I have been so upset about my experience with Lyn since my wedding in October that I have just…read moretried to avoid thinking of it. But I still feel heartbroken and betrayed, so this review is going to be quite a journey. tl;dr at the bottom, otherwise, strap in.
Our first meeting with Lyn was at Fresh Affairs which is a wonderful space, and is filled with props and so many beautiful flowers. We discussed the reception vision; a floral disco theme with a cluster of disco balls over the dance floor, and covering the rafters of our venue with hanging flowers in a rainbow array of colors, textures, and greenery. We wanted the ceremony space to be very minimalist (floor arch and rose petals aisle, all white/blush) and then immerse people in a disco dreamland. At the end of the meeting, he declared I'm "a weird one" (an adjective that has been used to describe me my entire life) so I thought he understood, and wanted to sign up for a funky and fun lil collaboration with me and my husband.
We decided to DIY the centerpieces to save money and so Lyn could focus on the hanging installation. While planning some doubts arose; first when I told him we got the venue to let them in an extra two hours early so they'd have plenty of time, and he scoffed and said it wouldn't take long. When we signed the contract it was far under the budget we had set, yet when the amount of product needed to fill the space started to seem high, Lyn repeatedly waived off our offers to pay more. Then, our one and only consultation was a mess. Lyn started the meeting by forgetting about it. My husband and I sat on the Zoom link for 15 minutes before sending an email. We got an apologetic reply, and then started an hour late. Lyn seemed to have just finished eating dinner and was relaxing at home, drinking a glass of wine for the duration of the call. He had a lot of small details wrong (numbers of people, etc.), but also made a suggestion I loved (adding pastel flowers to my bouquet) and overall was friendly. When I voiced my fears about the cost and time factors, he told me "honey, if you want something you've never seen before, you're going to have to trust". He was absolutely right, so despite the lack of response to my follow-up email of reference photos/thoughts, I waited excitedly to see what he came up with.
When I first left the bridal suite for photos, there were no rose petals to be found in the aisle, and the floor arch was a near-perfect replica of the inspo photo I sent (a truly lovely act of plagiarism, and I cherish those photos). In response to my sinking expression and inability to recognize my bouquet when I walked past it (the utter lack of color and personality led me to see it in its vase and think it was decor) the coordinator told me the florists had left, but she would call them to come back and fix the aisle. When I walked into the reception space for the first time, my heart dropped into my stomach. Instead of hanging in a cluster over the dance floor, they had scattered the disco balls across the space on flimsy wire, low enough that people could touch them. In the center of the dance floor was an aggressively pink and dense floral arrangement. He plagiarized his own work here, and the main hanging element was strings of orchid flowers (even though we talked about amaranth several times) I have seen recycled in photos of his prior work at least twice. They ended up raining down on my guests the entire night and made the place look like a Barbie luau.
When I've talked about my disappointment with friends and family since my wedding they all point out that they arrangement was very fun if you didn't know what the plan was. And maybe the flowers are beautiful. However, I can't see it because all I see when I look at them in my wedding photos is disappointing, unoriginal, and a half-assed attempt to deliver on the promises he made. Regarding our email exchange after the wedding, I don't understand how a person can do their job so poorly and then have the audacity to say they are "truly sorry this happened to you guys" (as if consoling us about something that was out of his control), but Lyn managed it. The good news for anyone reading this is that if Lyn decides to take your money and then proceed not to care about your wedding, he might give you a full refund too. You can choose whether or not you want to take him up on his offer of a private conversation afterwards to discuss how he can do better in the future. I certainly didn't feel compelled to give him any business advice if this is the type of person he is while conducting it.
Tl;dr: my experience with Lyn left me with the impression that he seemed to think he was entitled to take my money and not to care one iota about any of the details of my wedding, besides a few cherry-picked details from our infrequent conversations, and then produce florals featuring a fair bit of plagiarism of both his own previous work and that of others, while calling it "custom".
