A Touch Of Elegance

Rude, Unprofessional, Overpriced I hired A Touch of Elegance for my wedding, and unfortunately, I cannot recommend them at all. From the start, their communication was good, and we had a positive conversation about my vision. With 10 months out from my wedding, I was confident Lisa understood what I wanted. Nine weeks before my wedding I decided to change my bridal bouquet. I went from an expensive exotic flower to a mix of seasonal flowers. Lisa was clearly not happy with that change. Her tone was sharp and sounded almost put off by the conversation and the change. This was red flag #1. I thought to myself I can’t be the only bride who has changed her mind. A week after that conversation, my fiancé and I had an appointment to visit her warehouse to see a mock centerpiece for our wedding. Lisa was so rude to my fiancé. She didn’t look at him or introduce herself to him. The first few seconds after meeting Lisa she tells me that she thought I was a blonde. Stating that she got that impression from me by our conversations. When I finally saw our mock centerpiece, Disappointed was an understatement. Lisa clearly didn’t listen to me or look at the picture I sent her. When I told her that this is not what I expected, her response was “Well, this is what was in my notes”. Again, her tone was rude. This was not the response I expected from a professional. I expected something such as “How can we make this work”. But instead I was faced with someone who felt they knew my vision better than I and was unwilling or incapable of finding a solution. At this point I am quickly losing confidence in Lisa’s abilities. Not to mention that it’s quite unpleasant to continually be talked down to. Two days after the in-house meeting, I attempted to have one more conversation with her to rectify the centerpiece situation. Lisa maintained the narrative that I am recalling our conversation all wrong. I then tell her that I absolutely do not like what she made for me and I want what was in the picture I had originally sent her. With a non-apologetic tone, she said she would make the centerpiece depicted in the picture and it would cost the same as the centerpieces quoted in my original proposal. Red flag #2! How is it the same exact cost?? I told her I would think about it, got off the phone and I did my due diligence by calling two other florists, sending them the inspo pic of the centerpiece I wanted. Both vendors quoted me a price of 1/3 to ½ the cost Lisa was trying to charge me. At this point I knew I did not want Lisa to make my centerpieces! I wish I could’ve cancelled the whole contract and went elsewhere but A Touch of Elegance required a non-refundable retainer at the point of signing the contract. I knew Lisa had over $1000 of my money that I would not get back. I called Lisa and explained that I would be removing just the centerpieces from the contract. She was very displeased. The conversation didn’t go well after that. She explained to me she would be charging me for the mock centerpiece she made me (even though that’s not in her contract). She told me she doesn’t deal with people “like me” or “people that change their minds”. Lisa then explains to me that I am not worth her energy, her breath or another second of her time. She told me she would revise the contract by removing the centerpieces and hung up on me. Needless to say, I canceled my contract with A Touch of Elegance and they kept all of my retainer.