rosannaf's reviews

Good price for pink vellum that I needed for our wineglass place card holders and table signs. No problems with ordering or shipping.

I purchased my votives and tea lights from cudge.net because they are made from 100% paraffin wax with a lead-free cotton wick and they are odorless AND smokeless.

Ordering was simple and I received my shipment within a week.

I didn't pay much attention to how long the votives or tea lights burned for, but I know that they were lighted around 6pm and the majority of them were still lighted around 10pm.

I found out about this vendor from another bride and I'm so happy that I selected them for our fortune cookies.

I wanted to get a fortune cookie that was pink but their strawberry fortune cookie looked too pale for me. I decided to select their cherry fortune cookies instead.

The ordering process was easy, and they have a great shipping calculator so you can determine if you need to rush your order or not. The shipping estimate was exactly on time for us.

The cookies arrived individually wrapped and we had the option of using 5 different fortunes. This added a lot of personalization to our reception, and people LOVED our fortunes which reflected our humor ("You will receive a fortune cookie" "Help! I'm being held prisoner in a Chinese bakery" "Baseball is wrong, man with four balls cannot walk").

They tasted very fresh! We received them one week before our reception and the directions included said we could store them in a cool dark place and it would stay fresh for close to one year. The cherry flavor tasted like Red Vines! If you read the product review, that's what everyone says! I never liked the taste of Red Vines, but if anyone brings a large Costco container of Red Vines, I can't stop eating it because it's so addicting! Sure enough, I still can't stop eating the leftover fortunes I have. I completed a small survey after I was finished ordering, and I received a coupon for 10% off my second order.

Pretty Pen Jen is a great option for low budget brides who would love to get some calligraphy on their invitations.

Her prices are very reasonable and she offers many font types. If you are on a budget, this is something you can skip, but I have to tell you that we did receive A LOT of praises on the calligraphy. So, if you can afford it, I think it can add a special touch to your invitation when someone receives it.

When I inquired with Jen if she was available, she promptly sent me an e-mail saying she was getting ready for a big job in a few weeks but if I sent her my envelopes now, she could work it in her schedule. I sent her my envelopes and a file of addresses (she will tell you how she likes it formatted), and I received my envelopes back in two weeks! She also kept a few envelopes in case you notice any mistakes (I didn't see any), or if you need her to make a few more for recently invited guests (she will do them for free of charge).

They turned out beautifully, and our guests could not stop raving about them.

Their website has some of the most beautiful invitations I've seen. Their DIY invitation selection is quite extensive and has really great invitation kits that you can purchase through them or you can try to find the supplies separately and copy their design.

The DIY kit I received contained a printout of specific directions on how to set my printer, how to design the invitation, and what recommended tools I would need to put everything together. The directions were invaluable, and also had other suggestions for additional design elements. Also, the directions are available on their website in a video, so you can watch someone making the invitation. This saved me a lot of time in trying to figure out how to do everything.

The paper was in great quality, and everything was cut perfectly. Everyone loved the invitation and was quite surprised that my sister and I put everything together ourselves. We made all 50 invitations in one evening, but it required a lot of work! The embossing took the longest time and we had a lot of trials and errors. If I had to make more than 50 invitations, I think I would have just gone with a vendor.

I've visited the Paper Source store in Berkeley and Fillmore Street. Both stores are quite well stocked and the saleswomen are quite knowledgeable about all crafts. I can spend hours in both stores and walk out with hundreds of dollars of supplies. I've found stamps, ink, string, and various other goodies that were so helpful for a DIY bride like me.

It was very easy to work with Angela who designed our magnets. Angela only asks for a $4 deposit for her to start working on your magnet, which is deducted off the final invoice. I sent her one of our save-the-date picture and gave her a general idea of what I wanted, and the first draft was really good. She was always quick with returning messages, and also offered a lot of advice about which font or color to use.

The magnets were in great quality and the colors were very good. The magnets are a bit thin but not as thin as VistaPrint magnets that I received from friends. It didn't feel flimsy but I don't think it can hold more than a few sheets of paper on the refrigerator.

When I first received my order, it only contained 40 magnets when it should have had 50. I checked my e-mail and Angela sent me a message that one of her printing sources ran out of ink and she would send me the remaining balance within one week. In one week, she sent me the remaining 10 magnets and an additional 10 for being patient with her. However, the printing colors of these 20 magnets were different (more bluish tone) than the original 40 I received. It was not that noticeable (as Jerry would say, I was being "anal" again), but it did bother me a bit that the color was not consistent with all the magnets.

I still think she did a great design on the magnets and would use her services in the future.

$226 for Jessica McClintock dress

Lucy is a very sweet woman that I found through reviews. Her store is located very close to my dad's store so she had the added convenience of being close to me.

It was easy to make an appointment with her, and parking near her store if very easy (I usually park right in front). Her dressing room is a nice size, and she will often help you into your dress (as she says, "don't worry, I've seen it all!").

The alterations cost broke down to:
Hem - $120
Side seams - No charge
Zipper - $35
Victoria bustle $35
Cups - $20
Tax - $16

I had my first fitting on March 17 and my second (final fitting) on March 31 so it's a quick service.

So there are two reasons why I didn't give her an A. I read one review that said she left some marks on the bottom of a dress and failed to notify the bride. I meticulously looked at my dress when I picked it up and didn't notice any marks. However, I did find one long needle that was left near the bottom. No real harm was done but I could have scraped my ankle with it if I didn't find it on time.

Secondly, my dress has a lace bodice that was quite comfortable when I purchased it however there was some extra fabric sticking out. Lucy said she will fix it but it will cause the bodice to be tighter. When I picked up the dress (1.5 months before our Chinese reception), the bodice just seemed a bit too tight. I could breathe, but I couldn't take deep breaths. Being asthmatic, I often get a nervous breakdown if I feel suffocated at all. I mentioned it to Lucy and she told me that the bodice was perfectly altered and if she loosened it, the extra fabric would stick out again. I took it home and didn't think much about it until a few weeks before the reception. Again, I tried on my dress and yes, I could breathe, but I still felt very constrained about taking deep breaths. I called Lucy and she told me to come in that afternoon to take a look. She reassured me again the dress was shaped perfectly, and that she didn't want to loosen the dress or else I wouldn't like how that fabric would stick out. I gave in to her advice, and brought the dress home.

For the Chinese reception, I only wore the dress for half of the time as I wore my Chinese dress for the rest of the time. I have to agree with Lucy that the bodice was so perfectly matched with my body shape that the pictures I took in the dress were absolutely beautiful.

For my American reception 2 months afterwards, I was going to wear the dress for the entire night. The problems started halfway into the dinner when I started feeling a bit suffocated. I pushed it aside and tried to concentrate on entertaining our guests. To make a long story short, by the end of the night, I had to have my sister unzip the dress and let me take a few deep breaths before going back into the reception. Anyone with asthma will tell you that there are a few moments of genuine panic when you realize you can't get enough air into you and that's how I felt.

Looking back, I should have been more forthright in telling Lucy that I needed the dress loosened. I didn't stand up for what I really believed was the best option and I was misguided when she told me how great I looked. And really, it looked so great that I can't be mad at Lucy since she wanted me to look my best. If I had told her how serious I would react if I started to notice I couldn't breathe deeply, I'm sure she would have loosened the dress. This really taught me a lesson to stand up for myself in future situations. I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone.

I knew I didn't want to spend a fortune on a dress, and budgeted myself for less than $500. After going to David's Bridal without any success, I went on the internet to find something that would suit my style.

After searching for a few hours, my FSIL mentioned that she just got her prom dress from Jessica McClintock and she saw some really cute (inexpensive!) wedding dresses there. I went on their website and my "dream dress" was the first picture I saw. I always knew I wanted a pink sash and this dress had it with a very dreamy bustle skirt. I absolutely fell in love with it online and called the local store in San Francisco for an appointment.

The saleswoman was very nice and told me that no appointment was necessary and gave me directions to their store which is right in Union Square. She also confirmed that she had my dress in stock and there were various sizes available.

The store is located upstairs from the Gucci store and very close to the parking garage in Union Square. The store was quite empty for a Saturday afternoon, and there were two saleswomen present. I easily found my dress, and went to the dressing room to try it on. The saleswomen didn't have to accompany me in, and the dressing room was nicely sized and private.

I knew the moment I saw myself in the dress that it was "the one." Plus, it was only $450! The quality of the dress is really good - I had my grandmother check who's been a seamstress since she was young. So I purchased the dress the same day.

The store doesn't have an alterations department and they didn't have a recommendation list either. Besides that, the customer service was excellent and everyone complimented me on my dress and I don't' think many realized that it cost less than $500.

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More detailed description:

Head Table: Sweetheart table….rose petals scattered only… n/c

7 reception tables….large cylinder in center with floating candle and dendrobium orchid in base…surrounded by 3 individual vases in different sizes and shapes….one with pink tulips, one with a pave of pink roses and one with pink gerberas floating in low bowl, touch of Asian style, incorporating horsetail into arrangements, either by wrapping a vase or in vase. $75.00 each

Votives: Will be supplied by McCormick

Escort table: Blanket of pink rose petals…$100.00

Entrance Piece…..Pink dendrobium orchids, horsetails on top of a large fluted vase with orchids inside the base of vase $125.00

Cake: Three tiers, first two tiers filled with roses in pink $100.00

Delivery/set up: Set up of reception, will return vases. $50.00
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I was a bit late in deciding about flowers, and for a while, I was thinking about DIY to save some money. I really wanted a floating candle centerpiece but it ended up costing a lot more than I expected when I factored in the cost (even after looking at save on crafts).

So by the time I decided to hire someone, the more inexpensive florists or florists willing to work within my budget were booked. I tried contacting Nicole Ha, wish!flowers, Flowers by Anne, etc.

McCormick & Kuleto's had a list of preferred vendors which included several recommendations for florist. Shayna, the catering manager, recommended one vendor off the list and I contacted them. After several e-mails and no returned call, I decided to contact a few more vendors off the list.

Carol from An Added Touch Flowers was one of the first vendors that contacted me back that said she could work with my budget. The others I contacted never responded or my budget was below their minimum for a Saturday reception. She works from home so she is able to save a bit of money for you. She also worked in our reception site before, so I felt more comfortable knowing she was familiar with the place.

After I signed the contract, we didn't get in touch with each other until one week before the reception. When I arrived at the restaurant, I was blown away with how beautiful everything was. The entrance piece was amazing and the other reception tables looked great with the floating candles.

There are a few things that disappointed me, and that's why I didn't give an "A". The orchid in the large cylindrical vase was not really floating and just sitting on the bottom. I'm not sure if that's just how orchids are, but I've seen some amazing floating centerpieces with orchids. I noticed a few bubbles in the vase also - hehe, I know that is really being anal! But when I was researching doing a floating centerpiece myself, I read that using distilled water won't cause bubbles. Who knows?

I thought decorating the cake for $100 was a bit steep also. Bev told me in the beginning that she could decorate our cake with some silk flowers and it would still look great. I still think the cake turned out well, I'm just having a hard time accepting it was $100 good job.

In all, I think Carol did a great job incorporating our vision and executing on the day of. She worked well with our DOC to arrange setup and cleanup, and I didn't have to worry about DIY flowers. With that being said, it was worth it for me to hire her and I am pleased with what she did.

Uh!

That's the first expression I thought about when I wrote this review.

To be fair, perhaps it was a bad day for Tiffany's and they didn't have enough salesperson on the floor. However, it truly was one of the worst vendor experiences I've had for the wedding process.

Jerry and I went to Tiffany's Union Square (San Francisco) on a Saturday afternoon. Once we arrived, we immediately walked to the back of the store where wedding bands and engagement rings are sold. There was only 1 salesperson in this department and she was helping another couple looking at wedding bands. We looked around ourselves and walked through the jewelry cases looking for the bands we saw on their website. The other couple was asking the saleswoman a lot of questions, and we decided to be respectful and not interrupt.

About 30 minutes later, a couple came into that department and started looking at engagement rings, particularly the area where the extremely expensive rings were held. A salesman from a different department approached them and started serving them. We thought no problem, may be the salesmen was helping them before.

Then two other couples came looking at the wedding band area. Jerry and I had been standing next to the counter for over 45 minutes without even an acknowledgment from the saleswoman that she was getting someone else to help us. The staff probably noticed that area being crowded and sent two other salesmen to our area. However, the salesmen went directly to the other couples that just came in and just ignored us.

I can't say why they didn't serve us, but I can tell you that Jerry and I were the most underdressed in that area. We were wearing jeans and thick parka jackets because it was raining outside, and in short, the other couples were in more "business attire." I'm not sure if that was a factor, but I can't help to think the salesmen were not so keen in serving us because we didn't look a certain way.

We should have left the store, but we were already seething in anger and wanted to see how long it would take until someone, anybody, would acknowledge we were there. A full hour and fifteen minutes passed since we entered the store, a very nice saleswoman approached us and asked how to help us. I wanted to ask her to send the manager to us, but Jerry intervened and simply asked to see the wedding bands we've been staring at for past hour. Jerry knew that yelling at the manager would not really help our situation since we still wanted to get the wedding bands we had our eyes on.

The saleswoman that helped us was very friendly and quite apologetic when we mentioned that we had waited such a long time. It was for her service alone that I didn't give an "F" grade. She helped me pick something more appropriate for my e-ring, and she offered some great advice for Jerry regarding his wedding band.

We decided to purchase the rings that day, and the saleswoman took the extra time to go over the ordering and engraving details. At this point, the store was closed and we were allowed to stay to finalize everything. The rings came back in less than a month, and they were sized and engraved correctly.

In the end, of all those couples who came to the department, Jerry and I were the only ones that purchased something. In a way, I hope that teaches the other salesmen who ignored us a little lesson. I'm not sure if my encounter with them was a fluke, so I would recommend if you need to go to Tiffany's to come on a weekday (a lot of tourists usually are upstairs where the most staff is), and dress a bit nicer and hopefully you will not receive the same treatment.