3.6 out of 5.0
Quality of Service:
3.5 out of 5.0
Professionalism:
3.5 out of 5.0
Flexibility:
4.5 out of 5.0
Responsiveness:
3.0 out of 5.0
Value for Cost:
3.5 out of 5.0
I ordered save the dates from my personal artist and things went wonderfully. The STDs were gorgeous, they arrived on time, they were spot on, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. So, of course, we did invitations with My Personal Artist as well. This is where things took an unfortunate turn. We received our proof and then a couple of weeks went by and we heard nothing back. I wrote a couple emails, left a couple of voice mails and still nothing. Finally, I used a different email address (apparently the previous email address was the assistants) and I got a response, but still no answer to any of my questions in previous emails. I finally got ahold of Michelle, who is in charge and bless her heart, she did everything she could think of to try to rectify this situation. (Which of course, I appreciate). *I don't consider this a "bad" review, I consider it an average one.* The cards arrived, much later than anticipated. (We were forced to move the date of the wedding up due to my fiance's work schedule so the cards arrival much later than they were promised was a significant inconvenience.) When the cards did arrive, the date was wrong. I immediately called Michelle and she immediately had correct ones printed up and over-nighted to me (which I very much appreciate). However, this was yet another setback in the sending out of my invitations. Finally the invitations got sent out and not several days later they started to get returned to me. The envelopes were square and required more postage, which I had not been made aware of and was rushing to get it all sent out it didn't even occur to me. To make matters worse, many of the envelopes were not sticking and arrived back to us open, so pieces were missing, some of them were taped up by postal employees and of course they are all stamped with a notice that they require an extra 20 cents and need to be returned to sender. It seems a bit like a waste to have paid for half of my address list to be printed in calligraphy only to not be notified of the special circumstances of the envelopes and have stamps and tape covering them because the glue does not stick. Sigh.
I do not feel like this is an everyday occurrence with this company, however, I do feel they should have mentioned that the envelopes needed extra postage and that there should have been better communication, especially considering my repeated attempts at contacting them. And also maybe they should invest in better envelopes that stick properly. The invitations, however, were very well done. They are gorgeous and if none of this had happened, or even if ALL of this had not happened, this would obviously be a review raving about how wonderful the invitations looked.
My only advice for purchasing from this vendor is to make sure that you have plenty of time. I fully admit that I should have ordered my invitations slightly earlier, however, like I said, we had to move the date up by two months, I was told they would arrive in 5-10 days and it took at least twice that amount of time. Michelle did as much as she could to rectify the situation, but by the time I was receiving invitations returned to me for insufficient postage (adding even MORE time they were not in the hands of their recipients) I was just literally sick to my stomach. We purchased some stickers to put try to reseal the envelopes without being tacky, but some of them are just hopeless. Michelle did offer me some new envelopes, but things have been so delayed already, I can't wait any longer to try to get these sent out (it's a destination wedding).
It's an awful lot of money to spend on envelopes that don't stick, but hopefully my guests will open them up, see how beautiful they are and forget all about the envelopes with the tape or stickers and giant red more postage and return to sender stamps all over them. haha
Michelle did give us a discount and did try to make up for the inconvenience, but we will probably find another vendor for the thank you cards.
> Hello Jennifer. Thank you for the review.
We "let go" of "our assistant" as I told you on the phone. She changed the 'number date' when she typed out your date wording. You did approve the proof supplied to you. However, we do not feel our assistant should have changed it. Therefore she no longer works here.
Regarding the square envelope. It is noted on our website in numerous areas that they require more postage. Also, there are many articles on our website regarding "Before you stamp the envelopes, have your invitations weighed at the post office to determine the proper postage." We will certainly print out a small card and place w/ every order regarding this issue. We didn't think of it in 11 years, however we are glad to include this due to your unique situation.
We were surprised to read the ENVELOPES DID NOT STICK in your Wedding Wire review. You did not tell us this via email or phone. We have used the SAME envelope vendor for 11 years. This is the FIRST time this has happened. We have contacted them.
HOW were you moistening the outer envelopes? Sponge, by mouth, ...?
The inner envelopes have NO gumming, as it reads on the website. Were you trying to
stick these together? If so, they wouldn't stick as there is NO gumming.
We certainly don't want this to happen again. We would appreciate an email with details on
how you moistened the OUTER envelopes. Or if in fact you were moistening the NO GUMMING inner envelopes.
Thank you Jennifer. We are glad you enjoyed the 30% off. And again we apologize for the rare inconveniences you encountered at My Personal Artist.
Very best wishes to you!! :-)
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Brides wherever you decide to get your invitations remember:
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1. Proof your approvals VERY, VERY, VERY carefully. The layout artist may retype your text for etiquette reasons. They are human. That is why there are final approvals.
2. Plan ahead. Wedding dates can change. And mistakes can happen anywhere, anytime. Allow ample time for you and your invitation vendor. { TIP } InStyle Wedding Magazine recently recommended you start your wedding stationery order 6-9 months before your wedding day. So be sure to plan ahead! You are suppose to MAIL out your invites to your guests 2 months BEFORE your day. AND remember if you are having a destination wedding {as it reads in most bridal magazines} send out a save the date card, email or phone call 12 months in advance to give your guests ample time to plan ahead. Do not delay. The least amount of stress is best!
3. Take ONE set of your invitations to your local post master {stuffed} EXACTLY as you are going to mail it out. The invitation vendor can't tell you the exact postage as you may add a map, photo, etc. when you receive them. There is no way of telling the exact cost of any envelope.
4. Moisten your envelopes w/ one swipe of the tongue or one swipe of the "sponge letter sealer". Be sure you LIGHTLY moisten your sponge letter sealer as if you apply too much pressure or too much liquid the adhesive will be wiped away.
Good Luck and Best Wishes everyone!