sample in the store, so when I asked them about it, they still tried to get me to get the $20 deal saying it was much easier, I have to make an appointment for the store, etc. It was just turning into such a hassle to just rent one chair cover. We also felt pressured at the store... They're our only vendor so far that I don't like.

Having read all of these mixed reviews, I went to Mon Amie with caution. This was my 3rd dress trip and I already had a pretty good idea of what I wanted. Based on that, the selection was ok. My experience at Mon Amie was fine at first. I arrived 45 minutes early because I was in between appointments and the front staff was very friendly. That actually ended up being time well spent because I roamed the store and figured out what I wanted/didn't want. My consultant got me about 15 minutes before my appointment and I was pretty much ready to try stuff on. I was in the store for almost 2 1/2 hours after. I ended up really liking 3 dresses and I spent probably 45 minutes trying to decide which one, trying them on several times, walking the fake aisle (which felt weird at first but REALLY helped in my decision!), etc. I did feel slightly pressured because the dresses I liked were from a trunk show that ended that night and I couldn't come back to try them on. I ended up putting down a 10% non-refundable measurement fee where it locks in the little discounts from the trunk show (10% off plus free length alteration) and gives me some time to think about which dress I wanted.

My appointment was at 4, the store closed at 5, and I made my decision around 6 pm, so I thought it was nice that they didn't pressure me to hurry up even though we were the last ones in the store. My dress was a bit under 2K, so it's not like I got anything really expensive.

*4/4/08 Update
I called them back the next business day ready to order and found out that my consultant would be out for the next 1 1/2 weeks, hich surprised me because she hadn't said who I should place my order with. I left a message for the manager who measured me. I called back the next few days trying to at least get a final price quote from other people, but I guess some of the discounts we discussed weren't written on my "file," so no one wanted to give me a quote. I spoke to at least 3 different people - another manager and some others, who were all nice, but I couldn't get an answer. They all said I should speak to my manager, but she wasn't going to be in until Saturday now and I had been advised to order by Friday to retain the discounts.

I ended up ordering from another store. The manager called me back a week after I had 1st called her, and I let her know that I was unhappy about the whole process. She apologized and still had offered to keep the trunk show discounts, but I said I had already ordered from another store since she wasn't available before Friday & I didn't want to incur any rush order fees. I also asked for a refund on the $180 measurement fee, which she also gave. I had to call back a month later because apparently, she forgot to refund that $180.

I went twice to try on some dresses. Jenny was super helpful and friendly, and did not put any pressure on. She deferred to Mandy (who was also friendly) when it came to questions for alterations, but overall I was satisfied with my experience. After my 2nd visit, she called me promptly to give me answers on my questions on fabric (ordered a swatch so I could look at the color) and delivery time, even though I hadn't committed to a dress yet. The dresses are Maggie Sottero/Eden and others similar in the price range. They also were slightly flexible on price, so it wouldn't hurt to ask (I just asked if it was a final price). I ended up going with a designer they don't carry, so I don't know how the experience is with actually buying the dress there. I gave them 4 instead of 5 stars since they don't have a huge selection. However, there are similar shops up and down the street, so that kind of makes up for it.