The day before the wedding, I received a no-chip manicure which chipped less than 24 hours later. So, I started off the day with significantly chipped nails.
My updo- the bride’s hair- was finished first; it took my stylist thirty-five minute...s to do a bridal updo (instead of the usual hour). Unfortunately, it looked nothing like what we had planned during my trial. The curls in the back felt loose, and when I asked if she was sure they would hold, she said she had no doubt. My sister’s stylist finished shortly after mine (Her hair looked very nice!), and both stylists left immediately to do wedding updos at an on-site location. My hair was rushed to accommodate someone else’s wedding, and- consequently- my updo began falling out about twenty minutes after I left. We had to buy a mini bottle of hairspray and bobby pins from the hotel lobby to try and fix my hair in time for the ceremony. I felt like I wasn’t a priority at all.
My mother asked her stylist for a chignon brought to the side with some loose pieces around her face. She has very curly hair, which typically needs brushed out/re-curled for updos. The stylist proceeded to put no product in my mom’s hair, and started pinning back her hair with it unbrushed. By the time the stylist had finished, my mother’s hair was slicked back in a tight librarian-like style on the back of her head. I came over and tried to clarify for my mother what she wanted. I asked the stylist to make it a little looser and to bring the hair to the side so it could be seen from the front. The stylist then proceeded to do the exact same style with less bobby pins and a large chunk of hair left in the front to represent some sort of bang. It looked like my mom had thrown her hair up in a bun and had forgotten a piece in the front. Aggravated, my mother, sister, and I paid and left. After spending over an hour in the salon, we did not have time to try and have corrections done. We had to do it ourselves.
Two days after the wedding, my mother posted a short review about the salon while I was on my honeymoon. Instead of reaching out to my mother- the one who was upset and had paid for the experience- I was contacted via email asking what my thoughts were about the service compared to my mom. I then spent the next few days of my honeymoon emailing back and forth with the manager, who apologized and provided some excuses for the situation. She also said that she would talk to the staff in a few weeks during a formal hair training class, and she also reminded us that her team opened the spa early for us (maybe to keep us from complaining?).
I used to manage a hair salon myself in Chicago, so I explained to the manager how I would have handled the situation (I would have called the unhappy client to understand further what had gone wrong, offered redos on the nails, reimbursement/credit for the hair, etc.). Collectively we spent over $800 in the spa for hair and nails, and we were rushed through our services, given low-quality work, followed by low-quality crisis control. I am so disappointed with what I was sure to be an amazing experience. In the end, the manager did reimburse us for one updo and my manicure, but that doesn’t undo what occurred the morning of my wedding.
I cannot give my genuine recommendation for any bride to use Gettysburg Day Spa for their wedding services. I am so disappointed with the way we were treated and hope that this review helps future Gettysburg brides!