I got married a year ago, and since it is wedding season again, I figured I would write this review…read moreto warn other brides of what happened to me so they do not have to go thru what I went thru. I got married at Ashelynn Manor, and Exquisite Reflections is one of their preferred vendors, they even offer complimentary services and exclusive packages thru them. Sounds great right? NOPE. So I'm an out of town bride, and we flew down to Texas to go to Ashelynn Manors open house to meet the vendors after booking them as our venue. The work done by the Exquisite staff looked beautiful(I'll give them that!) and the promise of the package was alluring, so I plopped down the down payment right then and there, about 150 or so dollars. My wedding date was a long time out, so I figured I could have enough time to consult over the phone or email, etc. Well, the only communication from that point went like this: I got a email reminder for a trial, which I booked the week of my wedding because again, I'm from out of town. I contacted the owner a few months before my wedding to get the contract, ask questions, etc and that was like pulling teeth. She finally sent me the contract 1 month before my wedding which I had to physically print out, fill out, scan, and send back (I emailed it because it would've taken too long thru regular post) I tried to get her to message me back about where and how to put my finished payments in, as the contract threatens to charge more money if it wasn't signed a month before the wedding date. I waited a week to hear back and NOTHING. 3 weeks before my wedding across the country and she couldn't even bother to get the contract finished and send me my end quote. Finally I got furious and told her to forget it, that she was making me very stressed and uncomfortable with her lack of response and that I no longer wanted her services. She finally messaged me back a couple days later and apologized, she had just had a baby, was super busy, and usually tried so hard to make her brides happy. (Ok? That's literally fine, but WHY agree to my date and take my deposit and put me thru this then??) Did not return or offer to return my deposit and that is the last I heard from her. Luckily I ended up finding a wonderful artist team in Houston who were actual professionals and got a contract done, signed, and paid for in 48 hours, all done virtually. Also, I'm not some kind of bridezilla Karen who needs all your time and attention, full transparency-I am a freelance bridal makeup artist and I could not even imagine treating a client the way the owner treated me, nonetheless keeping a deposit when I had no intention of performing a service for someone. My advice: don't put the deposit down at the open house, make sure you book the trial first and secure your date with the deposit, otherwise getting any response will be like nailing jello to a wall. They don't even have a working business number. Or just don't use them at all, unless you want to end up like me, scrambling 3 weeks before my wedding to get another artist and hair team. What an absolute nightmare.
Also really suspect is that they specifically demand in the contract that you don't post negative reviews of the company until they have a chance to rectify the complaint, which if you're like me, will be never.
All the other vendors at Ashelynn were fabulous...friendly and responsive...but I'd avoid this one.
