We recommend all people avoid Elegant by Design ("EBD") based on "their" entire lack of performance, misrepresentations, & egregious bait-and-switch tactics days before our wedding. EBD is the one-person operation of Denise Ellerbecker, someone who lacks the ability to manage an event.
Open letter to Elegant by Design:
This purpose of this letter is to detail the numerous instances in which you failed to perform your obligations pursuant to our oral agreement concerning your services for our July 6, 2013 wedding at Mulberry Lane Farm ("Farm"). Elegant by Design simply failed to perform any of the tasks upon which payment was conditioned, misrepresented themselves, and breached our agreement.
Besides minimally helping the wedding party & 9 friends setup 29 tables on July 5, hanging 3 banners--1 incorrectly--and calling a vendor for a lost key, everyone in contact w/ bride & groom are at a total loss for words when asked what services were provided by EBD. Based upon discussions between & amongst the bride, groom, the wedding party, the owners of the Farm, the caterers, multiple guests & the family/friends who helped to setup the venue, specific examples of your deficient performance include the following:
-Because you allegedly double-booked an appointment slot on July 3, 2013, you cancelled our meeting & rescheduled it for July 4, 2013.
-During our meeting, when discussing the set-up that would need to take place the following day, you informed us that you would need to hire additional people, at an additional cost. Given your previous representations, coupled w/ time restraints we were under, we feel like this was a "bait & switch." Fortunately, we were able to recruit wedding guests to assist w/ the setup, but this added a tremendous amount of unnecessary stress 48 hrs before our wedding.
-2 guests at the wedding rehearsal had to help set up chairs at the ceremony site, despite the fact that you had been at the Farm for at least an hour.
-You disappeared for almost an hour pre-ceremony to get extra materials for a task, though said materials were provided. This task was then completed by the officiant & his wife in your absence.
-You did not supervise guests as they arrived, permitting them to enter the area where the bride was taking pre-ceremony photos despite the bride & groom's frequent insistence to limit people's movement. The end result was the bride greeting dozens of guests in her wedding dress as early as an hour before the ceremony.
-During the pre-ceremony photo session, you interrupted the Maid of Honor because the shuttle missed 25 people, asking "What should we do?" You had the contact info for both the hotels & shuttle provider. Determining "what should be done" is precisely why people hire wedding planners.
-When the elderly matriarch of the groom's family missed the last shuttle, the uncle of the groom informed you & offered to pay for an extra shuttle out-of-pocket if he could only have the contact info for the buses.You inexplicably lied & told him that you didn't have the contact info.
-You failed to ensure that an important prop was not at the ceremony site, as it should have been like we previously discussed.
-During the ceremony, you cued bride to enter too early.
-You failed to issue a reception format to the DJ. When the DJ was underperforming, the bride & groom had to address the problem because you were nowhere to be found. You also failed to initiate a sound check to confirm music was audible from different parts of the barn.
-You failed to inform the farm staff of a sanitation problem in a handicapped portable restroom was unusable because of a large mess. A guest found farm staff, alerted them, then followed by informing you. You interrupted the guest by claiming, "I don't own this facility. It's not my job."
-You failed to coordinate handling the buffet service w/ the caterers. At dinner time, you were again nowhere to be found. Instead, the owner of the Farm dismissed tables for buffet service 2-by-2.
-As the Farm owner was trying to find you to notify you of an empty buffet tray, she found you in the buffet line--ahead of dozens of guests--serving yourself a plate. The Farm owner then took initiative to inform the caterer of the need.
-Your final task of the evening was to consolidate the flowers & vases to a table near the 10-o-clock hour. By 9:45 PM, you were nowhere to be found, having left w/o notifying anyone and the task ignored.
-You pressured the father of the groom to clear gifts so you could leave, telling him that was her final task of the evening. As early as 9:30 PM, guests were approaching the bride & groom, asking where cards should go, as the card dispenser & other gifts were already gone. read more
